Carrie Underwood’s “Cry Pretty” Tanks at Country Radio
A couple of days after Carrie Underwood called out country radio for not supporting strong women, it’s become official that Carrie Underwood’s latest single “Cry Pretty” is done at radio, will be the worst-performing single of her career, and has tanked two weeks ahead of her new album of the same name being released, instead of cresting on the charts as per normal.
“Cry Pretty” will come to rest at #9 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, #6 on the Mediabase radio chart, and #5 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart which takes into consideration both radio play and consumption. This will be the first single of Carrie Underwood’s career to not reach at least #2 on either the Billboard Hot Country Songs or Country Airplay charts tracing back 23 total singles, all the way to her 2005 debut, “Jesus, Take The Wheel.” 15 of those singles made it to #1.
On the Mediabase chart this week, “Cry Pretty” lost 12,569 points, and slipped from #6 to #24. On the Billboard Country Airplay chart compiled by Nielsen, it dropped out of the Top 60 completely, and was relegated to the recurrent list. This verifies the rumors that radio and Capitol Nashville have pulled support behind the single—a strange maneuver for a song that was charting well and was meant to be the spearhead behind Carrie’s album release. Apparently the song showed enough weakness that Capitol felt it couldn’t push it any higher. Carrie Underwood just released a new song called “Love Wins,” but there has been no confirmation that it will be the new single.
The crash of “Cry Pretty” comes at a time when the much-discussed lack of female representation on country radio is becoming even more pronounced. Despite Miranda Lambert’s name being tied to the recent 2-week #1 single from Jason Aldean, “Drowns The Whiskey,” the 7-time and reigning CMA Female Vocalist of the Year’s latest single “Keeper of the Flame” couldn’t make it past #55 on country radio. It was basically dead on arrival. Even more pop-oriented acts who’ve been doing well on radio like Kelsea Ballerini are struggling. Her current, more critically-acclaimed single “I Hate Love Songs” has been stuck outside the Top 25 for 26 weeks and counting.
“Even when I was growing up, I wished there was more women on the radio, and I had a lot more than there are today,” Underwood told the Women Who Want to Hear Women podcast earlier this week. “I think about all the little girls that are sitting at home saying, ‘I want to be a country music singer.’ What do you tell them, you know? What do you do? How do you look at them and say, ‘Well, just work hard, sweetie, and you can do it’ when that’s probably not the case right now? I see so many girls out there busting their rear ends and so many guys out there where some new guy has a No. 1 and I’m like, ‘Well, good for you, that’s great, but who are you? What’s happening?’ And then these strong women who are super talented that totally deserve it are not getting the same opportunities. But how to change it? I don’t know. How do we change it?”
Often women in the mainstream are reluctant to criticize radio for its lack of support, worrying they may poison the well for themselves moving forward. Carrie Underwood speaking out ahead of the official data on “Cry Pretty” was another sign things were not going well behind-the-scenes. Carrie Underwood has been one of the few country women who’s been able to break through male-dominated barrier at the top of country radio recently without the aid of iHeartMedia’s “On The Verge” program or other artificial boosts. Now like Miranda, she could be on the outside looking into the format’s top tier support moving forward.
For those who may question if “Cry Pretty” was worthy of continued promotion, like many singles from country music’s top women, the song charted better on the Hot Country Songs chart which takes into consideration streams and downloads. This symbolized that consumer sentiment behind the song was stronger than the support shown by radio.
The struggles of Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert on radio leave mainstream country music looking for strong feminine voices to fill what many consider a void in country’s representation, while the complaining from the media, endless think pieces on the issue, dedicated Twitter accounts trolling radio and industry, and efforts within the industry itself to create more opportunities for women continue to fail, while some perhaps are even hurting the prospects for female performers.
It’s fair to conclude that part of the problem is there is just not a significant appetite for the women mainstream country music is presenting to the public at the moment. Also, stalling at #9 on radio is not the end of the world, and many artists male or female would love this fate for one of their radio singles. But when established artists with rabid fan bases like Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood appear to not be able to find equitable support for their music, it’s hard to not conclude the issue is more systemic.
September 5, 2018 @ 10:46 am
This is even more stunning in that it was Carrie’s debut single with her new label Capitol. She’d spent her entire career at Arista/19/Sony and just made the new move last year. It’s an unspoken rule that any superstar debuting on a new label gets a free pass at radio. Research & fallout must’ve been atrocious
September 5, 2018 @ 11:51 am
I tend to think callout numbers are overvalued, though obviously they go into the calculus of how labels behave around singles. There are plenty of singles from male performers with mild callout numbers that get pushed to #1. The thing with “Cry Pretty” is the gave up on it two weeks early. It’s sitting right there in the Top 10. You don’t have to take it to number 1, but at least let it sustain its position and stay in rotation until the record is released.
September 5, 2018 @ 12:50 pm
Kyle, Are you under the Impression that the label determines when to pull a single when it comes to research? It is radio that lives and dies by research; labels spend 50% of their time trying to overcome and negate bad research with sales, stream & request data. Are you suggesting that Capitol made the unilateral decision to walk away from pushing the song higher than #6?
September 5, 2018 @ 1:48 pm
I am not making claims of any unilateral decisions by anybody. I was not privy to the meetings and decisions by the powers that be at radio and Carrie’s label. All that I can tell you is that it’s the norm to see a lead single through to the release date of a record. That, or into the release of a second single which leads to the release of a new record. This is so common, it has often come up here and other places often how a single curiously peaks right as a record is released like it’s all precalculated. With “Cry Pretty,” we saw neither. Perhaps it’s just how it all shook out. But when you’re talking about the possibility of women being systematically downgraded in the mainstream, you can look at something like this and wonder why the two last weeks of promotion weren’t seen a necessary. Perhaps it was bad research data on the song. Perhaps they have something else up their sleeve. But once radio sours on an artist, it rarely goes back. That’s what we saw with Miranda. So regardless of the reasons, I think it’s fair to ask why, and make sure the powers that be know we’re watching, and aim to hold them accountable. EVERY artist and their music should be dealt with equitably. Saving Country Music was founded on this principle, and it’s an important one to uphold, regardless of the personal opinion anyone might have on the music itself.
September 5, 2018 @ 10:52 am
I will never ever consider a Top 10 peak a tank or failure, lol. I think that any artist would gladly take that, lol. With that said, Cry Pretty just completely struggled from the beginning. It got an iHeartRadio deal, but when the deal was done, it seem that the airplay that was gained was lost more that previous iheart deals. Then, it stalled in the teens for at least a month or even more. It just plain struggled. I’m not concerned, because it’s Carrie and I’m sure that she has a few hits left in her. I’m also not going to lose it over UMG Nashville. Seriously, some fans need to take a chill pill, lol. A few of them are saying that Carrie should have never left Sony/Arista. We still have no clue she left in the first place. Maybe Carrie wanted more freedom, more freedom to release less radio friendly songs. Maybe this is what Carrie wants. But, I don’t think that this should be an “embarrassment” or anything. I think and hope that Carrie should be proud to release a song that seem so personal in a country music world where hardly any mainstream artist is doing that. I know that I’m a proubd fan! 💜
September 5, 2018 @ 11:56 am
“Cry Pretty” was released too early to coincide with the album release, and the album announcement came too early compared to the norm. Now she’s trying to promote a tour in the middle of 2019. The timing is all off here. They laid off the gas with “Cry Pretty” after it shot out of the gate because they wanted it to peak right when the album was released. Then people got tired of it and it couldn’t sustain. Still, leave some support behind it for two more weeks. I guess they thought it would look better to have it go recurrent than potentially fall in the charts ahead of the release.
I agree it’s not a “failure” for ANY artist to go Top 10. But it has to be a disappointment for Carrie Underwood. 23 times in a row, Carrie’s at least gone #2. Now radio has the excuse it needs to say Carrie is past her prime. The performance of her next single will be critical.
September 9, 2018 @ 8:52 pm
The timing is definitely an issue. She had personal issues that forced the timing to be off. The accident likely pushed the album back and her pregnancy pushed back the tour. Life happens and things don’t always go as planned.
A top 10 is not a failure by any standard but for Carrie it’s likely a disappointment. The material on her album seems strong so hopefully her next single will fare better.
September 5, 2018 @ 12:03 pm
I love Cam.
Now she is on Train’s newset single Call Me Sir.
Hope this isnt a departure from country overall
September 5, 2018 @ 11:19 am
What a shame that country radio didn’t support “Cry Pretty” and that the country charts didn’t reflect the high number of streams and downloads, especially leading up the release of the new record. What a great interview with Elaina Smith and I’m glad Carrie was able to be the most outspoken, in my opinion, than she’s ever been about country radio not supporting female artists. It’s clear the best song certainly doesn’t win anymore and I hope things change for the better for female artists.
P.S. Trig, do you mind doing a piece exploring Cam and her departure from Sony Music Nashville? I think “Diane” and “The Road to Happiness” are both great and look forward to her new music that (hopefully) comes out soon!
September 5, 2018 @ 11:57 am
The Cam stuff is definitely in the hopper, but waiting for a few more shoes to fall to figure out what to make of all of it.
September 7, 2018 @ 7:55 am
I really expected a lot of Cam. When I first heard “Burning House” I was blown away. I still play that song when I do gigs because i think it’s truly a great song and I thought Diane was great too. Really disappointing that just because she’s a woman she isnt given a fighting chance. I just hope and pray Kacey Musgraves wins album of the year at CMA’s because I honestly think shes the only one who deserves it (regardless of the fact shes a woman)
September 5, 2018 @ 11:37 am
Even strong woman can release bad music & “Cry Pretty” is pretty bad. Not important for radio…but i “hate” the covers of the single & the new album.
The chart run of Carrie Underwood is impressive but all things must come to an end. After a dozen year as queen of country-pop it’s time for a new face, name & voice.
The label switch might be a factor too.
Kelsea Ballerini is not the answer. Her sales & radio spins are already on the downswing.
Miranda Lambert can survive without mainstream country radio. She will go her way & i think she will have a radio comeback. Not in the next 2-3 years but the time will come.
Female artists or duos/groups with female members on the Australian Airplay Charts (Country Tracks Top 40):
#1 – Beccy Cole (2nd week)
#5 – Destiny (former #1)
#7 – Shelly Jones Band
#8 & #27 – Kirsty Lee Akers
#9 – Tom Curtain feat. Sara Storer
#11 – Carter & Carter (former #1 for seven weeks)
#13 – Bennett, Bowtell & Urquhart
#14 – Kiara Rodrigues
#16 – Terry Bennetts & Alisha Smith
#18 – Melissa Robertson
#19 – Kylie Adams-Collier
#21 – Amber Joy Poulton
#24 – Ashleigh Dallas
#25 – Bec Hance
#29 – Catherine Britt & The Cold Cold Hearts
#32 – Tracy Coster feat. Beccy Cole
#34 – Vanessa Bourne
#35 – Michelle Walker
#37 – Sandra Pearn & Wayne Elliott
#38 – Gayle O’Neil
#39 – Tania Kernaghan
I know it’s a different market situation down under but the number of female artists on the charts is impressive & some of the big names have no current singles like Aleyce Simmonds, new mama Amber Lawrence, Kasey Chambers, The Long & Short Of It or The Sunny Cowgirls.
September 5, 2018 @ 11:41 am
Carrie’s best music was from her first few albums. .. the best being Carnival Ride.
Her latest music is just bland meh. Cry Pretty had a lot of support and billboards. I was at CMA fest in Nashville this June and Cry Pretty was visually promoted all over the place.
Her newest single “Love Wins” has a beautiful message but overall the production is bland on it… I cant see it being a Top 10 hit on radio. It’s not a fun , crank it up tune & neither was Cry Pretty.
She just needs better writers….. 2006-2012 Carrie was the best in terms of songs. Maybe her being in hiding from her fall gave her bad publicity??
But anyone saying Capitol didn’t support her is delusional.
September 5, 2018 @ 12:01 pm
Capitol supported the single. But then they stopped two weeks short of the commitment. Effort is about making it all the way to the finish line. When people talk about the lack of support behind women in country, this is a glaring example. It’s not that there’s no support, but if you don’t see it through to the end, it doesn’t live up to potential.
Also, it hasn’t been determined yet if “Love Wins” is the next single.
September 5, 2018 @ 12:08 pm
True. But not every single from an established artist should make it to #1.. that’s like giving everyone participation trophies because they played.
Many new artists get their song to #3 – #5 and the label stops support. Look at morgan Evans for recent example
September 5, 2018 @ 12:29 pm
Hey Arnold,
Pick one screen name, and only post under that. I don’t mind if people use multiple screen names or augment them slightly, but when you post under multiple names in the same comments section, it can come across like you’re trying to impersonate more people. And since you already tried to impersonate other commenters, you’re already being watched and moderated. Feel free to share your opinion. But if it gets weird, I’m deleting your comments.
I agree not every song must go to #1. But pulling support two weeks ahead of an album release is unusual.
September 5, 2018 @ 1:45 pm
Sorry… yeah I was trolling Miranda drama last week….. thats why I made up different usernames now since I didnt want others to associate a name with Miranda hate. I never signed up for an actual account on here. How can you tell I made others names? Is it by ip address?
I remember months ago I tried to comment on here for the first time and my comment never went through…
September 5, 2018 @ 2:05 pm
And you are monitoring me??
I’ll do u a favor and I wont comment on here anymore. I’ll just enjoy the articles as an outsider with no opinion because I dont want you to have to worry about me.
God Bless, I’m sorry for the Miranda Lambert gossip.
Have a great day.
My other names are Bro Country, YeahBaby. Campobello Island Tunes. FYI
September 5, 2018 @ 7:24 pm
You have a Gravatar account that is synced up with the website, and yes, because people try to troll and spam these comment sections, I do have monitors I use, though nobody’s personal info is aggregated or stored.
This is not YouTube. One of the reasons these comment sections are some of the best on the internet is because people are respectful, and there’s no major hijinks. You are welcome here, but please stay on topic, and respect other commenters.
September 5, 2018 @ 8:17 pm
Ok. All is good. I appreciate your hard work on this site. I let the inner ML troll get the best of me…..
Hey you should do an article about Lady A. Apparently they maybe lost their Capitol records label after Heart break single fell… now they are at Big Machines… interesting. How the mighty have truly fallen. I enjoyed their early work very much.
September 12, 2018 @ 8:11 pm
You do know she wrote 9 of the 13 songs on this new album right? Like that’s a really sad thing to say considering how much input she’s had with it (she also co-produced it). I would not say Love Wins is a bland song at all, it’s beautiful, uplifting and with a very important message like SITW. It’s got an upbeat tempo and parts that really soar. It’s just a very positive song, the kind to make you feel good and smile. As for fun, crank it up tunes, after listening to the clips I can assure you there are lots of fun and upbeat songs with sass etc but there are also really beautiful moments. I actually think that this will be one of my favorite albums, cause it’s more personal and relatable and has so much more flair and spunk than anything else she’s done before. Is it 100% county sounding? No, sorry Trigger. But I think we all know by now Carrie’s blend of music is Country/Pop/Rock – this time though I would add a bit of Meghan Trainor flare to the mix!
September 5, 2018 @ 11:46 am
Can we please talk about how Luke Bryan’s awful single Sunrise Sunburn Sunset Repeat is Stalling at #2 for the past 3 weeks. It might be his first non-number 1 song since “Do I” in 2009.
Any other record label would stop support on a song that’s been #2 for three weeks in a row. But Capitol Records might have to continue the support to get their golden frat boy to #1. It’s so not far to other artists.
September 6, 2018 @ 7:05 am
I hate to say it, but I don’t hate Bryan’s new song. It’s a lot better than the dumb cellphone song. That being said, how has Kenny Chesney not sued Bryan for copying his career.
September 5, 2018 @ 12:21 pm
Sure doesn’t help that it’s just a shitty song that’s about as country as Sam Hunt fixing his bangs in the rearview of a Prius while sipping on a latte…
September 5, 2018 @ 12:25 pm
Sam Hunt is bald now… No bangs.
September 5, 2018 @ 2:52 pm
“Cry Pretty” is way more country than anything Sam Hunt has ever done. You can’t just judge a song based on the artist’s name. You don’t have to like it, but for the mainstream, it’s more country than most.
September 5, 2018 @ 12:31 pm
Radio support or lack there of aside, I just don’t like the song Cry Pretty. All of Carrie’s previous lead singles I immediately loved but not this one. Radio is one thing but if the fans are not feeling it well there’s not much you can do. I don’t know what else to say but yeah. Sorry Carrie. But I’m still looking forward to the album!!😃
September 5, 2018 @ 12:41 pm
I don’t know anyone who actually liked CRY PRETTY, sadly. It was not as good as her last songs. I just took a 3 hour drive and heard 4 female songs played on our local station in that time. Pathetic. And I heard some really shitty songs from the bro side. I don’t get it, but seriously doubt itll change……
September 5, 2018 @ 1:35 pm
Well, you know me. And I gave it a positive review.
September 5, 2018 @ 1:56 pm
I love Cry Pretty. It was one of the handful of songs actually worth listening to on country radio.
September 5, 2018 @ 12:42 pm
Just not a fan of either of Carrie’s singles. Cry Pretty was already revived once when it was choking higher up the chart. Not surprised it stalled again.
September 5, 2018 @ 12:51 pm
Can I say that when I hear that’s Carrie Underwood’s ” Cry Pretty”, who’s truth was lost under the over production and over singing,reached a false number 5, all I can think about is Tami Neilson, Angaleena Presley, and Rhiannon Giddens. These women are artists who will never see country chart success, and anyone of those women are more country than Carrie .If country radio has problem with women it doesn’t start with them being women. It starts with what is country music. And it starts with who listens, buys,and plays country music. We will see women do better if the female listeners would stop daydreaming about being fucked by Luke Bryan, while being covertly degraded as an object and being called “girl”.( I don’t know one women in my life who would take being called a girl as a compliment). They need to start demanding songs that are about being an adult. That is what Patsy, Miss Loretta, Dolly and Reba are singing about. And Miranda too. When those women stop dreaming about being young, and start thinking abort being in the moment, then country can stop being a form of escapism and start being about real people again. Where Carrie will fit in I don’t know. But there are greater artists just waiting to be heard by the same public ear.
September 5, 2018 @ 2:48 pm
The problem is, they’re not playing Miranda either. That’s why I brought her up specific to this issue. I would love to believe the reason they’re not playing Carrie Underwood is because she’s not country enough. But this just isn’t the case. It probably helps Carrie that she’s more pop. But this is not your typical Carrie Underwood song. As I said in my review, it’s probably the most country song of her career. It’s in waltz time and features prevalent steel guitar. Failing to hit #1 could possibly reinforce that radio listeners don’t want to hear more country-sounding tracks. It was one of many reasons this was an important, bellwether single, and why I’ve spent so much time talking about it.
September 5, 2018 @ 5:17 pm
Something that really bothers me about the stations in my area is that they’ll play tracks from Miranda’s first two albums, but nothing from her newest one. Where is the support for her new material, which is some of her best? How can they not play “Tin Man” or “We Should Be Friends”, or “Vice”? What the fuck?
September 6, 2018 @ 8:41 am
Vice did fairly well and got airplay but I believe the latter 2 songs suffered from bad call out scores. Radio seems to live by its research so they play the songs that people want to hear from artists not just current singles.
September 6, 2018 @ 7:07 am
Also, Miranda barely contributes to Aldean’s new song. She needs some solo verses for radio to get any credit for playing a female.
September 6, 2018 @ 8:54 am
I was really surprised that she didn’t get to sing a verse. What a way to squander a guest appearance.
September 6, 2018 @ 10:16 am
Nothing like a man telling women what they have to listen to. If we look at streaming numbers men support female country artists far less than women do. Maybe stop dreaming of sucking Chris Stapleton’s dick and give women their fair share of sales and streams and they will do better.
September 7, 2018 @ 5:23 pm
CraigR., I realize you might not have meant the comment about Luke Bryan to be taken seriously. As long as even 1 guy who reads it doesn’t really believe it, though. I do think women might ‘fantasize’ about the Guy they Like, Treating them the way Luke Bryan (or Jake Owen, etc.) makes them Feel from their songs. And re: the mention of the word ‘girl’ agreed that no one after @teen age should be called that. I try to get people to use gal instead and everyone seems to take to it. It has seemed to me the right equivalent to ‘guy’, so it’s not as formal as ‘woman’, or juvenile as ‘girl’. I don’t get why it never became the term used in our culture. I will say, no matter how old a woman gets, if a man says, “you’re my girl” it’s a phrase I think most really like, is even considered endearing. Luke Bryan is a sweetheart who I think more like a ‘friend/brother’ if anything, and I was never a fan of his voice. Also, he is married, has kids and those from his siblings even. Many people do have convictions in that matter, not to even imagine such filth, esp with someone married.
September 5, 2018 @ 12:53 pm
Honestly, I didn’t give the single 3 listens as I always wait for an album to come out so I can judge it as an artistic whole. I didn’t think it was that good when we discussed it on here when it came out. Every single can’t be great and go to #1 from any artist.
September 5, 2018 @ 1:06 pm
Trigger said, “It’s fair to conclude that part of the problem is there is just not a significant appetite for the women mainstream country music is presenting to the public at the moment.”
I think this is it in a nutshell. I do not see it as a good thing or a bad thing. It is what it is at the moment. Instead of complaining, maybe the female artists need to put something out that will, indeed, feed the appetite of the audience as a whole.
If the overall audience for “country” music isn’t demanding songs from female artists, at least the ones that they are currently putting out, well, that is a free market economy.
September 5, 2018 @ 2:29 pm
Even when the demand is there in terms of sales females somehow stall at radio, even when they have the “right” material. Take for example when Sugarland went on hiatus and they both released solo albums, Jennifer’s single never made it past #37 but her first album has sold more than 200k since release while Kristian’s single got as high as #21 but his album still hasn’t sold up to 10k.
At the end of the day women are winning not just with radio play so I guess they are appealing to the right people
September 7, 2018 @ 5:03 am
The issue with this argument, of course, is that radio is not, and has never been, “a free market economy.”
As, y’know, evidenced by the fact that this single did better in terms of direct market consumption than it did by radio airplay.
September 5, 2018 @ 1:18 pm
Hey Trigger, I have a serious question about the demographic of country music fans, and lets just take the billboard classification of country music (mainstream). There is clearly a problem with women being represented on radio and the charts, but I’m curious as to the real cause. Seeing the swell of support for Kane Brown, for example makes me wonder if the audience is partly to blame? By that I mean, his looks and abs definitely contribute to his success. Correct me if I’m wrong, but his fans seem to be predominantly female. Did younger music consuming men move out of country, with all the arm bronzing, more metro looking and pop sounding male puppets on radio? It isn’t exactly a “manly” thing to listen to mainstream country, like it used to be. Im curious to know how the audience breaks down, and if by chance it has become more female.
September 5, 2018 @ 7:44 pm
Radio is the advertising mechanism for the mainstream. Nobody makes money on radio, except for radio. And even they’re losing their shorts. If radio is consistently playing male artists, and systemically eliminating females like radio consultant Keith Hill told them to in the whole “Tomatogate” imbroglio, then women aren’t being advertised to the public. So then their name recognition falters, their sales dry up, their tour dates don’t sell through, etc., giving off the appearance of a lack of appeal. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy that people don’t want to hear women. That is why you can’t trust the numbers solely. You must make sure that each song, and each artist is being given an equitable chance.
That said, I do think there’s a lot of “Beatlemania” swirling around artists like Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, and Florida Georgia Line at the moment. You look at the front row of their concerts, and it’s almost all adolescent and teenage girls. Though I don’t think there’s a lot of validity behind the claim that “women don’t want to hear women,” I do think the lyrical content and style of today’s mainstream country from men is very much geared to young women, and like you said, most men don’t want to be caught dead listening to that. Also the whole adult contemporary side of country with Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, etc is just not what appeals to a lot of men, but many women eat it up.
There are a lot of folks who want to simplify this problem by claiming everyone in country music (including myself) is sexist and excluding women. They also think the solution is to just continue to scream “play more women!” This is a very complex problem, and it’s going to take complex solutions and understanding of it to make sure women are being dealt with equitably. But you also can’t gloss over the fact that males are dominating the style of what mainstream country represents right now, and that’s one of the reasons women are finding difficulty competing. What’s so troubling about “Cry Pretty” is Carrie Underwood was one of the few women left who could buck this trend. If she can’t get to #1 without an “One The Verge” boost from iHeartMedia, then maybe no woman can except for the occasional token.
September 5, 2018 @ 7:51 pm
You articulated what I was thinking better than I could – in this case 🙂 Agree that it’s complex. I’m one of those people who believes the radio / industry can dictate to some degree what is successful, but I refuse to not give at least SOME of the blame to the market / audience.
September 5, 2018 @ 8:36 pm
“What’s so troubling about “Cry Pretty” is Carrie Underwood was one of the few women left who could buck this trend. If she can’t get to #1 without an “One The Verge” boost from iHeartMedia, then maybe no woman can except for the occasional token.”
Exactly my concern. People may be ready for a new woman to take over the keys to mainstream country, but there aren’t any primed to do it yet. Both Kelsea and Maren aren’t in the position to do so yet, and it’ll take a lot of time for people like Carly, Ashley, or Lauren to garner enough support to make a legitimate impact. With radio already curbing Miranda, it’s not good for the format if it happens to Carrie, whether she’s someone’s cup of tea or not. There’s no one else in the position for consistent radio support right now.
September 5, 2018 @ 9:35 pm
Which is in itself is the very nature of the mainstream at the moment (let’s be honest – it’s nature most of the time). There are plenty of amazing women country artists out there, but to your point, they aren’t “primed” for the mainstream (though I wouldn’t call them Maren or any other watered down pop act). It’s intereting to talk about the mainstream, the charts, etc, but in the end, it’s the same old story: It sucks.
September 5, 2018 @ 1:52 pm
Cry Pretty is too good for country radio. Hell, Carrie in general is too good for country radio.
September 5, 2018 @ 2:04 pm
Has anyone ever considered that “Cry Pretty” was just a bad song? Also, why would you have that as your lead single after being away for a while? She would’ve done better with a more upbeat song. This song was trying too hard to play into the “accident” she had I think. The constant wearing of the glitter tears when performing the song got old really fast as well.
September 5, 2018 @ 4:44 pm
I think it would have been better if she sang it softly with little background music. Everything is full throttle when she sings. We all know she has a great voice, but if she needs to turn it down sometimes. Get tired of all the belting out….makes them songs all sound the same….
September 5, 2018 @ 7:09 pm
”I think it would have been better if she sang it softly with little background music. Everything is full throttle when she sings. We all know she has a great voice, but if she needs to turn it down sometimes. Get tired of all the belting out….makes them songs all sound the same….”
It certainly seems easier and easier of late to get lost in the Carrie din doesn’t it …?
….. I think CRY PRETTY became another vehicle for Carrie’s vocal acrobatics and LIVE fireworks and left the actual lyric in the ashes. It isn’t country in the least and it isn’t even pop . Its a throwback R and B song trying to cash in on the 6/8 tremds of Girl Crush , Tenessee Whiskey and Blue Ain’t Your Colour but the lyric just dien’t go the distance ( 3 minutes) and Carried just turned up the ” Carrie ” on it to get it across the finish line .
This is not a radio song , perse , based on the production . Its too demanding and over-the -top . Its not sing-along , dance-along fare …the kind radio and advertisers count on to lull us into numbing submission. Its too much and after one or two listens wev’e heard it all the times we need to . LIVE sitting front row at a Carrie Show ….yeah ..maybe it lights a fire and commands your emotional attention with the volume on eleven , the lights flashing and the band howling while all the young girls wiggling around up front just drink it all in . Its not a message most guys would REALLY get or perhaps even take the time to get ……as unfortunate as that may be to some .
September 5, 2018 @ 7:30 pm
She is Martina McBride II. Never met a song she couldn’t oversing.
September 5, 2018 @ 5:54 pm
Cry Pretty was apparently written before the accident. Carrie said that she went through a lot last year, before the accident, that she said wasn’t ready to talk about yet.
September 6, 2018 @ 8:42 am
Agreed.
September 12, 2018 @ 12:37 pm
It wasn’t a great song… but is it any worse than “Heaven”? “Life Changes”? “Sunrise, Sunset, Repeat?” All those songs are terrible. So why can’t Carrie’s kinda terrible song compete with these songs? Sort of a situation of Carrie is expected to put out an A+ excellent song every time to deserve a top spot at the charts and the guys can put out hot flaming garbage and still make it in the Top 5.
September 5, 2018 @ 3:10 pm
“And If I never hear Carrie Underwood sing until the next time Mobodoon shows up in our world it will be too soon!” — Sleet
September 5, 2018 @ 3:54 pm
I think we’re witnessing a changing of the guard. Not sure if that will be a good thing or a terrible thing, but seriously, take a look at the charts. The artists we’ve been used to seeing on top for the past six years or so are starting to slip. Nashville is fully ready to pass the reigns on to the Kane Brown generation, it seems.
September 5, 2018 @ 4:45 pm
Oh God, say it ain’t so…..
September 5, 2018 @ 7:20 pm
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water….
September 5, 2018 @ 7:25 pm
I think the reason so many female artists say ” f*** country songs ” and go POP ( Carrie , Maren Morris , Kacey etc.. ) is that they have no choice if they want to eat and pay rent . If an artist is female and singing actual COUNTRY MUSIC ( Sarah Shook ) they have two strikes against them where airplay on mainstream is concerned . I don’t blame these artists for singing POP ….I blame them for singing POP and calling it country . We should be ecstatic to this day about the ultimate favour T Swift did for country by leaving it . We should be hopeful that the Cassadee Popes, the Carries , the Marens and Kaceys and Little Big Towns do the same . NOT because many of these acts arent talented artists BUT BECAUSE THEY DON’T SING COUNTRY and shouldn’t be marketed as though they do . Leave country radio to COUNTRY singers rather than forcing yourselves down our throats and trying to exploit us like we’re stupid .
The artists have F***** up the very format that got them to the dance , in many cases , and in playing the foot-in-both-camps game they often wind up in neither . They can’t ‘go home ‘ cuz they not only burned THEIR bridges but they helped burn down the whole COUNTRY music genre . They are stuck in some musical netherworld that doesn’t know how to define , market or ensure long term careers for them .
Loretta never had to cow tow to an ill-informed youth demographic chasing trend on all fronts . She’s STILL singing what she always knew she could best deliver and she has the respect of EVERYONE for doing so .
September 7, 2018 @ 11:25 am
Last night I asked my 67 year old devout Christian mother (long-time country music fan) if she thought Carrie’s “Jesus Take The Wheel” was country, and she said “it’s not country OR Christian. It’s just pop.” Haha
September 5, 2018 @ 4:16 pm
Maybe stop songwriting by committee. It’s epidemic in music today and it’s killing music in the mainstream.
September 5, 2018 @ 5:09 pm
“Cry Pretty” isn’t what I would characterize as one of her better songs, but it’s still surprising and disappointing to see it stumble like this. Especially when worse songs by lesser known male artists are dominating the upper positions on the charts.
It’s not right.
September 6, 2018 @ 6:10 am
First of all – isn’t it a GOOD thing that you don’t have to be an established star to get airplay? Why should Carrie get more airplay than a new artist who released a better, more resonant song?
Also – a lot of those songs by lesser known artists are selling better.
As much as I like this song, if you subtract the initial weeks (plus any boosts she got from awards shows), this has been something of a disaster on the sales front.
As an example, Mitchell Tenpenny’s Drunk Me is #32 on iTunes right now. This is #201.
September 6, 2018 @ 6:33 am
If I were putting together a greatest hits album for Underwood, “Cry Pretty” probably wouldn’t make the cut. I have idea if other fans of her work feel the same way about this track, but with current climate for female artists on country, it’s hard to tell how much of the songs failure to reach the top is due to it being a mediocre track or because of her gender. My comment about lesser known artists is not to say they aren’t deserving of chart success, but pondering whether their higher chart positions and staying power aren’t at least in part because they are male. I’m not speaking in absolutes, merely posing the question.
Weak single? Gender bias? Celebrity fatigue? A shift in the musical landscape away from big, over produced songs? I really don’t know.
September 5, 2018 @ 6:50 pm
Am I the only one who thinks it’s strange that the song tanked after she called out country radio??
September 5, 2018 @ 7:47 pm
Those things were basically simultaneous. The interview happened last week, and the charts are reporting last weeks numbers. I do think that the single struggling gave Carrie Underwood the latitude to speak out, and in a good way. But who knows, maybe she would have said what she said even if “Cry Pretty” went #1.
September 5, 2018 @ 8:22 pm
She doesn’t watch the charts and has said that several times. I’m sure she didn’t even know Cry Pretty was done at radio when she did the interview
September 6, 2018 @ 9:51 am
I don’t know ANYONE who isn’t aware of the state of their ‘investments ‘. The material artists and labels release to commercial radio is almost COMPLETELY determined by charts , current trends , audience reaction, celebrity and ……..did I mention TRENDS ? NOBODY takes uneducated ‘risks’ in this biz anymore . EVERYBODY is watching the performance of a single or an album and releasing safe product . The artistry and adventurous spirit of the 60’s has been gone for over 50 years . That’s why everything mostly sounds so generic and ….well……bland .
September 7, 2018 @ 11:48 am
Exactly. Laser-focused, revenue-maximizing “research” became the obsession of the music biz in the 80s, and it’s been that way ever since.
September 6, 2018 @ 8:44 am
It was struggling before she spoke out. This was the second push from her label after it stalled higher up the charts the first time.
September 5, 2018 @ 7:45 pm
I have been a fan of Carrie’s from the beginning. I respect how guarded she is as an artist, not constantly putting things out to keep her name in the headlines. I have a comments about the past six months of her career. I think the bombastic style of singing is starting to get old, much like what happened to Martina McBride several years ago. We all know Carrie can sing the phone book. But I would have loved to have seen her first single with a new label be more substance less screaming the notes. Second, I think the press pushed her accident down our throats to the point that we were more interested in her “new” face instead of a new single (no fault of Carrie’s). Third, “Cry Pretty” is a song that seemed overplayed within a few weeks of its release. That type of song is not going to be everyone’s jam. Fourth, the news of her pregnancy on the same day as a year-away tour seemed too much news at one time. I look forward to seeing the show, but do not like having to buy tickets 13 months in advance. Why not wait until we get familiar with a few singles, let us know a tour is coming and put the show on sale at the end of the year for the holiday season? I have listed these items because it seems several things have been mishandled by a new label and dealing with the genre’s most dependable female talent.
September 5, 2018 @ 7:58 pm
I agree with all of this. The whole face thing became so overplayed. Releasing baby news with tour dates nearly two years from now felt very forced. And the timing has been off with this release from the beginning. They announced the album too early, released the single too early, people got tired of it but they still needed it to sustain up until the album release date. Still, no reason to pull support from a single two weeks too early.
Like you said, this is Carrie Underwood, and one of the last women country radio will play. You’ve got to hit on all cylinders here, have the timing down pat, don’t make any mistakes, let her stand on her talent, not tabloid fodder about her face. One of the reasons females are failing is because the industry is failing them.
There’s still a lot of cards to be played for the “Cry Pretty” album though.
September 6, 2018 @ 9:46 am
I wondered if the announcement of the tour was to coincide with CMA nominations. The second ballot was sent to members on August 6 and Carrie made her big announcements just two days later on August 8. This type of announcement would make voters take notice and it would be fresh in their minds and while the tour is next year….it could give them a reason to consider her for 2018.
A new record label and PR team….it’s been interesting to see how this era of her career is playing out.
September 5, 2018 @ 8:36 pm
I honestly think they were trying to stretch out her pregnancy which is why they announced the album so early. They should have pulled Cry Pretty a month ago and released the second single instead of letting Cry Pretty stall for that month.
September 5, 2018 @ 8:51 pm
So if she really end up stalling in the charts with her next singles and further, who do you think will replace her as the only solo female in mainstream that can go into both charts’ top 10? I mean, is there any pop-country female that can continue the tradition of having at least one or two women on the radio that can also land a hit? ‘Cause it’ll be a sad sausage fest if there won’t be any woman on higher spots of the chart and on radio’s playlists. I mean, Bebe is a female, but she’s so out of place and I dont think she wanna pursue country-labeled pop music anyway so we cant expect her to have another #1 on country, not like we want her to but if she want she probably can.
September 5, 2018 @ 10:12 pm
If radio does indeed use this to curb Carrie’s radio presence, do you think this has any affect on women getting good touring opportunities? Carrie is unquestionably the biggest female touring artist in country, and is the only one able to compete with the biggest touring men right now. But if even she cannot get radio play, what hope does that give new female acts? Does it impact their ability to get onto big ticket tours?
Because as I see it, right now people can just acknowledge there’s a radio issue, but say that there’s at least a chance for women to get on the radio. Headliners (and their management) can take an artist like Lauren or Carly out on the road and know they have had at least minor success on the radio, so they aren’t total unknowns. But if everyone starts seeing that first Miranda, and now Carrie (who was the last major possibility for consistent radio presence) can’t get consistent success, doesn’t it make it more of a risk to fill a tour with unknown women who will likely never be able to gain a huge fanbase through radio play?
I don’t know, just random thoughts. But I will give props to Carrie for taking both Maddie and Tae and Runaway June out with her next year.
September 6, 2018 @ 5:19 am
I’d give “props” to Carrie if she was taking out women on tour that have actually paid some dues and deserved to be going out with her like Ashley McBryde, Sunny Sweeney, or lord in heaven forbid Sarah Shook.
Maddie & Tae? Really? They played my neighborhood festival this past Sunday……….I couldn’t make it but it was a built in crowd that would’ve went if anyone was playing. That’s the second time in 3 months they played a neighborhood fest by my house. Runaway June? Really? I saw them open for Pardi/Midland twice and they were ok but where’s their great album that says they deserve to be on this tour? They have one song out (that doesn’t appeal to men I can assure you) and an EP dropping this week. These acts get paid little or nothing (maybe expenses) to be on that tour. Maybe even PAYING to be on it.
September 5, 2018 @ 11:02 pm
Maybe I’m just a cold witch, but I don’t feel sorry for most of the ones running their mouths about not having radio success. They make a living with music, good or bad. Some of them have never worked a customer service job even 6 months of their lives surrounded by idiots. Maybe that’s what they need to do instead.
September 6, 2018 @ 12:10 am
With all due respect Lindsey, I work with a lot of young writer/artists here at my studio and have known up- and coming -artists for years . With few exceptions , most are indeed working customer service jobs ( waiting tables , bar-tending , taking classes etc )…particularly in these times as the paying club gigs are becoming fewer and further between almost by the week .
You cannot make a living in the biz any more unless you tour ,tour, tour ( often at your own expense if you aren’t affiliated ) and sell merch and music out on the road . There are no club gigs the way there once were , no record stores . The female artists who are being ignored and calling out the industry are most often artists contracted to a label …so yes ….the label covers promotional and recording costs as an investment . But they are still in-it-to-win- it and the label expects that of their signings. You are working for the label but recording , promotion and touring costs are still costs that have to be justified , recouped and ultimately shown to be a profitable investment for ALL . Radio isn’t helping in that respect where female artists are concerned . And yes , we can certainly make the argument that the music is not good . But the male artists arguable turn out WORSE product and still get played . Miranda’s KEEPER OF THE FLAME showing so poorly is a great example , I think , of a very good substance-driven song that is ignored in favor of something far inferior by a Sam Hunt , Kane Brown or Keith Urban .
What I don’t really understand , however , is why labels don’t get on board in a more ‘ hardball’ kind of way ? Why don’t the labels who’ve signed female artists support them, when it comes to airplay, with a bit of backbone …use some ‘leverage’ …? It seems that no one has any vision or actual long-term business sense . Whatever sells is ‘ good enough ‘ …pop , country , r and b….doesn’t matter if an ‘ artist’ has any talent or staying power as long as HE is trendy RIGHT NOW and sells RIGHT NOW .
September 6, 2018 @ 5:41 am
It’s a market-driven business like most others. Although I can’t stand artists like Hunt and FGL, if that is what the market wants, it’s business.
If one takes up pottery as a career and then realizes that there is not a market to fully support their chosen profession, well, they chose that profession. They do not have the right to compel the public to support them with their purchases if the public is not interested regardless of how noble a career it might be.
I agree there is a fairness issue. But there is usually some type of issue in every field.
In a similar vein, it’s kind of like the music artist that takes up the career, by their own choice, and one of the first songs they put out is written about the woes of the road. Well, they chose that field. You gotta sleep in the bed you made.
Lastly, I tire of all this gender complaining that we read. Maybe we should be reminded that artists like Urban’s fan base if hugely female. As the female audience has grown, so have the acts like Hunt, FGL, Urban, etc. So yes, women have a greater influence today in country music than ever before. Unfortunately, the influence is coming from the audience that demands this soda-pop music. And that audience is increasingly female.
Maybe the Cry Pretty crybaby needs to address that issue. After all, any business that wants increasing revenue will cater to the audience. I may not like the product, but I cannot complain about the companies for being in the business of business.
Conclusion: If there is not a market for what you are doing, do something else. It’s not our job to keep pottery makers employed. “No disrespect to pottery makers.”
September 6, 2018 @ 10:29 am
good points , wayne , but I would disagree with your thoughts in the ‘ its not our job ‘ department.
I think our ‘job’ , or mandate , if you will , as a society is to keep cultural values intact and that applies , in particular , to the arts and education . Its our job to ensure kids get an education …..so we legislate accordingly . Its our job to ensure that society is healthy so we monitor and provide current information on nutrition , medicine , fitness and such . Its our ‘job’ to ensure symphony orchestras are funded and given venues where music /arts deemed culturally/artistically significant will survive regardless of commercial trends .
I think the quote at the top of SCM’s home page is important to understand . when we sacrifice the arts ….when we pander to the lowest common denominator …., we affect our culture in ways we can’t always determine . when we ply our kids with unhealthy food options because they make money for companies , we not only rob kids/people of the benefits of good health but we rob society as well , in terms of social and actual $$$$ costs associated with restoring health and/or combating diseases associated with poor nutrition .
when we allow commercial music …or ANY music , for that matter , to disrespect people or genders or promote racist viewpoints , we undermine our values and our culture . it IS our job as a society to ensure this isn’t happening .
perhaps there isn’t a viable commercial market for pottery makers , perhaps there isn’t a viable market for many of the arts including , arguably , ACTUAL COUNTRY MUSIC …but it IS our job as a society , i believe , to ensure these arts exist as inspirations to people to strive for better and as reminders of a culture’s greatness in terms of achievements rather than a trend’s popularity . Perhaps more should be done to ensure these artistic values , these cultural achievements should be protected and promoted based on those values ?
September 6, 2018 @ 5:57 am
Well it is a crappy song…..in a MOR Barry Manilow way.
September 6, 2018 @ 8:24 am
I’ve never been that impressed with the song. I prefer Jason Eady’s “cry pretty” instead hands down. That song hits me hard every time hear it.
September 6, 2018 @ 8:25 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu3mokfDOGE
September 6, 2018 @ 4:43 pm
It is very unfortunate that the most Country-sounding song of her career is the worst performing one. I’m not clear on how much fan support for the charting factors in, but I know a lot of her fans (since A.I.) are not ‘Country’ fans. Her success to them has come from being a ‘Pop-Country’ Artist–that’s what those fans have liked about her. The die-hards will probably (always) support it, but she’ll lose others if the song is ‘too Country’ to them. If she did put out a whole album of Pure Country she gains musical integrity, fans of this Site and others fighting for the Genre, but loses the masses who like her ‘Pop’ sound. Gain integrity, and (unfortunately) lose the commercial success.
I think Albert addressed this very well yesterday.
The tour will probably be a sell-out, a shame though for the distant tour dates. I don’t want to wait that long, too long the anticipation of it. I get she planned it for after the baby arrival, but then having to cart the kid around in a tour bus, it seems ‘Junior’ picked a bad time for ‘Ma’s’ career.
I get she planned it for after the baby arrival, but then having to cart the kid around on the tour bus–it seems ‘Junior’ picked a bad time for ‘Ma’s’ career.
September 6, 2018 @ 4:57 pm
I didn’t mean to include the last part again, these keys have a mind of their own sometimes.
I didn’t mean to pick on ‘Junior’ so much. 🙂
September 6, 2018 @ 8:52 pm
She has posted clips from like half of her new songs on Twitter and they’re VERY poppy. And I feel like people have always given her more of the benefit of the doubt when it comes to these sounds compared to other younger modern female country acts, but yeah. She still has a nice voice, I’ll give her that lol…..
September 7, 2018 @ 2:59 am
Possibly people are tired of her caterwauling? I stopped listening long ago.
September 7, 2018 @ 8:36 am
Trigger said:
“But once radio sours on an artist, it rarely goes back.”
This is true in the pop genre too. The first thing that comes to mind for me is Mariah Carey when she had her 1995 album “Fantasy” that had a few #1 Hot 100 hits and really good callout for all the singles, then her 1997 album came along and callout was just OK, not terrible, for the “Honey,” “Butterfly” and “My All” singles, thus those songs got less airplay than her previous singles, but still decent airplay (all 3 peaked in the top 16 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart). After that though, she never had big success at radio again, never got higher than #8 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, until 8 years later when she had a huge comeback with “We Belong Together.”
September 7, 2018 @ 9:02 am
Incidentally, “Honey” and “My All” from Mariah’s 1997 album still got pushed to #1 on the airplay-and-single-sales based Hot 100 despite “flopping” at radio due to the retail cassette/CD singles for those being heavily discounted at 49 cents instead of costing the standard $2-3 back then. Same with “Heartbreaker” and “Thank God I Found You” in 1999-2000, “flops” at radio, #1 on the Hot 100 due to being discounted to 49-99 cents. Jennifer Lopez’s “If You Had My Love” in 1999 also got to #1 partly thanks to having 49 cent singles, although it got a ton of airplay.
September 7, 2018 @ 1:46 pm
Sadly the new Kane Brown song that was released today is better than the new Carrie Underwood song that came today. I was always afraid she would go down the road.. I hope she doesn’t go full on Thomas Rhett club pop. That would show that she’s just chasing trends like most others..
September 8, 2018 @ 1:54 pm
You know my main concern right now is for the health of her and her baby’s. I would love to see Cry Pretty and specially her other new song Love Wins to be in the top 10 but none of that matters more than her and her baby’s health. Right now Carrie is dealing with an illness that has caused her to cancel a few of her scheduled performances there in the UK. I am asking for us all to keep Carrie and the baby in prayer. As for the issue of women not being heard on the radio as often as the men are is just plain wrong!!!!
September 9, 2018 @ 8:22 am
Carrie Underwood is now at Capital records, home of Luke Bryan. Interesting. Lady antebellum left Capital records recently for Big Machine. Carrie said in recent interviews she had to do a lot of “Soul Searching” last year. She’s pregnant, going on tour and her latest single is a dud. This combination is NOT GOOD. There’s always a back story. Just hope Carrie Underwood has the support she needs with the stress she will endure.
September 9, 2018 @ 3:52 pm
The issue of women and equality in Country music has to be dealt with, and now, but I don’t think that is the case here. If her songs all did well before this, up to the last couple of years, it’s hard to believe, that quickly, that her songs would be affected by this issue. The last album was released in Oct. 2015, and singles thru 2016 went #1 or #2, and as all of her albums, it debut at #1. This happened just 2-3 yrs ago. If she has been immune to problems other female Country Artists face, her whole career, up to the last album and singles out that recently, it doesn’t seem likely ‘all of a sudden’ the issue would affect her songs. Esp take into cons. ‘Cry Pretty’ was a different song from her, fans weren’t used to, or (unfortunately) didn’t like as much, that more ‘Country’ sound, esp. as a single on the radio. It could be a ‘wake up call’ though, that everything she puts out wont soar to the top like expected.
I think the Album to be released Friday will go to #1. It’s been 3 years since she released an Album, fans have been waiting. Other singles to do as well as before, if with her ‘usual sound’ fans have liked and expected.
September 12, 2018 @ 8:17 pm
No but it could have been affected because until now she’s not really spoken up about the issues of inequality. Now she’s talking about it out in the public arena. I also wonder if the media’s hype over her fall and resulting scar had a negative impact. The media sensationalized that story so badly that when Carrie turned up looking normal with only a very faint scar a lot of people hated on her. Like it wasn’t her fault that the media made it a storm in a teacup, but I do think it had a negative affect. I didn’t like the music video for the song, I felt it was too commercial and too perfect. For a song like that and especially when you are trying to connect on a personal level you need to be more honest and personal. A more intimate video would have been better suited. Love Wins has a much better music video to go with the song.
September 10, 2018 @ 8:11 am
Seems like everybody is sick of her.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/nfl-fans-hated-carrie-underwood’s-new-‘sunday-night-football’-theme-song/ar-BBN6LIX?li=BBnb4R7
September 12, 2018 @ 4:10 pm
To Trigger, (if you have time)
I was wondering if you heard about the CMT Awards, how they are to feature female Artists prominently. I’ve read a lot of fan disagreement to it, kind of like the article you wrote a few mos. ago on quotas at festivals.
The scroll-news at the top of your Site, saying you prefer Albums released on Tues. I rem they used to be–wondering why you prefer that.
Unrelated to this, but yesterday was hoping you were featuring a ‘Sept.11th’ article. So much music released at that time was related to it. I know a lot of years have passed now. I never checked out this Site til a few mos ago, maybe you featured it in the past.
September 19, 2018 @ 1:14 pm
At this point in Carrie Underwood’s career especially after releasing that ridiculously dumb and corny ‘Dirty Laundry’ song in which she tries to sound like Kei$ha, I wish someone would write a song and dedicate it to her. The title should be: ‘Jesus Take The Microphone’ …
September 19, 2018 @ 3:06 pm
To Trigger/Kyle,
I don’t know if you have help on this Site, or do it all yourself, but Thank You for all of your hard work. I mentioned the CMT Awards–Artist of the Year, bec it seemed like the article you wrote on quotas at festivals. A lot of fan backlash already, saying it’s unfair to the male Country Artists to promote women above them at this award show. And wanted to know why you don’t like albums coming out on Friday, preferring Tues. Surprised you didn’t review the Album. I wanted to know what you thought of it. Interesting review by RS, and who gave it 3.5/ out of 5 stars. Would rather have known what you thought, though. I do tend to think of questions, don’t want to be annoying about it at all. Please rem we only ask you bec. we want your opinion. Not sure if I shouldn’t ask anymore, or if you just didn’t want to respond to these. Please cons. issue a statement on asking you questions, or maybe cons. an open Q & A to you, like an ongoing article. Sincerely–Thank You again for the hard work you put into this Site, that makes it enjoyable to come to.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:15 pm
Hey Nan,
This is a one-man operation, so unfortunately I can’t cover every topic. Also last week I was attending AmericanaFest, so I’ve missed some topics.
I may broach the CMT thing at some point.
I agree the release date should be on Tuesday not Friday. I wrote extensively about the Friday release day when it was changed in 2015. Here’s the article:
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/a-guide-to-the-global-release-day-for-independent-artists-and-their-fans/
I still am planning to review the new Carrie Underwood record, but I wanted to broach this subject independent of the album review. Since it’s from a major label, I didn’t get a preview copy and am still in the listening/composition phase of my review.
Thanks for reading.
September 19, 2018 @ 4:04 pm
Hi Trigger, thanks for the reply. Glad you are planning to review the Album. Didn’t know you covered the release date in the past, curious what you say about it. (Movies come out on Friday). It sounds like you can be doing a lot at once, wasn’t aware of just how busy, will keep it in mind when questions strike—no telling when or how many, ha,ha 🙂 Maybe consider an open Q & A to you, as a running article. The questions could probably get a little crazy, my first would be, why do you call yourself that. Maybe things would get too carried away. Thanks for making this an enjoyable Site to come to, there always seems to be something for everyone.
September 28, 2018 @ 9:55 am
What exactly makes Cry Pretty a “country” song? The use of “kain’t” instead of can’t a couple of times?
no nonono no woo!