Billboard.com’s Fred Bronson responded to the allegations that Mariah Carey’s ‘Through the Rain’ received inflated airplay figures after Def Jam bought commercial time and filled it with the song. Bronson said, “If it was the label’s intention to inflate airplay and send ‘Through the Rain’ hurtling up the chart, buying time on six small-market stations is hardly effective.” He added, “Whatever the motivation, let’s look at the results. ‘Through the Rain’ never went higher than No. 81 on the Hot 100, so if the label did have a strategy to make ‘Through the Rain’ a hit by buying commercial time for airplay, it certainly didn’t work.”