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 being released.
Country isn’t the only music community scratching its head while a fairly innocuous and forgettable pop song rewrites history by hitting record marks for its time at #1 on a genre specific chart, or a performer or group who doesn’t even seem to belong in the genre dominates that genre’s most important chart metrics.
Music journalism has been integrated by acolytes of the gender bias in language school who believe music should be dealt with using the same set of guidelines as the business professional world. But there are multiple dilemmas this creates in the world of creative expression that is fundamentally different from the professional world.
It remains stupefying why pop star Maren Morris continues to be portrayed as a leader, feminist, and groundbreaker, etc. in country music by fawning media members who’ve been rendered starry-eyed simply because they’re find guilty pleasure in some of her tunes.
Are you tired of reading about Garth Brooks? Well tough, because all of a sudden he’s making major moves that could have a big impact on country music, and in a positive manner. Garth’s most country-sounding song in 2 decades was the most added song on country radio in the last 3 years.
It can’t be expressed vehemently enough how rare to downright non-existent actual criticism of music from country music “critics” and journalists is in the marketplace at the moment. But AJ McLean and “Back Porch Bottle Service” has inexplicably brought out a surprisingly critical consensus among country music “critics.”
It’s 24 weeks atop the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for Bebe Rexha’s collaboration with Florida Georgia Line, “Meant To Be.” This means the song first recorded and released solely as a pop single has now tied Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” for the 2nd longest-running #1 single in the Billboard Hot Country Songs history.
Being an independent music artist is not easy. Adversity lurks everywhere, and the cards are stacked against you. But it’s nice to have auspicious enclaves of support to help you upon your journey. For many years, a small nonprofit radio station based in Seattle called KEXP has been that very thing for bands.
After the #1 success Chris Stapleton had with his previous single “Broken Halos,” his camp has called an audible last minute, and decided to switch up the next song they will send to radio. The rocking and heavy “Midnight Train to Memphis” from his latest album From A Room: Vol. 2 was supposed to be the next single.
The coverage of Kacey Musgraves’ ‘Golden Hour’ has displayed such an aberration of truths, perspective, knowledge of the country and roots realm, and in some instances even common sense, it illustrates a widespread embarrassment for the entire music media pool, and the journalism industry in general.
Miranda Lambert will release her latest single, and the 4th from her current album The Weight of These Wings when “Keeper of the Flame” gets shipped to radio April 11th. Likely targeted for a single from the album originally, it first appeared a few weeks ahead of The Weight of These Wings as a teaser track.
Well it finally happened. America’s largest radio station owner iHeartMedia filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the wee hours of Wednesday night/Thursday morning. But just like the recent Cumulus Media bankruptcy, the fact that this is a Chapter 11 means little will change in the radio landscape.
Zac Brown just can’t help himself. You can’t fault the guy for wanting to follow his musical passions, if in fact that’s the motivation here and not just padding his pockets. But he’s broken a promise to country fans once again by releasing a song that is admittedly not country to country radio.
The promise of technology and its interfacing with music is a great equalization of the playing field, both opening up the creative possibilities for artists, and the ability to discover new music for fans. For too long the stuffy and outmoded system of radio feeding us what they wanted us to hear reigned over music […]
“People can tell the difference between (B.S.) and not (B.S.). I’ll second the motion to say there shouldn’t be rap in country music,” Randy Rogers says. “But I will go on the record saying I like Kendrick Lamar. I like my rap. But when I think of country music, I think of Merle Haggard.”
On Tuesday, January 16th, The Americana Music Association launched its brand new charting system with the help of technology company CDX. The new system will more easily and more accurately report the activity on Americana’s radio stations and shows across the Americana reporting network.
The expansionism in the Texas Music scene continues, and it has just acquired its first ever 100,000-watt signal. “The Armadillo” out of Amarillo, Texas will be switching signals on Monday, January 15th from its current home of 107.1 to its new home of 95.7, which will boost the station’s signal from 5,000-watts.
Yes, this topic again. And if you don’t like reading about it, tough titty. Perhaps if mainstream country radio put out a modicum of effort to even try to hide the fact they’re outright excluding certain artists from radio play strictly due to their gender, we could shut the hell up about all of this.
For the majority of 2017, Saving Country Music has been engaged in a private war against the increasingly intrusive restrictions being placed upon music journalists—and photographers especially—who take time out of their evenings and weekends, leave their families at home, to cover live music events.
The Americana Music Association has announced their 2017 Top 100 Albums of the Year based on reporting to the Americana Airplay Chart from Americana stations during the period of Dec. 6, 2016 through Dec. 4, 2017. The chart can be a good way to see what you might have missed in the year of Americana.
iHeartMedia will likely be filing for its own bankruptcy soon enough, but the situation is so difficult for the radio giant, they can’t even come to a resolution with creditors to file for bankruptcy protection at the moment. Cumulus Media used Chapter 11 to resolve some $1 billion dollars in overhanging debt, iHeartMedia’s debut is a whopping $7.7 billion.
The first shoe has fallen in what promises to be a prolonged period of massive reorganization and debt restructuring in America’s radio landscape, as one of the largest radio station owners has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Cumulus Media has filed voluntary petitions to reorganize under Chapter 11.
iHeartMedia is the biggest radio station owner in America, and continues to paint a very bleak picture of its ability to do business moving forward, calling into question the legitimacy of the entire radio industry in an ever-changing media market.
Carly Pearce gives one true hope for the future of women on country radio as her debut single “Every Little Thing” hits #1 on the radio charts this week. And the success Aaron Watson continues to have with his song “Outta Style” doesn’t stop, which was unthinkable from a truly independent artist in previous years.