“No Women In Country Top 20” Should Have Been “Maren Morris at #1”
This story has been updated.
The big news in country music on Wednesday (12-5) was how for the first time in the nearly 30-year history of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, there wasn’t even one woman represented in the Top 20. By Billboard’s charting methods, this is true. And regardless of whatever other clarification points proceed that result, it is most certainly yet another troubling sign for the representation of women in country music that should be taken to heart by everyone who cares about the genre, and wants to make sure every artist regardless of sex or any other factor is treated equitably.
But saying there were no women in the country radio Top 20 should come with a very important caveat that Billboard and others left out when reporting on the story. There actually was a song by a woman that was played enough to be in the Top 20 of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart this week. In fact it was played enough where it could have qualified for the Top 10. Furthermore, if you zoom out and look at how this week’s Billboard Country Airplay chart should have played out, you can even make the case that this song by a country woman should have been the #1 song on country radio this week.
That song is “Rich” by Maren Morris, which despite Billboard’s chart reporting—and by Billboard’s own data—received more spins on country radio last week than all but ten other songs. Also, if you take into consideration the trajectory of the single, a strong case could be made that it should have topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart this week. The reason that it didn’t is because Kane Brown’s “Lose It” was given that distinction instead of “Rich.”
There are two major companies that track plays on country radio. One is MediaBase, and the other is SoundScan. MediaBase is the metric Country Aircheck and other publishers use to compile their radio charts, while Billboard and others prefer Soundscan data. The primary difference between the two charts is the specific radio stations that report to them, though the positions of songs on the two charts mostly parallel each other, give or take one or two spots.
On this week’s MediaBase chart, “Rich” by Maren Morris is at #10, after falling from the #2 position last week. That would mean there is a song in country radio’s Top 20, and even Top 10. As per normal on country radio, when a single reaches its peak position—which “Rich” did last week—it’s common for it to fall significantly, which “Rich” did. It dropped a total of 2,932 plays over the week from MediaBase reporting stations, which is a lot. But it still received 5,050 spins, which was good enough for 10th place.
So how is “Rich” still in 10th place on the MediaBase country airplay chart this week, but dropped completely off of Billboard’s Country Airplay Top 60 during the same reporting period? It’s because Billboard and Soundscan sent “Rich” to what’s called the Billboard Country Recurrent Chart. What does “recurrent” mean? It means it is a single that is not actively being promoted to radio, but is still receiving spins, or as Billboard stipulates, “Descending, non-bulleted titles below No. 10 in either audience or detections.”
In the case of Maren Morris and “Rich,” the song still received enough spins to come in at #2 on the Billboard Country Recurrent Chart, only edged out by Chris Young’s “Hangin’ On.” And if it had been kept on the Country Airplay chart proper, it would have kept the chart from falling into this dubious distinction of being the first time no woman was represented in the Top 20. All things equal, “Rich” should have been at #8 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart this week if it hadn’t been sent to recurrent.
But the issue goes even deeper than that. As chart observers know, and many engaged fans often complain about, big mainstream country acts all seem get their chance to have a #1 song on radio, almost as if it’s an orderly system preordained even before a single is released. We’ve seen this time and time again, especially with country males, including many you’ve never heard of who release a debut single, and despite no true groundswell behind the song or their career, they still end up at #1 on radio. A couple of weeks ago, we saw this with Jimmy Allen, and his single “Best Shot.”
If you follow that system, Maren Morris and “Rich” shouldn’t have fallen onto the recurrent chart this week, it should have been #1. But instead, the #1 went to Kane Brown and “Lose It.” Where Kane Brown’s label was pushing for max radio spins last week for him, Maren Morris’s label was pulling support from “Rich.” More important to note, both Kane Brown and Maren Morris are signed to the same label group, Sony Music Nashville. And if “Rich” wasn’t #1 this week, it should have been #1 last week when Jimmie Allen spent his 2nd week at #1 on country radio with “Best Shot.”
Saving Country Music just covered this issue in-depth earlier this week in regards to the failure of the current Pistol Annies single, “Got My Name Changed Back.” It’s often not the case that radio is refusing to play women, and that is why they are becoming more and more absent from the charts. It’s because their record labels are either not promoting and pushing those singles to radio in a similar fashion to their male counterparts, or in the case of Maren Morris, and previously with Carrie Underwood’s “Cry Pretty” which was pulled before her album release date earlier this year, labels are pulling support prematurely of the same goals that most men attain.
Whether it was last week or this week, Maren Morris should have received a #1 for “Rich.” The fact that she didn’t is the reason there are no women in the Billboard Country Airplay Top 20 at the moment. Granted, “Rich” is not a country song, and probably doesn’t belong on a country chart at all. Neither do Jimmie Allen’s “Best Shot” or Kane Brown’s “Lose It.” But that’s a fight for another day. It’s also interesting how much of the media has been touting both Kane Brown and Jimmie Allen as the introduction of inclusion into mainstream country, when they were the two artists directly responsible for excluding Maren Morris from a #1, and women from Billboard Country Airplay Top 20 this week.
There’s a good chance Carrie Underwood’s “Love Wins” will enter the Billboard Country Airplay chart next week, or in the coming weeks, erasing the dubious distinction for country of having no women in the Top 20 on radio. But until the advocates for women in country begin to recognize the label mechanics behind this issue as opposed to solely blaming radio stations and local programmers—many of whom aren’t even making the decisions on their playlists, and are taking orders on high from iHeartMeida and Cumulus—the issue with women disappearing on country radio and from the charts will continue to persist, if not get worse. As we can see this week, the current strategy certainly isn’t making things better.
TxMusic
December 6, 2018 @ 12:58 pm
Why would Sony not push for max spins when Maren is one spot away from another number 1? I wonder how much label politics and keeping other artists happy comes into play.
Seth of Lampasas
December 6, 2018 @ 2:23 pm
How does a label push a single tho?
Until this recent series of articles on “promoting singles” I was of the opinion that it was a good thing to wage war against radio in the name of saving country music, even tho I never listen to radio.
But the more I read Trig’s articles about this subject, the more i realize the whole game is rigged. If promoting singles with what is essentially payola is how songs get played, then the fight is pointless and not worth the effort.
Trigger
December 6, 2018 @ 2:36 pm
Labels have regional representatives that lobby radio stations to play their artists, then this is reinforced with advertising, interview opportunities and station visits by the artists, etc. Not only does a label request artists to be played, they also tell radio when to stop playing an artist to make way for their other artists to have opportunities. That is very likely what happened when they told radio to stop playing Maren Morris, so Kane Brown could be assured his #1.
Scotty J
December 6, 2018 @ 3:08 pm
The thing about this that bothers me the most is the utter phoniness of it all. As you have correctly explained in this and the Pistol Annies story nothing happens at country radio without the labels support but that should really only apply on the upward trek not at or near the peak. By this point these stations have been playing a song for months and should have plenty of data to inform an independent decision on whether to continue to play a song. But no, instead when the label says stop they stop. Why?
The only reason I think of is bad look for radio.
These songs were in no way popular and were only played because the labels pushed them too.
It really is ridiculous.
TxMusic
December 6, 2018 @ 3:42 pm
Rich streams well and has been selling consistently well on iTunes even though it’s been out for a while. Carrie finally surpassed her with Love Wins and Kelsea with her new forgettable song. Also Maddie and Tae who are doing extremely well and have been outselling most other female country artists remaining around the top 20 for quite a while now.
Scotty J
December 6, 2018 @ 3:51 pm
TxMusic,
My comment was less about ‘Rich’ and more about the situation in general. There have been numerous examples of songs in the last couple of years that have been in the top five and suddenly the bottom falls out to epic proportions all of a sudden.
It makes no sense.
But this is what you get when you take programming out of local hands and put it into regional and national people.
TxMusic
December 6, 2018 @ 4:18 pm
Oh I see what you mean. It seems a waste of labels to drop their efforts especially with a song like Rich and Maren since getting a number one seems critical now for female artists. I do know that if songs stick around too long their call out scores take a big hit but in the case of Rich I can’t see a valid reason for it not too. With Cry Pretty at least it had stalled out much higher on the charts and fizzled out again on its second push. It didn’t make sense for the label to push it anymore.
Scotty J
December 6, 2018 @ 4:33 pm
TxMusic,
Sometimes a label will be outfoxed by another label and some song will get a second or third week at number one which will upset the unofficial order of things. Or it can just be a case where they lose out in a real close race. Let’s not forget that Chris Young just got blocked out by the Luke Combs song which spent four weeks at number one and Young was #2 for three of those.
Plus I’ve seen a stories recently quoting radio and music industry types wishing for more multiple week number ones and less of the nameless faceless revolving door system of the last few years. And if that happens there are obviously going to be some songs peaking at 2,3,4 or wherever.
There should be a middle ground between the revolving door number ones on airplay chart and the stupid 50 week number one on the Hot Country Songs chart.
Trigger
December 6, 2018 @ 2:33 pm
Sony probably favored Kane Brown because he is the one with the new record to push. Perhaps either Kane or Maren could have gone #1 the week before, but Jimmie Allen stayed at #1 for a second week. If there was going to be a sacrificial lamb, it was going to be Maren.
TxMusic
December 6, 2018 @ 3:31 pm
Sony seems to get Maren to the finish line but trip her before she can cross it. Same with award season. Really thought she would be their new chosen one.
wayne
December 6, 2018 @ 1:09 pm
Are we ever going to move on from the endless articles on gender-inequality of country music? If it’s not dedicated articles, then it is endless references within other articles. O.K. We get it. Not enough women scoring hits, being in the top whatever, not enough radio play. We get it already.
Regurgitation of the same meal makes it less appealing every time it is eaten.
Gabe
December 6, 2018 @ 1:39 pm
“Regurgitation of the same meal makes it less appealing every time it is eaten”
Is this from experience?
Trigger
December 6, 2018 @ 2:47 pm
The most vilified misogynist in country music is radio consultant Keith Hill, who was the one who made the comparison of women as the tomatoes in a salad. The second is myself. I have been completely ostracized from my media colleagues, lied about, impugned, and cast off as an ignorant American dumbfuck. If you don’t believe me, listen to the New York Times “Popcast” podcast covering the CMA Awards from a couple of weeks ago, or poke your head into Twitter, if you dare. I used to be asked to speak at conferences and functions and panels. Now there’s panels where people get together to speak about what a danger I am to the women of country music. It’s been implied that I rape women in my workplace, even though I don’t work with any women, and don’t have any employees, and nobody’s ever directly accused me of such. I have been accused of purposely attempting to exclude all women from country music, and been cited as a significant influence of why women aren’t being played on the radio.
That’s my answer to your question, and to say that I’ve been dealing with this issue for a decade, and it’s no cause celebre to me. I will stop talking about it when it’s solved.
Troy
December 6, 2018 @ 1:25 pm
If I had a dollar every time this site was sexist, I’d be rich La-a-a-a-a-di-da
Rich was released Feb 12, Lose It was released June 25. With Maren being the most consistent of any women charting and it still took her 10 months. Thomas Rhett and Luke Bryan have had multiple singles in the process.
Maren is obviously moving onto her second album so the label needs there to be a break in between. The album was released about 2 and half years ago and only got 4 singles.
It took 5 month to get one of the most established and reliable stars, Carrie Underwood to get Cry Pretty just to number 9. Labels have campaigns to run and women shouldn’t be waiting almost a full year to have one song peak at country radio.
North Woods Country
December 6, 2018 @ 1:29 pm
Sexist? Maren Morris’ talent is evident even though her music sucks.
Trigger
December 6, 2018 @ 2:51 pm
Everyone accusing me of obsession of the women in country issue, take note of Troy’s comment. This is what the wide world thinks of Saving Country Music.
Troy, you’re making the common Stan mistake of taking failure of the system as a failure by the artist. Carrie Underwood fans did the same thing when I highlighted how “Cry Pretty” stalled at #9. A lack of acknowledgement of the label’s role of the women in music issue, and labeling people who have the audacity to address it as “sexist” is the reason it not only persists, but is now metastasizing to historic levels.
Troy
December 6, 2018 @ 3:56 pm
It’s not that your trying to address it. It’s the fact that after seeing no women in the top 20 on radio your reaction is “but actually”. Your article fails because even if Maren was #1 it would still show a sexist problem with the fact that only one women was there.
Like go back through your history of posts and see how many times you try to justify the lack of women or seemingly have a problem with the few women getting attention. The time you went on a rampage about Golden Hour being called the best country of 2018 and look its won that award and on many year end best list. The time you tried to run a hit piece on Maren. You’re not a supporter of women. Just own your truth.
Labels have their roles to play but country radio making it take 10 months for a single to rise isn’t effective in today times for a campaign for an established artist an actively stalls their momentum. Especially for the women country radio has decided to highlight the most. It’s this bad for Maren imagine how bad it is for women trying to breakthrough like Mickey or Jillian.
Trigger
December 6, 2018 @ 5:38 pm
“Your article fails because even if Maren was #1 it would still show a sexist problem with the fact that only one women was there.”
You mean like when I said in the article above, “regardless of whatever other clarification points proceed that result, it is most certainly yet another troubling sign for the representation of women in country music that should be taken to heart by everyone who cares about the genre, and wants to make sure every artist regardless of sex or any other factor is treated equitably.”
???
One of the reasons the effort to return equitably to country women has failed is because the leaders of that effort want to boil down the issue as “Country radio is sexist!” and that the solution is “Play more women!” When you expose that the problem is actually much more complicated, and that the solution must be more involved, you yourself will be labeled a sexist, like I have because it undermines their simplified and self-serving logic. Because for many in this movement, this isn’t about improving the lot for women in country, it’s about inverting the social hierarchy on Twitter to help their media careers amid a trend where the current media models they’re working under are dying.
As for “Golden Hour,” yes, I just nominated “Space Cowboy” for Saving Country Music’s Song of the Year. As for writing a hit piece on Maren Morris, I don’t remember that. However I do remember her calling me a “basement dweller” after I said she doesn’t belong in country, which she doesn’t. But if I was biased against Maren Morris, I would have never written an article explaining why she deserved a #1 on radio, and to clarify that she actually performed much better last week than Billboard and others have portrayed.
Troy T.
December 7, 2018 @ 7:09 am
For the record Trig, that’s a different Troy talking lol.
North Woods Country
December 6, 2018 @ 1:29 pm
I would rather listen to any Walker Hayes song 100 times before I ever hear “Rich” again. So annoying, and such an ironic representation of the little snob singing it.
If diversity on country radio is Maren Morris, I’ll pass.
Marmarbama
December 6, 2018 @ 2:31 pm
Agreed. She is talented. But that song just sucks.
North Woods Country
December 6, 2018 @ 2:44 pm
I would honestly appreciate her music more if she came off a little more humble and kind. Not “Rich,” which sucks regardless of the artist, but her other songs would be more tolerable. Her attitude rubs me the wrong way. That, and she’s very clearly more concerned with what she looks like than she sounds like or what she performs. We get it Maren, you’re runway model gorgeous. Stop worrying about it and start worrying about whether or not you’ll like these songs 20 years from now.
albert
December 6, 2018 @ 8:44 pm
the song doesn’t suck . its a great piece of pop performance and writing…….. POP !!!!! POP !!!!!
whats wrong with the song and what’s wrong with it getting to number ‘whatever’ is that IT ISN’T A FUCKING COUNTRY SONG BY ANY STRETCH ….and I may be one of the biggest MM fans on the planet . I LOVE that this talented woman is part of the music landscape right now . BUT she , like so many others, is guilty of playing the genre to her own ends with this song . I know I’m off topic here . Sue me . This song is part of the country music problem . It means Ashley McBryde , Joe Nichols and countless other REAL country artists are denied 5300 spins in one week when their only crime is BEING COUNTRY SINGERS . Shit ………..
JB-Chicago
December 7, 2018 @ 9:03 am
That a boy Albert! It’s not Country and radio has over played it so much it’s become THE annoying song like Walker Hayes’ You broke up with me or whatever shit that song was. Ashley’s album was just nominated for a Grammy (congrats Ash! Not bad for girl going nowhere!!) and she can’t get played on the radio cause they’re still playing this!!
Kristen
December 6, 2018 @ 7:40 pm
I have to say as much as I want females to be played, I did it like the song Rich so I don’t think it should have been a number one or top 10 but that’s just me. I also do not think this Love Wins by Carrie Underwood is good. Pistol Annie’s songs are way better in my opinion..
Melissa
December 6, 2018 @ 1:48 pm
I am all for more women on country radio but for me the issue is that the Marren Morris song ‘Rich’ needs to be played on the pop stations and a # 1 hit for the pop genre not country
Trigger
December 6, 2018 @ 2:53 pm
Kane Brown and Jimmie Allen are keeping Maren Morris out of the #1 spot on radio, but ALL of them are keeping actual country artists off of radio.
Melissa
December 6, 2018 @ 3:10 pm
Very true Trigger!
albert
December 6, 2018 @ 8:49 pm
exactly trigger ….we’re wasting time re-arranging deck chairs when we know we need to build a better boat ( no pun intended )
Corncaster
December 6, 2018 @ 2:22 pm
Pop needs to evolve and play more Maren Morris and Kacey Musgraves.
albert
December 6, 2018 @ 8:51 pm
yes and yes , corn- man
Corncaster
December 7, 2018 @ 6:32 am
So where’s the pressure on pop music?
Black Boots
December 7, 2018 @ 8:28 am
pop music evolves pretty heavily every few years
Corncaster
December 7, 2018 @ 2:32 pm
where’s the country-pop? that’s the appropriate venue for Maren, Kacey, Kelsea, etc, etc
albert
December 7, 2018 @ 1:33 pm
if you tell a young pop listener Kacey and Maren are country …that’s what they believe ….they are nominated in ‘ country’ categories on pop award shows …..they are ‘country ‘ to a pop kid . Hell…kacey has toured with Katy Perry and Harry Styles ….but she’s ‘ country ‘ to the pop crowd .
If you tell a pop kid that those same acts are pop and market them with NO connection to country , that’s what they’ll believe . These kids aren’t music connoisseurs or historians …they have no loyalty…they aren’t knowledgeable about what’s good or bad or artistic or crappy . They listen to what they are programmed to listen to ….what they are TOLD they should listen to and what their friends are listening to . That’s pop music mentality . And its quickly become ‘country’ music mentality . If you tell someone Kane Brown is country , that’s good enough for them . Radio says he’s country ….so he must be country ! No thinking involved .
Jack Williams
December 7, 2018 @ 7:20 am
I’m going to use this comment to segue into sharing this excerpt from Steve Forbert’s memoir “Big City Cat – My Life in Folk Rock,” which I recently bought after seeing him live and finished in about 3 days.
…but steadily, pop radio morphed into what it’s become today-it’s own sort of limited-use utility product reflecting nothing but itself and I suppose, by default, the times. Pop is now a helium balloon and the culture has let go of the string. That’s why you don’t hear records that you can learn anything from on the radio anymore.
Andrew
December 6, 2018 @ 2:23 pm
This also highlights the disconnect that comes with Billboard being the most well-known chart despite the fact Mediabase is the one that’s actually used much more within the radio industry. If you listen to any of those countdown shows on the weekends like Bob Kingsley, Mediabase is the chart they always use.
As to Maren Morris, I can get why here music isn’t well-received here, especially among the strict traditionalists, but I unabashedly enjoy it.
OlaR
December 6, 2018 @ 2:33 pm
Below the Top 20 (Billboard):
#22 – Carrie Underwood – “Love Wins”
#27 – Kenny Chesney feat. Mindy Smith – “Better Boat”
#32 – Kelsea Ballerini – “Miss Me More”
#40 – Randy Houser feat. Hillary Lindsey – “What Whiskey Does”
#41 – Maddie & Tae – “Friends Don’t”
#44 – Runaway June – “Buy My Own Drinks”
#47 – Lauren Alaina – “Ladies In The 90’s”
#53 – Carly Pearce – “Closer To You”
That’s it. What a shame.
Other charts & other countries:
Texas Top 100
#5 – Bri Bagwell – “If You Were A Cowboy” (last week #1)
#6 – Natalie Rose – “My South”
#10 – Sarah Hobbs – “I Got Me”
#29 – Kenna Danielle – “I-35 Reasons”
#38 – Calamity Janes – “Light It Up”
#55 – Morgan Ashley – “Bad Boy Chaser”
#63 – Beth Noble – “All I Need”
#68 – Jenni Dale Lord (Band) – “I Think He Still Loves Me”
#70 – Lauren Corzine – “If This Is Love”
#71 – Season Ammons – “Jim Beam & Nicotine”
#75 – Kendall Beard – “Rock This City”
#85 – Kylie Frey – “Ain’t Enough Beer” (New & sounds like a hit)
#91 – Robynn Shayne – “Two Words One Finger”
#96 – Terie Lei Moore – “White Pine Creek”
#100 – Annie Rost – “Wrong Kinda Love”
Australian Country Songs Top 40
#2 – Amber Joy Poulton – “Trouble Looks Good On You”
#5 – Clelia Adams – “Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboy”
#7 – Melissa Robertson – “Little Country Life” (last week #1)
#8 – Della Harris – “Long As You’re Lonely”
#9 – Carter & Carter – “Together We Can”
#11 – Ben Ransom feat. Sharon O’Neill – “Young Years”
#13 – Andrew Swift feat. Catherine Britt – “Fire & Ice”
#15 – Beccy Cole – “Lioness” (former #1)
#18 – Karen Craigie – “So Long”
#19 – Shelly Jones Band – “My Angel”
#22 – Hayley Jensen – “This Love”
#23 – Destiny – “Hours In A Day”
#27 – Dianne Lindsay – “Paddy’s Soul”
#28 – Fanny Lumsden – “Real Men Don’t Cry (War On Pride)”
#29 – Kylie Adams-Collier – “On A Sandstone Ridge”
#32 – Kylie Adams-Collier – “Hook, Line & Sinker”
#34 – Kristy Cox – “Right Where You Left It”
#36 – Kelsea Ballerini – “Miss Me More”
#37 – Shaza Leigh – “Land Of Our Kin”
#38 – Connie Kis Andersen – “Unclouded Day”
#39 – Troy Kemp & Jayne Denham – “Hung Up On You”
Canada Country Airplay (Billboard)
#8 – Meghan Patrick – “Walls Come Down”
#9 – Maren Morris – “Rich”
#10 – Tenille Townes – “Somebody’s Daughter”
#14 – Reklaws – “Feels Like That”
#21 – Tim Hicks feat. Lindsay Ell – “The Worst Kind”
#26 – Paul Brandt feat. Lindsay Ell – “Bittersweet”
#29 – Terri Clark – “Young As We Are Tonight”
#41 – Carrie Underwood – “Love Wins”
#50 – Kenny Chesney feat. Mindy Smith – “Better Boat”
TxMusic
December 6, 2018 @ 4:10 pm
Bri Bagwell even though I like her got sent packing on a C rate cable reality show. From what I’ve heard from Canadian and Australian country singers, Bri could be the Taylor Swiift of Canadian country if she moved to Alberta. Sometimes charts can be deceiving.
OlaR
December 7, 2018 @ 4:25 am
I like her songs & voice. Her new album (In My Defense) is good. Her album When A Heart Breaks (released 2015) is better & she is ahead of the majority of female artists with a contract in Nashville & or bro-country dreck like Natalie Rose (#6 with “My South”).
Sarah Hobbs should be on the radar too. (EP: Texas Made / Single: “I Got Me” – #10)
Saving Bro Country Music
December 6, 2018 @ 3:53 pm
— Maren Morris’ “Rich” received the official “max spins” push last week. The spins weren’t enough to take it to #1 (it peaked at #2), because radio wasn’t ready to give up on Jimmie Allen’s “Best Shot.”
That’s actually a fair outcome. “Best Shot” has been around at radio for the same amount of time but has markedly better callouts and has been selling a lot better — despite the fact that Maren Morris is a much bigger name who has received far more exposure/promo opportunities.
Best Shot may never have been in this position had it not received the “On The Verge” boost, but it ultimately proved itself deserving of the airplay. Not sure what this nonsense is about it not having support – it’s sold pretty well for a debut song from a fairly unknown artist.
In one sense, I understand the frustration about the “max push” campaign falling short for a female artist. But Rich should not even have been in the conversation for #1 based on its metrics, and articles like this mislead people about the situation.
It’s also worth noting that Chris Janson’s “Drunk Girl” had to settle for a #5 peak during its “max spins” week. That was a song from a male artist — and one that was far more important to his career trajectory than “Rich” is to Morris’.
To me, the bigger story here involves identifying why a song like “Rich” didn’t sell. We’ve been seeing some cases of female songs perform POORLY in correlation to airplay/exposure/star power (Legends and Cry Pretty are other recent examples). That’s something worth exploring – because if consumers don’t show up for women, the “boys club” is going to feel more confident in its exclusionary practices.
Trigger
December 6, 2018 @ 5:28 pm
“To me, the bigger story here involves identifying why a song like “Rich” didn’t sell. We’ve been seeing some cases of female songs perform POORLY in correlation to airplay/exposure/star power (Legends and Cry Pretty are other recent examples). That’s something worth exploring – because if consumers don’t show up for women, the “boys club” is going to feel more confident in its exclusionary practices.”
Stay tuned …
“Callouts” are always cited conveniently on both sides of a singles argument. There is nothing misleading about this article. Publishing an article like Billboard did saying that there is no woman in the country radio Top 20, when by their own data Maren Morris’s “Rich” should be at #11 if not for their recurrent chart and not even mentioning that fact, that is misleading.
Scotty J
December 6, 2018 @ 4:14 pm
Yep, good points.
This has been going for many years. Back in the days when Taylor Swift was being pushed to country radio her songs would always have crazy call out numbers with lots of strongly likes and lots of strongly dislikes. Thus her songs would have a really fast burn out rate and would climb fast and then fall off the charts very quickly.
Lambert and Underwood have had similar problems also. With country radio listeners tending to skew female it has always struck me as too simplistic to say this is anti-female thing because a somewhat large part of the problem has to be female listener driven.
Scotty J
December 6, 2018 @ 4:16 pm
Dammit, this was supposed to be a reply to Saving Bro Country Music.
Head Case
December 6, 2018 @ 6:17 pm
About time for Taylor Swift to come back home.
Head Case
December 6, 2018 @ 6:20 pm
(Sarcasm)
Sana Mello
December 6, 2018 @ 6:38 pm
Thank you for this very detailed, and informative article. I agree mostly, but also feel the focus should not fall entirely on the record labels. They are money making enterprises that are narrowly focused on margin. With that being said, their bottom line is a maximum ROI, and if they felt Maren could yield as much as Kane, I’m sure, we would be having a different conversation. The sad fact is, even though we have incredibly talented women releasing undeniable works of magnitude, you would be none the wiser by solely looking at record sales, and concert ticket purchases. There may be some misogyny involved, but I really think it’s about the money. If fans really want to send a message to the label executives, and radio, more people have to support the female artists by buying their music, attending concerts, and requesting them on radio.
wayne
December 6, 2018 @ 7:21 pm
“That’s something worth exploring – because if consumers don’t show up for women…”
Enough said.
Clint
December 6, 2018 @ 8:10 pm
I am surprised how well the Kane Brown tour is selling…does Maren Morris have that same drawing power? Is that the real reason he is pushed more?
Corncaster
December 6, 2018 @ 8:33 pm
The entire male songwriting field writes songs that women want to hear. I doubt the reverse is true. Instead, lately it’s grrl power and I changed my name back needed neener. That doesn’t sound like a big tent $trategy. It sounds like the girl equivalent of a guy guitar solo — with the same fatigue as a result.
David
December 7, 2018 @ 12:27 am
I am losing so much respect for Billboard. They screw up time and time again. This just proves they don’t know what they’re doing.
Will
December 7, 2018 @ 6:52 am
If you look at mediabass daily chart you’ll see Rich way down at #20. http://www.mediabase.com/mmrweb/allaboutcountry/Charts.asp?format=C1R
The song will likely fall out of the top twenty in the coming days and there will be no women in the top twenty on that chart either. Why are we arguing about Billboard’s chart rules and not the historic lack of women on radio?
Black Boots
December 7, 2018 @ 8:29 am
Maren Morris rules. Can’t wait for MM2.
I think she’s the only artist that i like that’s played on country radio (other than the odd older song here and there)
TxMusic
December 7, 2018 @ 10:18 am
5 Grammy nominations for Maren. She’s doing alright for herself. Makes them look even dumber for not pushing her to #1.
albert
December 7, 2018 @ 10:55 am
which is the country artist :
Maren Morris or Ashley McBryde ?
Maren or Midland ?
Maren or Maddie and Tae?
Maren or ( any of 20 other artists here )
I LOVE Maren …LOVE her vocal style and her album .
IT IS NOT A COUNTRY ALBUM and thrives in the ‘country ‘ market only at the cost of radio and the industry IGNORING real COUNTRY acts promoting COUNTRY music . WTF ???
Corncaster
December 7, 2018 @ 2:34 pm
Well, you go where the money is. But is there money for Maren in “country music”? I thought the numbers were tanking.
Diamond Girl
December 7, 2018 @ 6:25 pm
All of the industry information provided here is interesting. I appreciate articles and insights placed here. When discussions about plight of women artists, it really is like peeling an onion so to speak. Many layers. Question for you Trigger, if a woman can somehow follow Shania Twain’s formula in the 90’s would that work now? At that time her producer/then husband knew the ‘system’ inside out, payola, labels, programmers…etc….is that what it would take to breakthrough currently? Women owner of their own Labels?
Trigger
December 7, 2018 @ 8:49 pm
Shania Twain rose to become the biggest thing in country music. The Dixie Chicks rose to become the biggest thing in country music. Taylor Swift rose to become the biggest thing in country music, and so big, the genre couldn’t contain her. And I know some will say these were pop stars, but they were a fair more country in their early careers, especially compared to today’s stars.
I think people are making a mistake thinking that the way for women to succeed in country music is to make their path to the top easier. I don’t think that’s the case. I think that’s why so many of them today can get any traction, because they’re perpetually trying to ride their bike with training wheels, and they can only go so fast or far. You want to read about adversity, go read the biography of Shania Twain. By the time she was trying to work her way into country music, it was like a cake walk for her. Same for Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn. Taylor Swift was 15-years-old when she started her career on a startup label. What all of these women had was a fire, a perseverance, and something wholly original that country music hadn’t witnessed before.
I believe women can still succeed in country music.But making it easier for them is not going to ferret out the best talent. You need to find ones who are fearless, and are willing to rise to the challenge.
JB-Chicago
December 8, 2018 @ 12:18 am
“You need to find ones who are fearless, and are willing to rise to the challenge.”
We’ve found one and her name is Sarah Shook.
Diamond Girl
December 7, 2018 @ 10:47 pm
I agree about the Fire, being fearless and perseverance. Shania story is incredible, going thru what she did growing up. She and Loretta Lynn living thru tough times while on the path to their destiny to be Stars . Both Ladies talent like no other. Taylor, I don’t place in same category. She is more of a phenomenon, songwriting skills and showmanship yes. But her background is not growing up thru hard times.
albert
December 8, 2018 @ 2:52 pm
I think women write or co-write the BEST songs around right now . If I listed my top 10 artists 6 or 7 may be women . But I’m gonna go ahead and play devil’s advocate here and say what I believe is the truth about the three women in question .
Dolly was and is a great writer AND singer …far and away the best of the three ..FAR and away ! That said , there are lots of hard-working GREAT women writers but these three women all had one thing in common . They were beautiful and completely MARKETABLE on that basis alone . Anyone without the model-like looks of Shania and the ‘pull’ of a Mutt Lange singing those trite , foolish songs would have been completely ignored…and would be today, as we all know she is , in fact . Likewise for T.S. A far less attractive person would have been ignored singing those little girl songs . These women were marketable to young guys who could turn off the sound and still be entertained . And they were marketable to young kids/ girls who wanted to be like them , look like them , be seen in the same light , same fashions and feel the same sense of empowerment that striking good looks and sexual attractiveness brings ANYONE prepared to capitalize on those attributes.
Diamond Girl
December 8, 2018 @ 6:38 pm
I agree Albert, women doing wonderful work as songwriters or co-writers. I did not mean to leave Dolly out of my above post. She is truly a Legend, and high up there on the list of most talented, forging her own path. Plus maintaining her legendary status for decades. (Reba also legendary, not mentioned in above , she is Stellar as well) Since my original question to Trigger was about Shania’s success in the 90s that is where i plotted first. Shania already had career and years of work, but the combination of her talents plus Mutt’s work on the producer/manager side and timing of the 90s was a powerful formula. I would love to see more women artists do what Shania did in the 90s for country music, just my own wish list. 🙂
Fuzzy TwoShirts
December 8, 2018 @ 1:15 pm
Frankly Scarlet, I couldn’t care less about whether or not Maren Morris is in the “Country” top twenty.
For the same reason I don’t care which piece of crap sits highest in a crap house.
Once upon a time I had a bowl of cereal. Then along came somebody, let’s say it was Taylor Swift, and took a big dump in the cereal bowl of Country Music.
It was a pretty big bowl and there was a lot of cereal, so maybe that one piece of crap didn’t ruin the cereal.
Then somebody else did, and another and another.
Finally there wasn’t enough cereal left and it tasted like crap.
So I went and got a new bowl, and I put cereal in it.
but people kept crapping in the old bowl.
And now here I sit broken-hearted eating of my new bowl of cereal with my Don Walser-Os and my George Jones wheaties, and I hear people moaning about which piece of crap sits highest in the old bowl I used to eat out of.
And I don’t give a crap.
if I can’t put cereal in it, I don’t care about it.
And since I don’t need it, I say throw it out.
If there isn’t Country Music on Country Radio, throw it out.
“But Fuzzy, think of all the people who could hear great music if Radio gave it a chance.”
They have internet, how they use it is none of my concern. Nobody forced them to eat out of the bowl of crap, there’s a whole plethora of bowls in the cupboard and it isn’t too hard to grab one.
SizzleThis !
December 8, 2018 @ 8:26 pm
Whoa Nellie there Fuzzy, maybe ya need to cut down on fiber for your breakfast, too many turds in the morning bowl, ha!
RP
December 14, 2018 @ 9:14 am
I think women in the Red Dirt world have a better shot of airplay and success. At any given time Bri Bagwell, Sarah HObbs, Aubrie Lynn, Sunny Sweeney, etc. will be on the charts. A good song is a good song, and true country fans will embrace it, no matter if a man or woman is singing.