I had to chuckle reading Phyliss Stark's article about the Americana Music Association's conference last week. One comment was that mainstream country stations don't have language problems with the music they play. That depends. A lot of stations have a problem with the "ass" word, and it shows up in Blake Shelton's latest #1, "All About Tonight." The label made an alternate available, but stations had to ask for it. Eric Church's current song, "Smoke a Little Smoke," required a remix as well due to some questionable references. Those are just two recent examples.
The big problem with Americana is also its main selling point, which is the diversity and artistry. Neither of those things sell records or anything else. Anyone whoever took Economics 101 will tell you that you need to focus people's attention on a few things, do it over and over, and even then it's going to be tough make an impression. Americana has a small group of devoted fans, and they love the fact that it's small. They want to escape all the merchadising that goes on in popular country. The minute Americana gets mainstream acceptance, all those devoted fans will find something else. Bringing in a lot of former rock superstars like Robert Plant may be good for press. But he's not who the real Americana fans want to see.
The big problem with Americana is also its main selling point, which is the diversity and artistry. Neither of those things sell records or anything else. Anyone whoever took Economics 101 will tell you that you need to focus people's attention on a few things, do it over and over, and even then it's going to be tough make an impression. Americana has a small group of devoted fans, and they love the fact that it's small. They want to escape all the merchadising that goes on in popular country. The minute Americana gets mainstream acceptance, all those devoted fans will find something else. Bringing in a lot of former rock superstars like Robert Plant may be good for press. But he's not who the real Americana fans want to see.