Rich Men North of Richmond #1

[boombox4]

So, the topic of this thread is "Rich Men North of Richmond" When the song was first released, I thought it was a protest against northern liberal politicians by a southern artist who favored the Confederacy. ( Richmond was the Confederate capital during the Civil War). Or, I thought it was kind of a culture wars song - good rural country folk vs. wicked city folk i.e., "Fightin' Side of Me" or "Okie From Muskogee" by Merle Haggard. But, after the song was played at the GOP debate last week, Oliver Anthony spoke out and said no - he was writing about politicans in general, and he didn't want the song "weaponized" by one side or the other.

Not sure if this NPR article about the artist and song has been posted before. .

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/24/1195655023/the-rise-of-oliver-anthony-and-rich-men-north-of-richmond

Yeah, I don't see a South vs. North thing as much as him complaining about DC.

He's based out of Virginia. Richmond is the capital of his state. "Rich Men" and "Richmond" would also be a poetic twist on the sounds of both of the words / terms. He also knows that just 100 miles north of Richmond is DC where all the politicians he apparently dislikes make policies that affect the country.

 

[Mikey Radio]

Oliver Anthony Cancels Knoxville Concert, Apologizes for High Ticket Prices, And Vows to Find Affordable Alternative​

Oliver Anthony Cancels Knoxville Concert, Apologizes for High Ticket Prices, And Vows to Find Affordable Alternative

“I'm just upset seeing those prices," Anthony admitted in a statement to his fans.

countrynow.com

Oliver Anthony has made the difficult decision to cancel his upcoming concert at the Cotton Eyed Joe in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The rising country artist, known for his viral hit “Rich Men North Of Richmond,” expressed his disappointment at the high ticket prices ($99) and paid meet-and-greet opportunities ($199) associated with the show.

“I’m just upset seeing those prices. We will find another place in Knoxville area that can do $25 ticket and free meet and greet,” he said. “I will work to get your tickets refunded from my own budget if they can’t.”

“This will never happen again. Thanks for your patience. I am still learning how all of this works,” Anthony added.
Just hours before the official cancellation, Anthony addressed the cost of the show, which was booked by his friend who works full-time as a plumber.
“I apologize for the price at Cotton Eyed Joe. Have a friend of mine trying to help me book gigs. I told him I don’t want to do anything that’s more than $40 a ticket, ideally no more than $25 a piece,” he explained. “These are supposed to be affordable shows.

 

[Daryl Lynn L.A.]

Oliver Anthony Cancels Knoxville Concert, Apologizes for High Ticket Prices, And Vows to Find Affordable Alternative​

Oliver Anthony Cancels Knoxville Concert, Apologizes for High Ticket Prices, And Vows to Find Affordable Alternative

“I'm just upset seeing those prices," Anthony admitted in a statement to his fans.

countrynow.com

The high cost of tickets and meet ‘n greets are set by promoters and then driven higher by the fact that scalpers buy a larger percentage of tickets for resale . At least that’s how it works in Calif. One promoter, Live Nation, tends to have a corner on the Calif. market. When Bruce Springsteen brought his tour to Calif. a few years ago, almost all tickets were available only through scalpers. Those tickets start at $500 for the “nosebleed” section in a stadium.
3 weeks ago, my 2 granddaughters flew down to L.A. to see the Taylor Swift “Eras” concert. I have no idea how my son and wife afforded that, as scalper ticket prices started at $1000, which is what they paid. That was the cheapest ticket.
Good for Oliver Anthony for trying to find a less expensive venue and not be enslaved by large promoters. However, the promoters will argue very strongly in order to justify their prices and the number of tickets that go almost immediately to scalpers. JMO.

 

[Mikey Radio]

The concerns with Ticketmaster / Live Nation, including dynamic pricing, "bots" buying large amounts of (sometimes the most attractive) tickets and then reselling them later for much higher prices, tacking on processing and other fees that are sometimes nearly as expensive as the actual face value of the tickets, etc. are well-known and often detested. About a year ago, NPR dedicated a full, hour-long program to it, with several guests including folks from Ticketmaster as well as smaller, independent venues. It's a 40 minute listen but I remember hearing it when it was initially broadcast and thought it informative. It was also interesting to watch reps from Ticketmaster deflect and pivot when asked direct questions.

https://www.npr.org/2022/08/31/1120252212/does-ticketmaster-have-a-monopoly-on-live-events

 

[chrocket87]

I just heard this song for the first time on a (semi) local Hot AC (WHBC/Canton). I could not think of a song that fits worse on a Hot AC station (David Guetta played next).

Might this song become a hit on Hot ACs in other MAGA-friendly areas or was this a one-off occurrence?

 

[TheBigA]

I just heard this song for the first time on a (semi) local Hot AC (WHBC/Canton). I could not think of a song that fits worse on a Hot AC station (David Guetta played next).

Might this song become a hit on Hot ACs in other MAGA-friendly areas or was this a one-off occurrence?

'This song is charting at #49 in the Hot AC chart because of one station: WHBC Canton. It is the only Hot AC station in the entire country playing this song, but it plays it 79 times a week, which is pretty much every other hour. I agree that it doesn't fit on Hot AC. In my opinion, it doesn't fit on a country station. But perhaps the people of Canton feel differently.

 

[chrocket87]

'This song is charting at #49 in the Hot AC chart because of one station: WHBC Canton. It is the only Hot AC station in the entire country playing this song, but it plays it 79 times a week, which is pretty much every other hour. I agree that it doesn't fit on Hot AC. In my opinion, it doesn't fit on a country station. But perhaps the people of Canton feel differently.

I live about an hour north of Canton, so I can pick up WHBC like a local. I was pretty surprised to hear it there, but the Canton area is very much Trump country. If I ever hear it on my local station (WQAL/Cleveland) I just might crash my car.

 

[TheBigA]

I live about an hour north of Canton, so I can pick up WHBC like a local. I was pretty surprised to hear it there, but the Canton area is very much Trump country. If I ever hear it on my local station (WQAL/Cleveland) I just might crash my car.

What surprises me is that the station is owned by Alpha. I could imagine a local owner getting a wild hair and playing a song like this. But not a group owned station. Especially 79 times a week. This is among the station's Top 10 most played songs, along with Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus.

 

[CTListener]

What surprises me is that the station is owned by Alpha. I could imagine a local owner getting a wild hair and playing a song like this. But not a group owned station. Especially 79 times a week. This is among the station's Top 10 most played songs, along with Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus.

I'm surprised that no one in the mainstream or industry press (including websites) has written anything on this. Maybe the station isn't playing the full song, just enough of it to register in the database, to make some political point? Apparently, the station streams on the Audacy app. Maybe one of us should give it a listen to ascertain what actually is going on there. I wonder if it airs at certain times every day, like the national anthem does on one of our local country stations (although that's only once a day, at noon).

Meanwhile, this song's predecessor in controversy, "Try That in a Small Town," is only getting stronger at country radio. It's now at No. 5 in the latest Mediabase rankings and looking very good for at least a brief stay at No. 1 in airplay unless Lainey Wilson's "Watermelon Moonshine" blocks it. So much for the predictions that it would fade at radio after the initial buzz wore off.

 

[TheBigA]

I wonder if it airs at certain times every day, like the national anthem does on one of our local country stations (although that's only once a day, at noon).

To achieve 79 spins a week, they're playing it every two hours, 12 times a day, perhaps skipping Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, this song's predecessor in controversy, "Try That in a Small Town," is only getting stronger at country radio.

There never was a controversy about the song. The only controversy was about the video.

 

[chrocket87]

I'm surprised that no one in the mainstream or industry press (including websites) has written anything on this. Maybe the station isn't playing the full song, just enough of it to register in the database, to make some political point? Apparently, the station streams on the Audacy app. Maybe one of us should give it a listen to ascertain what actually is going on there. I wonder if it airs at certain times every day, like the national anthem does on one of our local country stations (although that's only once a day, at noon).

I heard the song live on the mentioned station while driving to an errand around 4:45 PM today. As far as I could tell, it was the full song (hadn’t heard it before and, frankly, do not care to hear it again).

 

[TheBigA]

I heard the song live on the mentioned station while driving to an errand around 4:45 PM today. As far as I could tell, it was the full song (hadn’t heard it before and, frankly, do not care to hear it again).

How are they handling the multiple uses of the "s" word? Is it bleeped?

 

[chrocket87]

How are they handling the multiple uses of the "s" word? Is it bleeped?

It was played as “sh” like many other songs with that word in it.

 

[Mark Roberts]

What surprises me is that the station is owned by Alpha. I could imagine a local owner getting a wild hair and playing a song like this. But not a group owned station. Especially 79 times a week. This is among the station's Top 10 most played songs, along with Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus.

Of all the groups Alpha seems to have the lightest touch with respect to programming.

Just to name one example the Missouri small market stations purchased by Alpha from Goodman (who in turn bought them from the Shepherd family) still run with much the same programming approach that Shepherd had.

 

[RadioG-Man]

According to this, he's making $40K a day on streaming royalties:

Country sensation Oliver Anthony making an estimated $40,000 a day from chart-topping music

Country star Oliver Anthony rose to fame singing about wealthy elites, but now is raking in tens of thousands of dollars thanks to his working-class anthem.

www.foxnews.com

Whew. For a minute there I thought this might be true. But then I saw the FoxNews byline.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Whew. For a minute there I thought this might be true. But then I saw the FoxNews byline.

It seemed like just a rewrite of a LA Times music critic's column. Probably clickbait to get the comments section going.

 

[TheBigA]

The Mediabase chart has just come out, and Rich Men charts at #50. What I notice is more stations are playing it, but they're playing less frequently. And some of the stations that jumped on it early have dropped it. So that tells me it burns quick.

 

[davideduardo]

How are they handling the multiple uses of the "s" word? Is it bleeped?

Remember, there is no list of prohibited words. The FCC action against the "Seven Dirty Words" comedy routine was based on those words, said together with the intent to shock, were offensive.

Because of that, all of us in radio management, had lists and lawyer recommendations of what we had to edit, censor or avoid. But there was no "saying 's---it' will get us a fine" type of specific guidance.

 

[tbolt909]

Remember, there is no list of prohibited words. The FCC action against the "Seven Dirty Words" comedy routine was based on those words, said together with the intent to shock, were offensive.

Because of that, all of us in radio management, had lists and lawyer recommendations of what we had to edit, censor or avoid. But there was no "saying 's---it' will get us a fine" type of specific guidance.

I worked at many Rock stations that played songs like "Who Are You", "Money", "Jet Airliner" and some others. They all had profanities in the lyrics. We played them unedited and nobody ever cared. I can't remember a single complaint from anyone and the FCC never fined us. A fleeting profanity is different from say the CeeLo Green hit "F*** You". It's amusing that stations played the edited version, but it's obvious what the bleeped word was...

 

[TheBigA]

Remember, there is no list of prohibited words.

However, the FCC responds to complaints. All it takes is one well-documented complaint, and you will get fined.

Post #213 says the station in Ohio leaves the "sh" part of the word. I've done similar edits of certain words.