Boycotting Kanye West

[nd2023]

Which CHR stations have boycotted Kanye West?
It would be interesting to see Kanye fall in the recurrents chart.

 

[sfradio]

What are they going to do with "knock you down" are they going to cut out his rap?

 

[the golden boy]

What Kanye West did was absolutely stupid, but he didn't do anything that would warrant a boycott, especially when you consider acts who've done worse things. For instance, T.I. is in federal prison for gun charges. Did any stations boycott his music?If stations are going to boycott Kanye or any artist for their wrongdoing, they need to be consistent and not be selective over what they boycott.

 

[BRH]

So far, the ones I've heard of that are boycotting Kanye's music are KHOP Modesto and WDOD Chattanooga. I'm sure his music will return shortly, but it does make for a good stunt to grab some publicity.

 

[Roger That]

...but it does make for a good stunt to grab some publicity.

...as evidenced by WBVD in Melbourne, FL, which Perez Hilton singled out.

 

[whit979]

If it seriously took THIS event happening for stations to start pulling Kanye West's music, then you can bet for sure that it's just a lame stunt. We didn't "boycott" him the time he said Bush hates black people, we didn't boycott him all of the other innumerable times he showed his rear ... we waited until he jumps up on stage and disrespects another pop artist. I'm not condoning at all what Kanye did but that's pretty weak, especially knowing that something stupid happens every year at the VMAs. After all, it is the ONLY reason why that awards show is still relevant on a network that rarely plays the videos of its award nominees. I think more than anything, if a "boycott" was going to happen, then it was long overdue and should have happened way before this drama.

 

[BRH]

Now with the leaking of Obama's comment calling Kanye a Jack*ss, you can bet that more stations will be milking this for publicity.

 

[cartman1964]

What Kanye did was rude, but IMO not even close to justifying banning his music. The current songs involving Kanye are "Knocks You Down" and "Run This Town". So do you penalize Keri Hilson, Ne-Yo, Jay-Z and Rihanna too for Kanye's stupid and immature action at the MTV awards?

Plus, I still hear Chris Brown songs on the radio after he physically assaulted Rihanna.

Don't boycott Kanye. That's ridiculous.

What he did was rude and stupid, not physically harmful and unlawful. And at the end of the day, I had a much higher opinion of Taylor Swift based on the way that she handled the whole thing.

Just my opinion.....

 

[JimmyJames]

I think if you're going to take Kanye off your playlist for being rude, then you might as well remove anyone with gun charges, drug charges, serving time, or facing allegations of sexual harassment. Comparatively, Kanye has made hits and is egotistical. Which applies to 90% of any music radio station's playlist artists.

 

[franksandhotdogs]

If it seriously took THIS event happening for stations to start pulling Kanye West's music, then you can bet for sure that it's just a lame stunt. We didn't "boycott" him the time he said Bush hates black people, we didn't boycott him all of the other innumerable times he showed his rear ... we waited until he jumps up on stage and disrespects another pop artist. I'm not condoning at all what Kanye did but that's pretty weak, especially knowing that something stupid happens every year at the VMAs. After all, it is the ONLY reason why that awards show is still relevant on a network that rarely plays the videos of its award nominees. I think more than anything, if a "boycott" was going to happen, then it was long overdue and should have happened way before this drama.

Most stations are boycotting Kanye probably for publicity just as they did for Chris Brown.

That being said, MC Lars hit the nail on Twitter, "Very confused about how MTV has the VMAs but no longer broadcasts the content for such an award ceremony?"

 

[TheBigA]

That being said, MC Lars hit the nail on Twitter, "Very confused about how MTV has the VMAs but no longer broadcasts the content for such an award ceremony?"

Isn't that like Billboard charting CD sales, when almost no one buys CDs any more?

 

[Roger That]

That being said, MC Lars hit the nail on Twitter, "Very confused about how MTV has the VMAs but no longer broadcasts the content for such an award ceremony?"

Isn't that like Billboard charting CD sales, when almost no one buys CDs any more?

It would be, if CD sales didn't make up 85% of album sales. Still.

 

[TheBigA]

It would be, if CD sales didn't make up 85% of album sales. Still.

The majority of music aquisition is through peer-to-peer file sharing. It doesn't get counted by BDS, and doesn't take place in stores.

 

[Roger That]

It would be, if CD sales didn't make up 85% of album sales. Still.

The majority of music aquisition is through peer-to-peer file sharing. It doesn't get counted by BDS, and doesn't take place in stores.

My original rebuttal was off-topic...I was reading too fast.

Are you arguing that the VMAs shouldn't exist at all, because the content doesn't support it? If so, it misses the point that MC Lars was making in his tweet.

The idea that MTV shouldn't run the VMAs because they don't air videos (MC Lars' point) is more akin to the idea that XX network shouldn't run the Academy Awards because they don't air the movies in question. The answer to your question "Isn't that like Billboard charting CD sales, when almost no one buys CDs any more?" is actually "no." You're making the argument that they shouldn't track CD sales because it's not a big enough number (even though the number is still in the hundreds of millions...429MM in '08), not because Billboard doesn't sell CDs themselves.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

I like taylor and Kanye,,, like one poster said if they were gonna ban him, it should have been after his bush comment on Katrina.... Not all artists like each other....... Play Kanye and mix it into kanye just for spite... chris brown still gets spins, and most people dont even remember it.

 

[TheBigA]

Are you arguing that the VMAs shouldn't exist at all, because the content doesn't support it? If so, it misses the point that MC Lars was making in his tweet.

I see what you're saying. No, I think as long as the music industry feels the need to make videos, there should be an awards show somewhere for people to get dressed up and make a scene. MTV is more appropriate than ESPN.

The idea that MTV shouldn't run the VMAs because they don't air videos (MC Lars' point) is more akin to the idea that XX network shouldn't run the Academy Awards because they don't air the movies in question.

You're right...that's a better analogy. My view is that it's clear that some fans and obviously some artists have trouble accepting artists in other genres. That was a problem for MTV more than 10 years ago, and probably why the began to replace music videos with reality shows. Rap fans had trouble sitting through boy band videos. Now that people can watch videos on-demand, it makes a video music channel obsolete...except for the music industry that still misses the free publicity.

 

[Roger That]

Now that people can watch videos on-demand, it makes a video music channel obsolete...except for the music industry that still misses the free publicity.

I'd be interested to know if there are statistics on how often music videos are even accessed now that they're primarily on-demand. They certainly don't move the needle in the website traffic department of radio station sites, compared to the other content. One has to wonder if labels really feel the promotion is worth it given the cost, or if they simply do it because "that's the way we've always done it," something radio still suffers from greatly.

 

[CHRles]

Music videos are still huge on youtube so yes they are of value (significant value) to the labels.

 

[TheBigA]

They certainly don't move the needle in the website traffic department of radio station sites, compared to the other content.

You're right...and I don't think people go to radio station sites for music videos. They either go to the video channel sites or YouTube or search through MySpace or other music sites.