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Is Alternative dead and how can it go forward?

Why can’t more Alt-Country get more Airplay on alternative stations. At least here in the Midwest it would least give it more variety.
 
MarkW said:
Did I say that anywhere in my post? No, I did not.
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Then what's the point. Radio did a lot of things 30 years ago that are impractical now, like consulting with local record stores.

The music charts were once based on sales of physical product too. We're not going back there either.

tsherck said:
Why can’t more Alt-Country get more Airplay on alternative stations. At least here in the Midwest it would least give it more variety.
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There's a real cultural disconnect there in my opinion. On the other hand there are several alternative artists who currently have big hits on the country airplay charts. Some like Zac Brown have a close friendship with Dave Grohl. I think Zac could have had a career in alternative, but he made a whole lot more money as a country artist.
 
I edited my prior post right as you were replying to it in an effort to more clearly state my point, because you're right, I did not initially do a very good job of stating my point.
 
MarkW said:
I edited my prior post right as you were replying to it in an effort to more clearly state my point, because you're right, I did not initially do a very good job of stating my point.
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Here's your edit:

MarkW said:
What I appreciate from the early days of 99X is that the station - using its local staff's judgment - geared its programming & specific artist choices to the tastes of the local market as opposed to following a pre-fabricated boilerplate template from an out-of-town consultant.
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Keep in mind that 1992 was during of golden era of radio consultants. So I wouldn't over-generalize there. Just that Brian Phillips prefers doing things in-house. That's how he was at both 99X and KPLX. But once again, the station had an audience that was far more tolerant of music choices than the current audience. Today everyone wants to second guess the programmer. It's become a spectator sport.
 
Metallica has the biggest bullet on the Alt chart and will have the most adds on the Alt panel this week unless something unforeseen happens. A most unexpected development to close out the year.

Also shows how quickly the Alternative format can change.

 
TheBigA said:
According to Billboard, 8 songs charted, 1 Top 10. Pretty sporadic,

Compared to 40 mainstream rock, 25 Top 10, 10 #1


All of their Grammy awards are in either metal or rock. None in alternative.
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They are a metal band that experiences sporadic Alternative crossover due to their punk rock influence. Thinking about it any deeper is overthinking it.

And yes, they have punk influence. Thrash metal is basically punk and metal fused together - and Lux Aeterna leans more towards the punk side of things.
 
The fact that Metallica is most added isn’t all that notable. As others have said before, they’ve been getting sporadically added for years. When you look at their airplay leaders, you see the Alt/Active hybrids that wouldn’t surprise anyone (WCYY, KPNT, KTBZ, WBUZ, WXDX) by adding it.

What IS notable to me is that they’ve gotten added to rotation at KROX/Austin. I even see I Prevail in light rotation. THAT surprises me.

Looking further down, WWCD/Columbus has even given it a handful of spins. THAT is the notable part to me. Like I said, seeing Metallica getting adds isn’t all that notable to me. WWCD adding Metallica is quite a surprise and perhaps a sign of changes.
 
This is the I Prevail song crossing over. It has been on the Billboard Alternative chart for the last three weeks. It hasn't made the top 40 of the Mediabase chart yet, it's just outside.


Country artist Koe Wetzel, who blends grunge music and country together, is also crossing over. "Creeps" is in the top 40 of Mediabase Alt and just missed entering Billboard by a handful of spins.

(NSFW lyrics and imagery)
 
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I'd love to see The Cramps 'Goo Goo Muck' get re-released to Alternative, similar to what happened with Kate Bush 'Running Up That Hill' earlier this year.

Goo Goo Muck has reportedly blown up on the streaming platforms after it was used in the now-viral dance scene in Netflix 'Wednesday'. What a great track (and scene). Guess it's up to the label unless some Alternative programming head decides to be proactive about it, which seems like a rarity these days.
 
True alternative, I would argue, has no audience on commercial radio at this time. You can get a station that plays alternative but not be a true alternative station, and it perform well. Case in point is KPNT which leans more alternative during periods of popularity (i.e. 2013, 2014 period).

Even the Alt Nation on Sirius XM lacks a lot in my personal opinion. For new alternative music (breaking new songs/bands), I mainly stick with WEQX on the tunein app. It's about all I listen to unless I want to hear some spoking word format. WEQX mixes indie/mainstream, old/new and has an expansive playlist so it's rare I get bored. Limited commercial play.
 
tall_guy1 said:
As for alternative pop, it still has somewhat of a following. Id say artists like charli xcx could be looked at.
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It does on more commercial alt. Alt Nation on Sirius XM will play Yungblud (which annoys the hell out of me) but if you find a true alternative outlet, it's a rarity it gets any play.
 
tsherck said:
Why can’t more Alt-Country get more Airplay on alternative stations. At least here in the Midwest it would least give it more variety.
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Probably the closest we’re going to get for the time being is “Stick Season” by Noah Kahan. It’s starting to cross over from AAA.

 
macattack said:
Probably the closest we’re going to get for the time being is “Stick Season” by Noah Kahan. It’s starting to cross over from AAA.

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With alt-country leaning more and more in a traditional country (as in Texas or even pre-Garth Brooks Nashville) direction every year, it's hard to see it getting much traction with alternative rock fans.
 
CTListener said:
With alt-country leaning more and more in a traditional country (as in Texas or even pre-Garth Brooks Nashville) direction every year, it's hard to see it getting much traction with alternative rock fans.
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Yeah I don’t see it happening either. Active hitmakers Rival Sons have some Alt-country influence and they have mild Alternative crossover right now with “Nobody Wants To Die” (which is #49 on Mediabase Alt). That and “Stick Season” (which I would classify as folk-rock personally) are the closest we’re going to get for the foreseeable future I think.
 
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