There are lots of people using the internet to bypass record labels and bypass radio. The problem with the internet is anyone can get access. So you have millions of songs and new artists to sort through. Very time consuming. How do you distinguish one from another? But yes if one or two songs get more streams than the rest, they will get noticed by radio programmers, and it won't be long before they get signed by a label. That's what happened to Kane Brown and Luke Combs.
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Should New York's Country 94.7 Take the Lead and Play More Female Artists?
- Thread starter Barry
- Start date
There are lots of people using the internet to bypass record labels and bypass radio. The problem with the internet is anyone can get access. So you have millions of songs and new artists to sort through. Very time consuming. How do you distinguish one from another? But yes if one or two songs get more streams than the rest, they will get noticed by radio programmers, and it won't be long before they get signed by a label. That's what happened to Kane Brown and Luke Combs.
Colbie Caillat is another notable example of internet success turned major-label star. Of course, it didn't hurt that her father had some serious music industry ties, having been Fleetwood Mac's producer in their biggest-selling years. I remember, though, reading a review of one of the concerts on her first national tour in the Boston Globe -- the writer noted that she had no stage presence at all and suggested that someone should have told her that sitting on your bed while singing and strumming for YouTube is not the same as entertaining a couple of thousand people in a concert hall.
Justin Bieber was also discovered on YouTube. This comes up with winners of TV talent shows as well. There's a difference between singing cover songs and singing original hits, singing in a controlled theater vs. singing with a band on tour. The whole process of becoming a major recording star can be complicated.
If you're interested in this topic of women in country radio, and you haven't read this column by Sean Ross, you should do it now:
https://radioinsight.com/ross/184581/escape-from-boyfriend-country-what-country-radio-must-do-now/
It's an interesting point of view, and I still don't see that having hits is any easier in other genres. If it's hard for women to have hits in country, it's even harder for them to have hits in rock or alternative.
https://radioinsight.com/ross/184581/escape-from-boyfriend-country-what-country-radio-must-do-now/
It's an interesting point of view, and I still don't see that having hits is any easier in other genres. If it's hard for women to have hits in country, it's even harder for them to have hits in rock or alternative.
The short answer to the thread question: YES.
Agree.....
Like so many music issues, a big part of the problem lies in record label production of hits. There is no question that good songs by women can be huge hits.
But how many labels sign as many women as men? And how many give their best composer contacts to the new female artists? Or their producers?
How many promoters are pressured as much over new female artists as the male ones?
If the answer is "half" to all, then it is a radio issue. If the answer is any less on the female side, then we should be talking about the labels before we pressure radio.
I ran a station in Puerto Rico that was all-salsa. It had high-20 shares in a very competitive market (over 25 full signal metro area stations). We had one female artist, the well known Celia Cruz. There were no others because no other band hired women as their singer. As a radio station, we wondered if we could do a talent contest at a group of clubs ending with a deal to record with one of the major orchestras. We asked the good bands, and were told they would not do that. End of project.
And before I am accused of being part of the issue, in that same market I named the first woman to a post of general manager, the first female GSM and the first woman as the lead on a morning show... among a number of other things I did to take advantage of an under-utilized but amazingly skilled talent pool.
In other words, now as well as then, the situation is not as simple as it seems.
That's a good question. As for producers, there aren't a lot of female producers. I know that's not the question you asked, but it's worth discussing. The female artists usually act as co-producer, but in all cases I can think of, it's with a man. A woman has never won a Grammy for Producer of the Year. That's in 44 years of awards, starting in 1975, no women have ever won. The record making process today is more controlled by the artist than the label. The artist decides who she wants to produce her record. She consults with A&R and management. But it's an artist decision.
Songwriting is an interesting topic. Given that radio doesn't pay royalty to artists, but does to writers, it behooves an artist to be a part of the writing process. Its encouraged by the label and management. That gives the artist more control over what she sings. She's not just a voice for someone else's words. Taylor Swift writes her songs. Same with Carrie Underwood. She's also co-producer of her records.
There are a lot of very successful female songwriters. Diane Warren pops to mind. Liz Rose is one of Taylor Swift's collaborators. Hillary Lindsay is another. When asked about women in country music, Garth Brooks pointed to the songwriters. He said there may not be as many women artists, but a lot of the songs in the chart are written by women, so they are represented in the music we hear.
So yes, it's very complicated. And in the end, we're talking about something that's very subjective. Placing objective numbers on personal taste is not going to work, because we don't listen to music based on gender.
The short answer to the thread question: YES.
So even if those songs by female artists are not very good compared to the songs by male artists, radio should be forced to play them just for the sake of gender equality? That pretty much sums up why I rarely listen to radio anymore and curate my own playlists.
But you do that anyway even though there is no such requirement now, right?
WNSH has added a new feature. They will be playing 4 female country artists in a row, every Tuesday afternoon.
Glad they're doing something that's a bit different.
https://newyorkscountry947.radio.co...947-back-to-back-ingrid-tenille-carrie-ashley
Glad they're doing something that's a bit different.
https://newyorkscountry947.radio.co...947-back-to-back-ingrid-tenille-carrie-ashley
Right now, there are three females in a row in the country Top 10: Maren Morris, Ingrid Andress, and Gabby Barrett.
https://variety.com/2020/music/news...men-top-10-first-time-seven-years-1203536439/
What I wish they would do is play Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Hank Sr. & Hank Jr., Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, David Allan Coe, Waylon Jennings, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Oak Ridge Boys, and so on. You know ... REAL Country.
Whatever the current audience for the current incarnation of country music prefers is "real" country music at that moment. Was the syrupy "countrypolitan" sound of the 1960s and early 1970s (Jim Reeves, Ray Price, etc.) "real" country? Was the disco country that Anne Murray, Bill Anderson and Crystal Gayle dabbled in the late '70s "real" country? The mawkish, manipulative recitations of Red Stegall ("Teddy Bear")? The straight-ahead folk-rock of Mary Chapin Carpenter?
Weirdly, years before starting Nash 94.7, Citadel launched "wabccountry.com", with the primary feature being a stream of Citadel's "Real Country" 24/7 format. I assumed, given the branding they were going to put Willie and Merle and Hank Jr. on 770, but that obviously never happened.
That was in 2009 or 2010.
That was in 2009 or 2010.
You mean real OLD country. Country 94.7 is playing current country. If Johnny Cash was current, they'd play him. When George Strait released new music, they played it. According to Mediabase, they still play Strait and Jackson. Z100 doesn't play music from the 60s & 70s, so neither does Country 94.7. There are a couple of classic country AMs in the suburbs playing the old stuff.
WNSH does play a handful of country songs from the 90's. They seem to be mostly by artists such as Tim McGraw and Garth Brooks that still have hits from time to time.
While it seems unrealistic to expect the station to play music older than that, it would great to hear them mix in some more tunes from that era. But my guess is that only a very limited number of them still test well in the New York area, among the demos they are trying to reach.
Perhaps a specialty show on Sunday mornings or an HD side channel focusing on 90's/early 2000's country could be added, to keep the older portion of their audience happy.
While it seems unrealistic to expect the station to play music older than that, it would great to hear them mix in some more tunes from that era. But my guess is that only a very limited number of them still test well in the New York area, among the demos they are trying to reach.
Perhaps a specialty show on Sunday mornings or an HD side channel focusing on 90's/early 2000's country could be added, to keep the older portion of their audience happy.
Given the cutbacks the company is experiencing right now, I doubt they'll spend any time or money on an HD channel.
All of the music is commercially available, and Sirius offers a couple channels for the people with expendable cash.
Maybe. But tunes like "Quittin' Time" were core to the country audience back then. When I was running WTNT in Tallahassee in a very traditional leaning market that was one of our biggest hits at the time.
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