Dispelling the Myth that Country Radio Rejected Beyoncé
Beyoncé’s new album Cowboy Carter will be released on March 29th, and accompanying the release you can expect to see a rash of reporting about the album that involves country music and race. One of the regular refrains in the reporting so far has been how country radio rejected Beyoncé’s song “Texas Hold ‘Em,” or at least rejected it initially. This is an important linchpin to much of the reporting on Beyoncé’s supposed entry into country music because it is cited as evidence of racism in the country genre.
But just like many of the other details in the reporting on Beyoncé and country music, the proclamations that country radio initially rejected Beyoncé’s singles are verifiably false. On the contrary, country radio embraced “Texas Hold “Em” in a manner many country artists don’t enjoy.
Both a timeline of the events (see bottom), as well as a basic knowledge of how mainstream country radio works is important to understanding how all of this transpired.
– – – – – – – – –
Beyoncé’s songs “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” were released right after a Super Bowl commercial aired featuring Beyoncé on February 11th, 2024. Though many rushed to characterize the songs as country, there was no specific indication from Beyoncé or her label that the songs were indeed country songs. In fact, there was initial indication that they weren’t.
When “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” were sent to streaming services such as Spotify, Apple, Amazon, etc., the metadata for the songs labeled them as “pop.”
What is “metadata”? It’s basic information that is embedded in a musical track so streaming services and everybody else knows key details about the song. This includes an ISRC, or International Standard Recording Code, which is like the fingerprint of a song. The metadata also includes songwriter and producer data, whether the song has explicit lyrics in it, as well as the genre.
In the case of “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the genre originally described in the metadata was “pop.” Many streaming services do not publicly display genre information for tracks. They simply use it behind-the-scenes for playlist consideration, etc. However, Apple does list genre information, and “Texas Hold ‘Em” and the other Beyoncé track “19 Carriages” were both listed as “pop.”
Also note that “Texas Hold ‘Em” comes with an “E” beside it. This indicates that the song contains explicit lyrics. This would also play a role in how country radio initially handled the song.
Before most were even thinking about if country radio would play “Texas Hold ‘Em,” this initial slotting of the Beyoncé songs as pop came with its own backlash, controversy, and claims of racism and gatekeeping against both Apple Music, and Beyoncé’s own label. Apple was immediately swarmed by members of Beyoncé’s notorious Stan army, the Beyhive, for saying the songs were pop.
But as this was happening, others stepped into clarify that it was Beyoncé’s own label—Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records—that had marked the songs as pop. So then the ire turned to the label, which also began to receive pressure.
Eventually, the metadata was changed to “country,” and appeared to propagate to Apple by February 12th, though it may have taken longer for other networks or services.
But even after the initial release of “Texas Hold ‘Em,” the song was not available for radio play to country stations, and for a host of reasons. First, the version of the song released to the public was marked “explicit,” meaning that it would be against the law to play it on public airwaves. Any radio station who played “Texas Hold ‘Em” uncensored could face fines or the loss of their license by the FCC.
For a track to be played on country radio, it has to be serviced to country radio, meaning the track has to be sent to radio stations through a distribution service such as Play MPE. These companies are important because they distribute clean versions of explicit tracks, along with helping both the radio stations and charting organizations such as Billboard to keep track of who is adding and playing songs on their station.
Similarly to how Beyoncé’s own label Parkwood Entertainment were the ones that initially marked “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” as pop, they also initially serviced the tracks to pop radio, but did not service them to country radio, as confirmed by Billboard. Not only is this the second indication that perhaps Beyoncé and her camp did not consider “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” country songs, it also put country radio a step behind adding the songs compared to pop.
As Billboard went on to report, not until pressure was mounting on country radio stations to play Beyoncé’s songs did Parkwood Entertainment work to get “Texas Hold ‘Em” to country stations. This happened on the afternoon of Tuesday, February 13th. But even with servicing the song to country radio, this doesn’t mean it will be automatically added by country radio stations, or even considered for play.
As Melinda Newman writing for Billboard explained at the time, “Country radio has traditionally been reluctant to play songs that aren’t serviced to them or then actively promoted by the label.”
Beyond the date that a song is actually serviced to a radio station, you also have the official “adds” date. The adds date is when the label formally requests for radio stations to add a particular song. In the case of Beyoncé and “Texas Hold ‘Em,” it was announced on Wednesday, February 14th that the official adds date would be February 20th.
See a full timeline for the release of “Texas Hold ‘Em” at the bottom of the article.
Radio stations do not have to wait for the official “adds” date to add a track to their playlist, but the point of setting and adhering to an adds date is multi-fold.
First, the top-added tracks on country radio for a given week get aggregated into their own chart showing who has the most-added tracks. Going #1 on this chart or even getting in the Top 5 is usually considered a good sign for a song. This accolade is then often advertised in radio trade publications such as Country Aircheck to highlight that a song is receiving high consideration and traction on the format.
Another reason for adhering to an “adds” date is this allows an artist and/or their label to plan promotion around the track, and also gives radio station program directors and DJs an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the track and choose how and when they want to play it. It also gives the track time to prove its worth via streaming/download consumption before programmers decide how light or heavy to add it to their rotations.
Long story short, Beyoncé’s own label was asking country radio stations to not start playing “Texas Hold ‘Em” until February 20th.
But well before that official adds date, country radio was being attacked as racist for not playing the track. Yet ironically, there actually were some radio stations that added “Texas Hold ‘Em” almost immediately, even before the track had been officially serviced to them, let alone before the official adds date.
According to Billboard, “In the first 24-plus hours of release (from Sunday night through the end of Monday), eight reporters to Billboard’s Country Airplay chart played ‘Texas Hold ‘Em,’ … according to Mediabase.”
Nonetheless, there was already a full-throated revolt happening upon country radio for refusing to play the song, including accusations of racism and gatekeeping. On February 14th, Forbes posted an article titled “Beyoncé’s New Songs Aren’t Getting Played On Country Radio — Despite Streaming Success.” The article specifically cites Billboard‘s statistics that only eight of the radio stations that report to Mediabase had added the song, characterizing it as a shocking statistic that spoke to country radio’s refusal to play the song.
But as explained previously, the adds date for “Texas Hold “Em” wasn’t until February 20th—six days after the Forbes article was published. Nonetheless, this “only 8 country radio stations” stat became a rallying cry for country radio’s supposed refusal of Beyoncé, with scores of other outlets going on to cite this statistic.
Also confusing the issue was the very viral, yet very anecdotal story of a lone country radio station in Oklahoma initially claiming that they wouldn’t play “Texas Hold “Em”—before reversing course almost immediately. A X/Twitter user named Justin reached out to KYKC in Oklahoma on February 13th to request they play “Texas Hold ‘Em.” The user got back the response, “We do not play Beyoncé on KYKC as we are a country music station.”
This response sent off a social media firestorm that reached all the way to national news, with hundreds of articles and news stories published about it. But as we know now, on the morning of February 13th with the email exchange between the X/Twitter user and KYKC happened, “Texas Hold ‘Em” had not been serviced to country radio yet, only pop radio. It was also nearly a week away from officially going for “adds” on the country radio format.
“We initially refused to play it in the same manner if someone requested us to play the Rolling Stones on our country station,” general manager Roger Harris said in a statement on February 14th. “Fact is we play Beyonce’ on TWO of our other stations and love her…she is an icon. We just didn’t know about the song….then when we found out about it, we tried to get the song….which we did and we have already played it 3 times on YKC, our country station. We also play her on 105.5, KXFC-FM and KADA-FM 0n 99.3.”
In other words, the primary country radio station at the heart of the controversy played “Texas Hold “Em” before the song had even been officially serviced to country radio, facilitated by the fact that the station already had it in their system due to pop sister stations already playing the song. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to play it at all, because it hadn’t been serviced to them yet.
Nonetheless, the media firestorm that ensued characterized the entirety of country music rejecting Beyoncé. It also created an environment of fear throughout country radio that if the song was not added, any country radio station could be the next one on the national news being accused of racism for not playing the track. This made adding Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” on country radio a compulsory action throughout the format, irrespective if a program director or DJ believed it was country, or what their listeners wanted to hear.
On February 19th—a day before the official “adds” date for “Texas Hold ‘Em,”—MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin once again cited Beyoncé’s original country radio stat of “only eight country stations” from Billboard aggregated seven days previous and said, “Let’s be very clear here. This is just the latest flash point of the long and ugly history of racism within the country music establishment.”
What happened when “Texas Hold ‘Em” officially went for “adds” on country radio in February 20th? It became the most added track on the format, with 75 of the 157 reporting stations adding the song according to Mediabase. Lo and behold, just like is hoped whenever you set an adds date, “Texas Hold ‘Em” did so well, Beyoncé’s label used the moment to promote the track.
But even with Beyoncé getting the coveted “#1 Most Added” crown and continued adds since February 20th, that has not stopped the misrepresentation that country music is gatekeeping Beyoncé due to racism, and that she is still not being played on country radio.
On February 28th—eight days after “Texas Hold ‘Em” became the “most added” song on country radio—a petition was started on MoveOn.org by Jensine Gomez titled, “Stop the racism and gatekeeping! Play Beyoncé’s new country songs on your radio stations NOW!” The petition was then picked up as a news story by The Hill and other media outlets.
On March 8th, The Hill once again cited the original “only 8 country radio stations” statistic of Beyoncé’s radio play right after the song had been released instead of updated numbers. Meanwhile, the petition that now has over 28,000 signatures and counting states in its grievances, “First, Apple Music categorized the songs in the ‘Pop music’ category when the songs are clearly country,” once again giving into the falsehood that it was Apple calling the tracks pop, not Beyoncé’s label.
The petition and the reporting surrounding it underscore that even as Beyoncé is being supported at country radio more than many country artists, the falsehood that she isn’t being supported at radio at all persists.
As of March 25th, “Texas Hold ‘Em” was at #29 on the Mediabase country airplay chart, up six spots from the previous week, speaking to the top-level traction for the song. It often takes months for a single to crack the Top 30 on country radio unless it is from a top-level performer such as Luke Combs or Morgan Wallen.
Meanwhile, in the midst of claims of racism at country radio, Black country artist Kane Brown also scored his 11th #1 song at country radio on March 11th with “I Can Feel It.” Though it’s fair to highlight how Black and Brown artists have historically struggled at country radio, eleven #1 singles by Kane Brown underscores that Black performers are not going entirely unrepresented, and characterizing it as such is an element of Black erasure.
The next stop on the Beyoncé timeline was March 19th. This was the day that Beyoncé released a statement for the first time about the album Cowboy Carter, and revealed the cover art. In the statement, Beyoncé states categorically, “This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.” She also goes on to say that she took the time to “bend and blend genres together to create this body of work.”
Overwhelmingly, country fans have been saying that they do not believe that Beyoncé’s songs are country. Now, Beyoncé is claiming they are not country, and that they “bend and blend genres together” at the most.
When you combine this with the knowledge that the two initial tracks were labeled as pop by Beyoncé’s own label, then were serviced to pop radio exclusively instead of country, it legitimately poses the question on if the whole “Beyoncé goes country” narrative isn’t a myth that has been pushed forward by Beyoncé Stans, and facilitated by the media not properly vetting and scrutinizing the prevailing narrative.
Heading into the Super Bowl, speculation was already swirling that Beyoncé’s new album would be country. But it was just that: speculation. It is Beyoncé who is claiming this “ain’t a Country album,” and it’s an insult to Beyoncé’s artistry and artistic intent to insinuate that it is, and to try and compartmentalize her music in a country box. This is very likely why Beyoncé took the time to clarify these matters, and on the point of genre specifically in her March 19th statement.
At this point, the curse is cast. The idea that Beyoncé’s new songs and new album are country is so widespread and pervasive, you’d be considered crazy to say otherwise, even though that is exactly what Beyoncé has said herself. There is no arguing this point in popular culture or media. But it is entirely possible that the whole “Beyoncé goes country” story is one giant canard.
Either way, idea that country radio did not support Beyoncé—either initially or right now—most certainly is false.
A Beyoncé / Country Radio Timeline
- February 11th – Beyoncé releases “Texas Hold “Em” and “16 Carriages” labeled as pop.
- February 12th – Tracks labeled as pop are serviced to pop radio exclusively.
- February 12th – Tracks metadata switched from “pop” to “country.”
- February 13th – MORNING – Oklahoma radio station KYKC called racist for not playing Beyoncé tracks.
- February 13th – AFTERNOON – KYKC begins to play Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
- February 14th – AFTERNOON – Beyoncé’s label services “Texas Hold ‘Em” to country radio.
- February 14th – AFTERNOON – Beyoncé’s label announces Feb. 20th as “Texas Hold ‘Em” official adds date on country radio.
- February 19th – Country music called racist by MSNBC for not adding “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
- February 20th – “Texas Hold ‘Em” officially added to country radio, becomes #1 most added song.
- February 28th – Petition launched to demand country radio play Beyoncé songs.
- March 19th – In first statement about new album, Beyoncé says, “This ain’t a Country album. This is a “Beyoncé” album.“
Carter Burger
March 26, 2024 @ 8:30 am
“country radio embraced “Texas Hold “Em” in a manner many country artists don’t enjoy.”
And they did it in order to avoid what’s happening now. Country radio was gonna be called a bunch of racists no matter what happened. It was all part of the marketing plan.
It was a no-win situation for country programmers because it had already been planned out.
MH
March 26, 2024 @ 9:07 am
Same marketing plan Holly G and Black Opry did with the Grand Ole Opry and Dan Rogers when Morgan Wallen showed up as Hardy’s guest two years ago.
Run to mainstream media, cry racism, generate controversy/buzz to get clicks/new followers and supporters, ride the wave.
Smart marketing in this day and age no matter how wrong it is.
JB
March 26, 2024 @ 3:47 pm
So kinda like a bluff. Haha sorry I’ll see myself out.
JB
March 26, 2024 @ 8:35 am
I’ve purposely entirely avoided anything having to do with this iteration of Country Beyoncé and will do my best to keep it that way.
However the first iteration of Country Beyoncé always seemed calculated by both her and the media to get a certain result (ie look how racist country music is) and was that the entire point? I for one wouldn’t rule it out.
I like her sister, but I’ve never really bought any of the “Beyoncé is a great artiste” hype. She’ll always be the girl from the suburbs who wore hideous clothes and wrote/sang songs like “Bootylicious” to me…
JB-Chicago
March 26, 2024 @ 9:51 am
I’m a very lucky man in that my namesake on here is a well spoken, very intelligent, regular SCM poster that I agree with literally 99.9% of the time, including this thread I’d normally stay out of. I have only aspired to be as good since I got here and Trigger slapped Chicago on the end of mine, but never the less, we both have our own writing styles so I’m sure only a few would ever confuse us for each other anyway. Not that I would have any problem with that. I’ve even thought of changing my name to something else like…. The Wilder JB…..or JB erada… …..I’m kidding of course…..I’m fine with who I am and who JB is as well. Just thought I’d say it.
JB
March 26, 2024 @ 11:58 am
Haha appreciate it, JB-Chicago. And as much as I love living in the South, the only real home I’ve ever known, I am kinda jealous that you get to put Chicago in your handle (Chicago history is, somewhat randomly, a favorite reading subject of mine).
Noneya
March 26, 2024 @ 8:41 am
Great article!
I am absolutely sick of hearing about her, though.
What a terrible couple of “country” songs.
Tyler Pappas
March 26, 2024 @ 9:31 am
So anyway. Holly Dunn’s albums have been released digitally and it’s been an enjoyable run through her discography. Very underrated, Cornerstone, Blue Rose of Texas and Across The Rio Grands are all great albums
JB
March 26, 2024 @ 4:01 pm
Thanks for that, good to know. Maybe ill have a listening party with her and Gail Davies, another criminally underrated singer from around the same time.
Tyler Pappas
March 26, 2024 @ 5:33 pm
Man you had me go on Apple and see if they released all her albums haha. The Ill be There album though is a lost classic. Every song is great !
JB
March 26, 2024 @ 5:35 pm
Haha awesome. Also just want to say her version of Rodney Crowell’s “On A Real Good Night” is everything I wished every night of my 20s could have been.
John R Baker
March 26, 2024 @ 9:38 am
Of course there are going to be a bunch of conspiracy theories here ignoring the obvious fact that country radio has trended in this direction anyhow. Why play bad, uninspired hickhop garbage when Beyonce does it better? This is more country than most of the garbage that gets passed of as country in that end of the mainstream. Now hopefully it opens the door for talents like Tanner Adell.
I’d rather have more real country but mainstream radio is pop and that’s just kind of the way it is.
Trigger
March 26, 2024 @ 9:57 am
Every time this subject is broached, I see this same sentiment about how mainstream country is hip-hop garbage now anyway, so what’s the point?
But this is just not the case for mainstream country music in 2024. It is no longer Florida Georgia Line and Sam Hunt. It’s Luke Combs and Lainey Wilson. Country is more country than it has been for the last 12 years, and perhaps the last 20. Is there still Bro-Country-like singles on country radio? Sure there are. But there are also a lot of country-sounding songs, and it’s trending in a more-country direction. This is the prevailing consensus thought across the industry.
So at the least, a song like “Texas Hold ‘Em” goes against those trends, though i agree you can still find comparables in the country genre. That is why I have been careful to not come out and outright say, “It’s not country.”
But who hasn’t is Beyonce, who say outright it “ain’t country.” I don’t see why anyone would disagree with her. It’s her music.
Adam S
March 26, 2024 @ 4:18 pm
“It is no longer Florida Georgia Line and Sam Hunt.”
Tyler Hubbard and Sam Hunt both currently have songs in the top ten, with Hardy at number 1.
Radio may be trending in the right direction, but it’s certainly not there yet, so Beyonce’s songs easily fit into what country radio currently is today, but hopefully won’t fit in the future.
I thought she said the album wasn’t a country album? That’s different than saying the songs sent to country radio aren’t country. But I don’t follow her closely enough to know exactly what she said.
who
March 26, 2024 @ 6:16 pm
You really stretch out one topic with way too many articles about the topic
Trigger
March 26, 2024 @ 7:45 pm
This is the most important topic in country music right now. For every article I write, there’s 20 more conveying false information that all go viral, while I get attacked by my own readers for covering them. But it doesn’t matter. Someone has to be the lone voice of dissent, and try to inform the public dispassionately.
kross
March 26, 2024 @ 10:11 am
Azealia Banks calls it “white girl cosplay” that’s as good a way to put it as any as far as I’m concerned. Beyonce is obviously trying to catch some of that Lainey Wilson fire. If anything it’s kind of sad that she’s jumping on those coattails to try to stay relevant. Either way, county radio should have just told them to kick rocks. They were going to get called racist no matter what they did.
Devilyouknow
March 26, 2024 @ 10:25 am
That Beyoncé is “jumping on Lainey Wilson’s coattails to stay relevant “ is one of the most erroneous, crazy, biased, and just plain silly ideas I’ve been exposed to in a long time.
kross
March 26, 2024 @ 11:57 am
at least from an image standpoint, I stand by my statement. the Blonde wig and hat, comon’ you have to see it. She totally wants to be Lainey Wilson.
Travis D
March 26, 2024 @ 1:33 pm
Not sure that it’s Lainey Wilson she’s imitating here. It sure does seem like she is trying to do what Taylor Swift did and “switch” musical genres and be a larger ego in that genre.
I had made mention of that a few weeks back. Not sure how I had said it came across properly though?
Travis D
March 26, 2024 @ 1:39 pm
Original comment from the Feb. 14 article;
“Can we speculate that this may be from being overshadowed by someone that moved to the pop realm from country?
Perhaps this is about ego only, and wanting to be the “big fish” again?”
Devilyouknow
March 26, 2024 @ 3:09 pm
Beyonce is riding the coattails of Lainey Wilson?!?!?! At least you “stand by it” I guess. Good shit
(Me and) Paul
March 26, 2024 @ 10:52 am
I don’t love entertaining conspiracy theories but it is hard to not get tin foil hat about the song being published to streaming with the “incorrect” Metadata and an official Radio Add Date staggered 9 days from the streaming release; creating an ideal set of circumstances to let the BeyHive get riled up and stir a media firestorm. It all feels like it was not done in good faith.
Country music had the year-over-year largest streaming growth of any genre last year at 23.8% according to Billboard. Beyonce seems the least likely to need to “cash in” on a country trend when she has to be top 2 grossing artists on the planet, but maybe that’s the case here.
glendel
March 26, 2024 @ 11:33 am
This article caused me to google articles as to whether US99, the biggest country radio station in the Midwest, added Beyonce to its playlist, and no surprise, they added her early on, on Feb. 15th.
But…the station’s current playlist today (3/26/24) only seems to span the last dozen or songs played on the air, and I can’t find Bey among the Thomas Rhett and Justin Moore. I do, however, find the station seems to playing different Tyler Hubbard songs twice an hour [I didn’t know that Hubbard had more than one hit his people were shopping to radio]. Yikes.
Also, if I swallow my good taste, I can see Hubbard and Kelley open separate shows in separate venues in a couple of months. Double yikes!
Tango_Whiskey
March 26, 2024 @ 11:38 am
Before I commented, I wanted to actually listen to her song. Just because it has fiddles and instruments not commonly used in pop doesn’t make it a country, lol. By that standard Cotton Eyed Joe is a country song. Besides that, the lyrics of Texas Holdem go against any country song ever; the cussing every two verses doesn’t help either. I wish her the best, and I like all kinds of music, but this isn’t country, not even close. Call it gatekeeping or whatever, it’s just the reality.
Big Pete
March 26, 2024 @ 12:12 pm
God, i wish some country musician would record a song, with rhyming lyrics, containing references to bitches and weed, and then release it as a rap song, and demand it to be played on hiphop radio. Someone please do this. I’m looking at you Slackeye Slim.
liza
March 26, 2024 @ 4:32 pm
James Otto recorded it as is. Go figure.
PeterD
March 26, 2024 @ 12:18 pm
Imagine you are one of the most powerful women in music, arguably second only to Taylor Swift and as a foray into country music, a genre you can do anything with, neo traditional, western swing, 90s throwback, anything. Instead you choose to do some shitty sub Walker Hayes nonsense.
Mark
March 26, 2024 @ 1:51 pm
Just because you are a superstar it does not entitle you to airplay (no matter how country the music is). Taylor Swift is on par with the stardom of Beyonce (and got her start in country music and has continued to collaborate with artists of the genre since her departure). Since leaving country music, she has serviced many songs to country radio that have not been hits. It’s not racist. It is simply that Beyonce (and even Taylor Swift) are no longer part of the country landscape. If Beyonce is serious about a transition into country music, I would assume the doors would open up for her. Darius Rucker seamlessly transitioned to a successful commercial country artist with an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry and numerous #1 hits.
Examples of Post-Pop Taylor Swift Songs serviced to country radio.
1. New Year’s Day (Country Airplay #41)
2. Betty (Country Airplay #32)
3. No Body, No Crime (Country Airplay #54)
Note: Texas Hold ‘Em is currently at #33 and rising. Country music singles take a longer time to rise to the top of the charts than top 40 hits (especially in the streaming era).
Darius Rucker has had 9 #1 Country Airplay singles since moving to the genre. Including his first 3 singles. Rucker’s track debuted on the charts in May and did not hit number one until October. During that time he campaigned within the country wheelhouse and made his Grand Ole Opry debut. He was committed to making country music and saw success.
Chris
March 26, 2024 @ 5:54 pm
That’s another point… the Beyhive will probably look at how slowly “Texas Hold ‘Em” is climbing the radio charts and use that as proof of “racism.” The charts move so slowly now that even superstar singles take a long time to reach the top. Some new releases debut high thanks to iHeart and other corporate hourly airplay, then fall once the hourly airplay peters out and then rebound. But if every country station in the nation doesn’t immediately add Beyonce to power rotation, the Beyhive will cry racism.
Will Beyonce’s claims that it’s not pure country make any difference? I doubt it.
Old country man
March 26, 2024 @ 2:38 pm
Beyonce did an interview about a week ago saying her album Cowboy Carter is not a country album. But a pop album with country influences.
Honestly I don’t care what she calls it .
Beyonce is one of my favorite singers and do far I really like the songs that I have heard so far.
Steven
March 26, 2024 @ 4:23 pm
Here we go again…
Saving Bro Country Music
March 26, 2024 @ 5:04 pm
Some very good points here, but as I’ve said on other posts, I’m still bewildered by your continued tolerance of that “we’re a country station so no we don’t play Beyoncé” reply. I’m now convinced the employee who wrote that must be your friend or something, because it played such a significant role in stoking this “country radio is racist” fire yet is just such a dumb thing for someone in the music industry to write. If you’re in the industry, you should be aware of a big new Beyonce release (period), especially one that has even a subtle connection to the specific genre in which you work. If you’re in customer service, you should do your research before you give a response like that. And if you’re in marketing/communications, you should especially vet anything you say about acts like Taylor Swift, BTS, Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, etc that have passionate fans ready to roast you on social. It was categorically wrong to send that message.
Moving past that, the big issue here is the fact that radio is so thoroughly inorganic and inconsistent … yet tries to present itself as organic and rule-abiding. Chart-watchers all know about serving and adds dates and so on, basically being told that radio airplay is reserved for official singles that are formally promoted to radio. Yet dozens of mainstream radio stations were playing numerous random songs from Justin Timberlake’s new album during its release week. Presumably, there was some sort of promotional partnership/arrangement, but since the charts don’t differentiate this, fans naturally wonder why more relevant artists can’t get the same treatment for their new singles.
The same goes with these “on the hour” iHeart premieres. You’ll have songs that are going viral on TikTok or Spotify that can’t get any meaningful airplay till they “impact” and get weeks of meaningful promotion as a single, but meanwhile certain artists will get immediate airplay without any proof that their single is resonating. Not to keep picking on Justin Timberlake, but this happened with that NSYNC comeback single.
So if you’re seeing that certain artists can get immediate airplay without proof of good callouts, good Spotify numbers, or even official serving and impacting … you wonder why other artists aren’t getting that treatment. And it leads you down the well of questioning whether radio is racist, sexist, etc … when it’s probably more just a matter of whose promotions team is better at finagling deals.
The other specific to country is the ridiculous slow burns of songs. They’re still on this dated model where many songs – even from fairly big artists – need a year or more to move up the charts. This isn’t how the overall music industry works right now; so when you see Beyonce’s single still outside the Top 25 at country radio despite it being Top 10 elsewhere and almost kind of “old news” in the eyes of fans, you get this additional sense of bias against her.
That last point is definitely something that needs to change by the way, because this idea of “faster chart runs” is also taking off among country artists. Megan Moroney’s “I’m Not Pretty” impacted like eight months ago; she’s since done two MAJOR single releases for songs that actually resonated really well (the record-breaking No Caller ID and the new 28th of June), yet “I’m Not Pretty” is only just now in the Top 20 and presumably still 2-3 months away from actually hitting #1. That just makes no sense.
So, again, while it’s a shame that the Beyonce stuff has probably led to some false/overstated claims of racism … I do hope it even partly causes the radio industry to correct these archaic policies and habits.
Trigger
March 26, 2024 @ 5:31 pm
Look, I’m not here to defend the “pimples the Wonder Boy” 19-year-old intern who sent a dumb reply to a Twitter user. I agree they “should” have probably known about the song, but it is a certifiable fact that when that reply was sent, the song had yet to be serviced to country radio, and it required servicing because it was explicit content. Taking the situation and making it into a national news story is based off a fundamental misunderstanding of how radio works.
Perhaps if Beyonce’s people wanted country radio to play the single of February 13th, they should have actually sent it to country radio like they did to pop radio. Just a suggestion.
I’m not here to defend the archaic country radio system. If it was up to me, it would implode yesterday. Bulldoze it to the ground for all I care. But that doesn’t justify lying about it. In fact, it cheapens the criticisms when we criticize country radio legitimately when you put out canards like “Beyonce was rejected at country radio.”
Fuzzy TwoShirts
March 29, 2024 @ 7:24 am
Pimples has a point though.
Not to invoke a ‘No true scotsman’ rhetoric or anything but i fail to see how clearly adhering to immutable rules is such a bad thing.
And i know i know ‘they said alabama isn’t country’
Here’s an example: Can anyone honestly say if we tightened the defenition of country that Charley Crockett would be moved out of the genre?
No, of course not. that’s ridiculous, he’s one of the most authentic, proper country artists in the business.
Cody Jinks? probably squeezed out of the genre by tighter definitions
So would Chris Stapleton, but like, almost everyone here is in agreemeent he’s not ‘really country’ anyway
If it was me, and someone said something demonstrably absurd like asking a country station to play Beyonce, I would do the same thing.
You know who, from the pop world, released an actual country song?
Weird Al!. But i will never argue that ‘Good enough for now’ belongs on a country station. Country stations should play solely and exclusively the work of genre native artists, and those who make concerted efforts to integrate themselves by releasing dedicated, proper country albums.
People say the eagles had country influences? i don’t know how much i agree but WE can agree that the eagles don’t belong on country stations.
Beyonce has been open that this is only country influenced, and by extension, Country radio should by rights have declined to play the songs, serviced or not. even if she had claimed the song was country, or even if the album was a country album, without a dedicated effort to participate in the country community, it doesn’t belong on country airwaves.
And pimples was right to be reductive because… that’s how genres are kept sactified?
Charlie Daniels doesn’t belong on rock radio just because he covered Layla and has rock influences.
If that happened, we could have Marshall Tucker Band on rock radio, Blackberry Smoke, Steel Woods (maybe they would fit better than MTB or CDB, at least) but either way, it’s a slippery slope that erodes genre entirely
And don’t argue with slippery slopers about country music.
We were right when it was Shania and Trisha and Taylor Swift. now look around!
And i know i know, ‘country is more country than ever.’
If i said ‘you shouldn’t leave your oven on all day it could start a fire’ and then you had a fire and i pointed out that you did, in fact, have a fire, you would not say “that doesn’t count because my house is almost rebuilt”
So moving forward, it is my opinion that once we get some semblance of country back, we need to insist on tighter restrictions on who gets welcomed into the genre space, so this last twenty years doesn’t happen all over again.
JB
March 26, 2024 @ 9:25 pm
Ok. Sorry, but couldn’t leave well enough alone re Beyoncé and the first Beyoncé gone country rodeo, so to speak. Meaning about ten years ago.
She recorded a “country” song. The associated press wrote an article pondering whether she would be snubbed by country music (99% sure I’m remembering this correctly).
No Grand Ol Opry appearance or some such, just shows up at the 50th (!) CMA Awards with personas non grata the Chicks?
Am I wrong to suspect this appears suspiciously, purposefully controversial in a way that could be read as trolling/openly disrespectful?
Make It Make Sense
March 27, 2024 @ 7:58 am
No one seems to notice or care that pop and country radio are all the same people. iHeart, Audacy, Cumulus. If the country PD isn’t actively programming other formats, too, then they used to program pop. Or they do afternoons on the AC station, too. And their bosses all oversee multiple formats. Plus, complaining about corporate playlists and blaming individual PDs for a bias-driven power play is nonsensical. Country isn’t some walled off garden (hay field?) at radio where huge corporations store their racists.
Trigger
March 27, 2024 @ 8:19 am
Good point.
glendel
March 27, 2024 @ 10:39 am
News today that track list includes duet w/ Willie and cover of Jolene
trarmer
March 27, 2024 @ 11:25 am
I dig my tin foil hat and all but the release handling just seems like an intentional exercise of race baiting. Recreational outrage is a thing. Thought that ‘ring on the finger’ tune was a cool pop diddy. Wifey-poo even played it at our wedding for her girls to dance. Otherwise, not a fan of her music and certainly not of her socialist-political bravado. If we ever met, and we won’t because I don’t fly private, I’d tell her to just shut up and dance.
Danny van Eijk
March 27, 2024 @ 12:34 pm
Let it go, let it gooooooo!!!
Jimmy
March 27, 2024 @ 7:26 pm
That cover for Texas Hold ‘Em is pure trash. Beyonce is talented, although her music does nothing for me, she doesn’t need to flash skin for attention. As a professed “Christian,” she’s a poor role model for young girls.
As for this whole controversy, I could give a rat’s ass. 90% of the music released today is contrived and created by committee. There are so many great artists and albums out there, shit like this is a waste of time.
Mainstream music is a dead zone. Enjoy the stuff you like and forget about the rest.
Big Pete
March 27, 2024 @ 10:51 pm
Amen to that. This only truly bothers a small subset of journalists and “influencers”. Country music as cultural expression won’t even register her presence and soon this will be as forgotten as the Lil-Nas-X-Is-Country kerfuffle (SPOILER! he was wasn’t and didn’t become).
Danny van Eijk
March 28, 2024 @ 4:35 am
Oh no a pretty lady is showing some skin!!! The horror!
Natty Bumpo
March 28, 2024 @ 7:48 am
Beyonce is a marketing concept.
Penn Central
March 28, 2024 @ 10:46 am
I love the Carter’s (A.P., Sara and Maybelle)…I’ll leave it at that.
Beyoncé has stated this isn’t country, but a blending g of genres. The media and especially her Stan Arny needs to listen to her, period.
Jimmy the Black
March 28, 2024 @ 6:16 pm
The Race Card does not magically make one country.
This is a tired tactic. Anything the mainstream disagrees with must be racism.
As a black man myself, I loathe and detest this nonsense and behavior. It makes minority races look like bratty, whining and braying children who pout and hold their breath until they get their way all while calling you names such as “racist.”
Thanks for writing this article, Trigger. It will clear things up for a lot of people, hopefully. Unless and until cognitive dissonance and bias sets in.
Nunya Bee
March 28, 2024 @ 10:19 pm
I can’t speak for country radio elsewhere, but I haven’t heard it on either of the two major So Cal country stations — not once. Now I never heard Oliver Anthony there either, but still. Unlike a lot of “Cowboy Carter,” “Texas Hold ‘Em” is prime New Country/Country Pop, and that’s most of what those stations play. And it’s been number 1 on the Billboard Country Chart for six weeks.
Dead Mallard
March 29, 2024 @ 10:06 am
Tremendous marketing by her team.
Reminds me of Madonna. I’ll listen to this just as much.
Di Harris
March 29, 2024 @ 7:44 pm
From an artistic and technical (CLEAN production) angle, Beyonce deserves to sweep the musical awards for 2024.
She knocked JOLENE out of the ballpark. So to speak.
The only naivete’ being that if she thinks she can stop her man from cheating if he is so inclined, just because she raised him, and they’ve been down in the valleys and up again – well, sweetheart, don’t count on it.
Beyonce’s JOLENE will probably set records.
Good for her.
And, Yeah, it’s country.
HtownVicious
March 31, 2024 @ 10:11 pm
Finally. Recognition that’s deserved. Thanks, Di. I prefer when artists take covers and make them their own. Otherwise, what’s interesting about it?
Beyoncé is innovative and has brought impressive variety and performance to this record. There are multiple high points. This is her best ‘art’ since “Lemonade.” I only wish I could buy the rodeo queen cover vinyl and not the desperate, overly sexualized, alter ego, naked version. Lainey Wilson is incredibly popular and she personally never had to overly sexualize herself or “enhance” her body the way rap, pop, etc. artists do. It gives her glory all the more meaning and she continues to be a role model to women and girls everywhere. Too bad Beyoncé didn’t pivot to take that page out of Lainey’s book (at the very least for her own daughters) when she decided to give us a wonderful taste of country and funk gospel.
SixtyThreeGuild
March 30, 2024 @ 7:56 am
If people in mainsttream country music want to hate on this they only have themselves to blame by letting shit bro country music that had snapbeats and pop dominate for over a decade.
Di Harris
March 30, 2024 @ 8:29 am
SixtyThreeGuild,
Have you yet had an opportunity to listen to Beyonce’s JOLENE?
She torpedoes it out of the water.
: D The cadence, timing, Everything, is top notch.
SixtyThreeGuild
March 30, 2024 @ 11:25 am
I have, it’s alright, not my cup of tea because of lyric changes among I think it’s over produced. To each their own on it.
Di Harris
March 30, 2024 @ 11:54 am
Understood.
Ed Salamon
March 30, 2024 @ 4:34 pm
As an inductee into the Country Radio Hall of Fame who began my career in Country radio 50 years ago, and named Major Market Program Director of the Yeat for three consecutive years by Billboard magazine, I found this article informative and accurate.
Great job explaining a charged situation. Thanks for taking it on
OPFOR
April 1, 2024 @ 8:26 am
So many opinions and articles from folks who supposedly don’t listen to pop country, pop country radio or Beyoncé on this website.
Trigger
April 1, 2024 @ 8:32 am
Who said pop country and pop country radio wasn’t listened to? You can’t save country music by ignoring what’s happening in the mainstream. For going on 16 years, mainstream country has been covered here in great detail, criticized, lauded when deserved, and concerned upon as an important part of the country music landscape.
Mike
April 2, 2024 @ 9:49 am
Confused – so a question – I thought I saw that Texas Hold’em went to #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs already. Yet in these comments I see that it is around #25 and hasn’t hit the top ten yet? I checked Wikipedia and there isn’t a listing for it in her discography for the country charts. So, is the song still climbing the Billboard Hot Country Songs, or did it hit #1 already? Is it projected it will not hit the top ten?
Not a fan of Beyonce, btw. With country, I’m stuck in the 70s and early 80s. I dropped country radio around 2010.
Trigger
April 2, 2024 @ 10:53 am
There are two separate charts. The Billboard Hot Country Songs chart gauges overall consumption, meaning, streaming, sales, downloads, and radio plays.
The Billboard Country Airplay chart solely gauges airplay. That is where you’re seeing Beyonce lower on the charts.