bluedog6
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Post by bluedog6 on Apr 9, 2014 6:32:17 GMT -5
My opinion may be of the minority on this site but my opinion over all is a fair statement with the majority of total music listeners . I think the content of Kacey's music is depressing at best and as far as her voice nothing sets her apart from any run of the mill female singer. The dirty look she gave Miranda during her acceptance speech for female artist of the year on the CMA awards says a lot about her character and who she is as a person so no not a fan and never will be . I'm not going to get into any kind of back and forth with anyone, but I have to back up stylin's opinion. I read all these great things about Kacey's music and I just don't get it. I listened to the whole album through once and a few songs more than once trying to figure out what the buzz is all about. I too find many (not all) of her songs depressing. To me they come across not as someone making fun of people being "gossipy", but instead being snippy and demeaning all on its own. I listen to enough banter of the 20-something women I work with and don't feel like listening to this same tone in the songs I listen to. It's grating to me. I'm happy that people are happy with Kacey's music, but there those of us who don't feel the same and don't think the album should have won. That is all. :)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2014 6:49:28 GMT -5
I'm happy that people are happy with Kacey's music, but there those of us who don't feel the same and don't think the album should have won. That is all. That's completely acceptable, bluedog6. I respect your opinion. People never always agree - which makes these online forums interesting! However, people were mostly frustrated or perplexed by stylin1188's attempts to, apparently, discredit Kacey and her win. Album sales, touring statistics, and facial expressions? Also, the idea that the industry has decided to push her onto the audience? You can dis/like who you want, but why bother trying to justify it with that? That's where it becomes troubling.
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Post by Peaches. [Ch, r. is] on Apr 9, 2014 7:05:07 GMT -5
Should've been nominated. Should've stomped Kacey out.
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Post by countrygirl918 on Apr 9, 2014 7:53:41 GMT -5
I would've loved to see Ashley Monroe's Like a Rose nominated, as well as Brandy Clark's fantastic 12 Stories, which was released towards the end of the eligibility period. Those two, along with Kacey and several others, join what I consider to be a new wave of fantastic female country artists. Lots of great debut albums from the ladies over the past year or so.
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bigfan101
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Post by bigfan101 on Apr 9, 2014 8:24:25 GMT -5
I would've loved to see Ashley Monroe's Like a Rose nominated, as well as Brandy Clark's fantastic 12 Stories, which was released towards the end of the eligibility period. Those two, along with Kacey and several others, join what I consider to be a new wave of fantastic female country artists. Lots of great debut albums from the ladies over the past year or so. How about Thompson Square's fantastic Just Feels Good? I wish that got more love in sales and awards.
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jaseboyhyde
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Post by jaseboyhyde on Apr 9, 2014 8:44:43 GMT -5
Did anyone else think George should have had a different partner to tribute Merle, like Reba or Martina? Miranda sounded great, but something about her on the same level with George Strait and Merle Haggard rubbed me the wrong way. Miranda Lambert is a huge Merle Haggard fan, so I'm sure that has something to do with it. And, as much as I like Reba and Martina, Miranda's voice actually makes a lot more sense paired with George Strait. Most people in Country Music are big Merle fans. What does that have to do with her getting to pay that tribute to the Hag?
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Marv
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Post by Marv on Apr 9, 2014 11:39:22 GMT -5
Thursday night has been the most important TV night for years for many reasons, since many of the biggest TV shows of the past 30+ years, including The Big Bang Theory, The Cosby Show, Cheers, Frasier, Hill Street Blues, Seinfeld, CSI and tons of others aired on that night, and movie studios used those enormous audiences in order to promote their movies opening (usually) on Fridays, as well as the fact that many of those shows enjoyed both very desirable audience in the 18-49 demo, as well as very affluent viewers.
The ACM & CMA Awards have essentially had their respective airings on Sundays and Wednesdays for several years, and Sunday's ACM telecast came in #4 for the week in the ratings, trailing only The Big Bang Theory, NCIS & NCIS: Los Angeles, currently the #3, #1 & #4 shows on TV respectively so far this year, with NBC's Football Night In America on Sunday evenings ranking second for the year as it was last year and 1st in 2011, ending the 8-year reign at #1 for 'American Idol' in the process.
Sundays and Thursdays are also the top two TV nights of the week as it relates to audience sizes.
Consequently ABC would never air the CMA Awards on Thursday evenings, but Wednesday makes plenty of sense.
HTH.
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Post by countryfan4life on Apr 9, 2014 11:51:45 GMT -5
Entertainer of the Year Winner: George Strait My Pick: Luke Bryan For the CMA's I chose George Strait because it's solidly the industry voting, but here I gave the edge to Luke because of the fan vote. However, there was a part of me that knew George was going to win, because the industry still has a say. If this award was a solid fan vote no doubt Luke would have won.I don't really agree with this actually (the bolded part). George isn't my favorite artist of all-time, but among the nominees, I'd easily vote for him (and I did). And I feel like a lot of other people would be the same. I know I have seen a ton of comments on Facebook or radio station pages in which fans say things/hurl insults like "Luke and Taylor aren't country! King George all the way!" etc. There is a huge chunk of the country music fan-base that has basically been completely shunned/left in the dust by today's country radio, and those people are going to vote for George every time he's nominated, even if they DO somewhat like people like Blake or Luke or Miranda. There's just no way to compare any of the other nominees to George. Simply put, I feel like so many of today's popular artists will just all split the vote...and then you'll have a huge block of people voting for George, because he's George fricken Strait. It's as simple as that. A lot of the people are probably older and not as up-to-date with today's 'country' music but there are a lot of people in my age group (24) that would vote for George every time as well. I agree that he hasn't had the year that others have had, but that's because country radio is ageist, and they don't really play the traditional-style country anymore. So of course George isn't going to score as many hits as the others. But you put his name up against any of them in a head-to-head contest and I think George would win every time, or at least 9/10. The award probably should be about who has had the biggest year but these awards are always subjective.
ETA: Here's info from Country Aircheck regarding Rascal Flatts' lip-synced performance: » Out Of Sync: Some fans were upset when they noticed Rascal Flatts' performance of "Rewind" was lip-synched last night (4/6). In response the band issued the following statement: "After having performed several shows earlier in the week, Gary lost his voice. So, instead of canceling our commitment to do the show, we made a last minute decision to lip-sync. We've never done it before, and we're obviously not very good at it. We look forward to singing live again in the very near future!" In fact, Flatts were planning to perform live at Monday's ACM Presents: An All-Star Salute To The Troops (4/7). It airs May 20 on CBS-TV, so you can see ... and hear ... for yourself. I have seen those comments too and you could be right. The fact that people are fed up with the direction of country music and that he is George Strait, could have swung the vote, but I still think the outcome may have been a little different if the industry didn't have a say. It definitely would have been interesting to see. Also thanks for finding the statement about Rascal Flatts' performance. I knew there had to be a reason, because they can sing live. To me it still looks like they were singing live in the arena, but television heard the track, but I'll have to go back and watch it again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't want to beat the Kacey thing to death, but I am also one that is not a fan of her music. I like her voice, but for some reason I haven't been able to connect with her lyrics yet. As far as her album of the year win goes, I agree with the majority of the people on here, she deserved to win. For song and album of the year substance and artistry should win, and it did in both categories this year.
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blueguitar
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Post by blueguitar on Apr 9, 2014 11:55:06 GMT -5
Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the Entertainer of the year selected only partially by vote? I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Fan vote was not 100% of the total.
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Post by countryfan4life on Apr 9, 2014 12:09:18 GMT -5
Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the Entertainer of the year selected only partially by vote? I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Fan vote was not 100% of the total. You are correct. It's made up of fan vote and industry vote, same goes for New Artist.
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Post by countrygirl918 on Apr 9, 2014 12:29:11 GMT -5
The most frustrating thing about the fan/industry split vote for the ACM EOTY category is that the percentage balance has never been revealed. It could be 50/50, it could be 75% fan and 25% industry, it could be anything, really. The cynic in me believes that because the percentage is not revealed, they could easily change how much the fan or industry vote counts depending on who they want to win.
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carrieidol1
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Post by carrieidol1 on Apr 9, 2014 14:08:36 GMT -5
The most frustrating thing about the fan/industry split vote for the ACM EOTY category is that the percentage balance has never been revealed. It could be 50/50, it could be 75% fan and 25% industry, it could be anything, really. The cynic in me believes that because the percentage is not revealed, they could easily change how much the fan or industry vote counts depending on who they want to win. I definitely think there is constant manipulation regarding EOTY... Not only in the voting proportion, but also in the process of picking nominees. One year they have five, the next eight, then six, and now five... Something like that, if I'm not mistaken? If that's not a move to include/eliminate certain names, than I don't know what is. So not only is there manipulation in the voting process, I think there is certainly manipulation in the nomination process as well.
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Post by countryfan4life on Apr 9, 2014 15:18:45 GMT -5
The most frustrating thing about the fan/industry split vote for the ACM EOTY category is that the percentage balance has never been revealed. It could be 50/50, it could be 75% fan and 25% industry, it could be anything, really. The cynic in me believes that because the percentage is not revealed, they could easily change how much the fan or industry vote counts depending on who they want to win. I definitely think there is constant manipulation regarding EOTY... Not only in the voting proportion, but also in the process of picking nominees. One year they have five, the next eight, then six, and now five... Something like that, if I'm not mistaken? If that's not a move to include/eliminate certain names, than I don't know what is. So not only is there manipulation in the voting process, I think there is certainly manipulation in the nomination process as well. I agree. I don't understand why the number of nominees changes nor do I understand the voting process for the nominees. If they base the number of nominees on who they can make a strong enough case for, then they easily could have had 8 nominees again this year. Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean could have easily taken spots 6 and 7, and the 8th spot could have gone to Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, or Keith Urban. About the industry vote vs fan vote, I have never seen an exact percentage, but I heard last year that Taylor won in fan votes, but Luke won because he had more industry votes. Not sure if there is any truth to this, but I don't doubt it. I think the fan vote means something, but in the end the industry vote is what carries the most weight.
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Marv
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Post by Marv on Apr 9, 2014 15:36:03 GMT -5
8 nominees for EOTY? How recently did that take place?
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onebuffalo
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Post by onebuffalo on Apr 9, 2014 15:51:58 GMT -5
8 nominees for EOTY? How recently did that take place? I remember that one, too. Took awhile to find the nominees, but for the 2009 A.C.M.s, you had Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, George Strait, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift, Toby Keith, and the Zac Brown Band nominated for Entertainer of the Year. Underwood won.
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carrieidol1
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Post by carrieidol1 on Apr 9, 2014 16:11:32 GMT -5
8 nominees for EOTY? How recently did that take place? I remember that one, too. Took awhile to find the nominees, but for the 2009 A.C.M.s, you had Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, George Strait, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift, Toby Keith, and the Zac Brown Band nominated for Entertainer of the Year. Underwood won. This was awarded in the year 2010, to be clear. Carrie won in 2009 (for 2008) and in 2010 (for 2009). The issue here was that Carrie was not the most deserving her second time being nominated (and winning); it was the third year the fan vote was in play and Carrie snuck in as a nominee likely because the amount of nominees was expanded to eight. In any case, Carrie won and she probably shouldn't have considering 2009 was not comparable (for her) to 2008 or 2010. The following ACMs; held in 2011 awarding accomplishments of the year 2010, it was pretty evident that Carrie would be nominated and likely win as 2010 was HUGE for her, I'm fairly confident in saying that just about every prediction of nominees included Carrie; here and outside of Pulse. However, the Entertainer category was mysteriously reduced to six nominees (after it had randomly been expanded to eight the year before) leaving out sure-fire nominee, Carrie Underwood. This, to me, was when manipulation within the category became apparent. They then went back down to five nominees, and it has stayed that way for the past three ceremonies.
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rjz
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Post by rjz on Apr 9, 2014 16:18:31 GMT -5
Happy about most of the winners at the ACMs, although I didn't watch due to the performer line up. I guess I side with the opinion that although I'm sentimentally glad George Strait received the EOTY award, by definition it probably should have gone to someone else. And I have to say, that even though I mostly only like Carrie Underwood's ballads and only own some singles of hers-objectively I think she should have been nominated and received this at least once in the past few years for her popularity, sales success and sold out concerts. But maybe they are trying to be 'fair' since she's won it prior to 2011?
Very happy for another award for Kacey Musgraves, although what a crime none of the top up and coming female vocalists were performers!
As far as people not liking her, that's certainly no crime and I've never personally felt I couldn't say I didn't like a performer here-obviously not everyone will like any artist, even the most popular! But there's no doubt many people like Kacey's music; her album is #6 country iTunes (above Blakes, FGL and George Strait) even 4 days after the show (and she didn't even perform). Like her or not, it can't be said that MOST people don't like her-I'm amazed how well she has sold given her minimal promotion (her main promotion has been through critical acclaim it appears) and although Merry Go Round went Gold at #10 briefly with 825k+sales even Follow Your Arrow which only hit top 50 sold 362k based mostly on one televised live performance and Sirius radio play. She's not even one of my top 10 artists I frequently listen to; but I've heard her live (she's a great singer) and I appreciate her artistic talent in songwriting-she has rare insight/ability and I think that is how she wound up writing the award winning Mama's Broken Heart with others.....and she'll continue to be in demand as a songwriter. I think Dudley objectively used facts to say it the best:
Bolding is mine, just to illustrate all the guys (Bro, pop and traditional) with more radio play and more intrinsic fans (more established, or with fan bases like reality shows)
It will be very interesting to see how the ACM awards line up a year from now.....Will there be more women??
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onebuffalo
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Post by onebuffalo on Apr 10, 2014 10:42:28 GMT -5
It will be very interesting to see how the ACM awards line up a year from now.....Will there be more women??
As far as women are concerned, there is only one way to go and that is UP! (cue Shania Twain-when is your CD coming out?).
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McCreerian
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Post by McCreerian on Apr 10, 2014 14:48:11 GMT -5
Hey…Wait a Second! ACM Awards Afterthoughts and Questions by Krissie I have been thinking a lot since watching the ACM Awards on Sunday. All of my family and friends know I am a huge country fan so they have all asked me my thoughts. My answer to them, “I guess the show was what I expected it would be.” However, I decided that begs the question…shouldn’t I have higher expectations? I am not here to call anyone out, to pick on a certain artist or to completely trash talk the show. Everyone has an opinion and mine is no more important than anyone else’s. I just want to put a few thoughts out there to see if anyone else may feel the same way. For starters…why oh why are multiple artists performing multiple times on one award show? Last time I checked there are plenty of country artists that didn’t get showcased that probably would love a spot on a show a like that. Just off the top of my head I can think of six artists who performed more than one time! This is a true disservice not only to the country artists, but also the country fans. It is the same on country radio. A handful of artists get played over and over and over again. Is there not room for more? Next, let us not forget the show is called the Academy of COUNTRY Music Awards. It has a rich history just like the music it is supposed to represent. While I very much appreciated the tribute to Merle Haggard, it would have been nice if there was a bit more done with it. Perhaps a few videos, a little more on his career, and instead of a brief medley of two songs, perhaps two full songs would have been nice. There would be time if some artists were not performing twice. I think many people that have embraced country music, have embraced the more modern pop sounding country music. The ACM Awards would be a great time to showcase where our music came from and pay tribute to the heroes who really paved the way. I think Merle deserved more time. Overall I feel like the show represented the current state of country music, so I guess that is why the show was what I expected. I am just not sure that I am comfortable with that representation. I think country music fans need to demand more. While a good party song here and there is a ton of fun, so is a good story song with twang. Where is the balance? I will tell you…it is not there! There are extremely talented artists in country music who are not getting heard because radio and apparently now award shows, favor the same songs and the same artists. I know they are popular, I know they make money and I know many fans love them, BUT there is more to country music than those handful of songs and artists. I would love to hear country radio give some more traditional sounding artists a shot. Mix those artists in with the ones being played. Equal opportunity…ya know? Then when award season comes around there is a bigger pool of people that fans are familiar with who can take the stage! Of course there were moments on the show that I enjoyed. I am truly happy for EVERY single artist that won. Whether I am a fan or not, they all work hard and have a dream…and I love seeing people’s dreams come true. All I am saying is fans deserve more of a variety; they deserve to hear a broader spectrum of country music represented and that includes honoring the music’s history. countrymusicmatters.com/2014/04/hey-wait-a-second-acm-awards-after-thoughts-and-questions/
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Post by jonathanalan on Apr 13, 2014 8:08:45 GMT -5
I've been away on vacation this week so haven't had a chance to chime in. I absolutely love Miranda and have since I caught a few of her performances on Nashville Star so I of course am loving her success. However, I don't see how anyone in country music can really celebrate her "record" of winning the TFV trophy five years in a row. It just seems absolutely redundant and unnecessary, especially with some of the other talented ladies out there, many who don't even get the honor of being nominated, hell or even getting a top 20 hit. With Platinum set to release within the year it's almost a guarantee the winning streak will continue.
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avalyn
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Post by avalyn on Apr 14, 2014 19:59:35 GMT -5
In this weeks Country Aircheck, they did a piece on the ACM's with an interview from RAC Clark. Here are a few quotes from the interview: The Rascal Flatts lip-synch performance must have been a tough call. We knew there was an issue in dress rehearsal. In talking with [managers] Clarence Spalding and Randy Goodman, they said he can’t sing. We talked about the options, which were basically canceling and lip-synching. And I told them, that’s up to you. And they didn’t want to cancel. I think it was a good move. There have been plenty of people who have lip-synched on our show. I’ll never reveal who, but there are a lot of activities in Las Vegas with other concerts, private shows, radio remotes – there is a lot of talking. Not to mention the lack of humidity and hotel air. Some artists, especially those with a finely tuned instrument like Gary LeVox’s, can only handle so much. The first award wasn’t presented until the second hour. Why so long? We give away nine awards and try to include as much music as we can. We consciously made a decision to push that, especially when Taylor Swift came in as a presenter. That was right at 9pm, which is when we’re facing our stiffest competition from Game Of Thrones, Resurrection and Believe. People are flipping around and we try to sweep across those hours. We understand Kacey Musgraves was offered a shortened performance, much like Lee Brice’s, but turnedit down. What were those discussions? We went back and forth. It started as a shorter performance, and she declined. We came back with something a bit longer, and it eventually came down to her wanting a full performance. We kept pushing at time, but couldn’t make it work. No disrespect to songwriters, but the viewing habits of the public are now at about 1.5 minutes. And you can get across a huge and emotive performance in that time. Lee proved that. Source: www.countryaircheck.com/pdfs/current041414.pdf
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sbp17
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Post by sbp17 on Apr 14, 2014 20:06:44 GMT -5
Oh let me just wave the bulls**t flag on the response to Kacey Musgraves. If viewing habits of the public are 1.5 minutes then why not make everyone sing a shortened version of their song. And that doesn't explain why some artists had multiple performances. What a copout. And I'm glad Kacey followed her arrow and decided against a shortened performance.
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carriekins
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Post by carriekins on Apr 14, 2014 20:18:26 GMT -5
Oh let me just wave the bulls**t flag on the response to Kacey Musgraves. If viewing habits of the public are 1.5 minutes then why not make everyone sing a shortened version of their song. And that doesn't explain why some artists had multiple performances. What a copout. And I'm glad Kacey followed her arrow and decided against a shortened performance. Amen.
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carrieidol1
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Post by carrieidol1 on Apr 14, 2014 20:20:29 GMT -5
Kacey was a top nominee, you make time for someone like her. And 1.5 minutes? Really? Then their real problem is that they run for an agonizing three hours long; not giving Kacey enough time to perform a full song (which most of hers are short, anyway) should be the least of their worries.
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Post by countrygirl918 on Apr 14, 2014 22:56:17 GMT -5
Good for Kacey and her team for fighting for what she deserves - a full performance slot. And good on her for not giving in. As much as I would have liked to see even a short performance from her, I'm glad she's standing up for herself.
As a 5-time nominee that evening, she certainly had every right to a full slot. If they can give multiple artists two full slots each, they can certainly give a 5-time nominee one full slot.
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someguy
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Post by someguy on Apr 14, 2014 23:07:49 GMT -5
Yeah that response is total BS. If they are happy with the not nominated Rascal Flatts getting a full slot to lip sync, they can allow one of the night's top nominees a full spot to sing live.
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Marv
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Post by Marv on Apr 15, 2014 1:30:53 GMT -5
I agree 100,000,000% with the always-trusty sbp17; that was indeed a reprehensible cop-out in not allowing Kacey Musgraves to perform in light of other performers who performed more than once; what a way to give your country audience the finger, not to mention an artist who has to be the biggest burst of fresh air to a very PC and somewhat staid format in too many years to count.
Country music fans and listeners are substantially more loyal than the fans in any other format, and the same most assuredly goes for the artists themselves, and since Ms. Musgraves was far and away the most universally acclaimed new artist of 2013, for her to not perform can best be politely described as a megacolossal outrage which was 100% preventable.
The single most appreciated trait of every country artist out there, regardless of whether you're discussing anybody from a newcomer such as the brilliant Ms. Musgraves to format icons such as Alan, George, Lee Ann Womack and everybody in between, as confirmed by tons of folks interviewed by Lon Helton, Shawn Parr, Blair Garner and any other format hosts/broadcasters over the years can be summed up in one word, which is 'accessibility!. New artists as well as format veterans never disregard and/or turn their backs on either their fans or the air personalities who interview them and introduce them at their concert venues.
Too many overballyhooed top 40 lightweights who'd be irrelevant if it weren't for being regulars on TMZ (what's next--an appearance on Monday Night Raw on USA?) instantly disappear behind an entourage that would make Kanye West or Justin (Jailbird) Bieber jealous, a reprehensible long-running staple at top 40 radio which is nonexistent in the country music universe.
Her two scintillating wins at the Grammy Awards two months ago as well as that wonderful performance of 'Follow Your Arrow' were all downright wonderful.
Collecting those two extremely prestigious awards definitely served as the top two highlights of the evening for yours truly, and on top of those two accolades, winning the Album Of The Year award undoubtedly left everybody floored and flabbergasted, only for her to wind up pathetically and inexcusably being shunned by the ACM hierarchy by being denied a performance slot last Sunday.
Color me thoroughly DISGUSTED!!!!!!
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McCreerian
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Post by McCreerian on Apr 15, 2014 15:31:01 GMT -5
I had a conversation today on WKKT's Twitter about Kacey. Thought you might find it interesting.
I said: "One artist I don't get the treatment of is Kacey Muscgraves. She is traditional. She wins every album of the year award she is nominated for. So why is radio not playing her like Miranda and Carrie? Do fans not want to hear Kacey on the radio? If not then why is the industry rewarding her for an album fans do not want radio to play? That seems very fishy to me."
and 96.9 WKKT said "We played both Merry Go Round and Blowing Smoke here at the Kat and unfortunately, the response was not as we had hoped. It goes back to the "majority rules," and quite often there is a big difference between what "industry types" like and what the general population likes. Remember, *most* of those awards are voted on by "industry types." Those types of artists have always been around... Lyle Lovett, kd lang, Jamey Johnson... the list goes on and on... they have great "critical acclaim," but we in "Mainstream Radio" can't seem to get them to catch on with the majority of our listeners. And it's not for a lack of trying. Like I said, we played Kacey Musgraves and the listener reaction just wasn't what we had hoped for. That said, I personally think she is AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!!!!!!! I hope she catches on at mainstream radio sooner than later. LOVE her"
Personally I find this a bunch of BS. If she is winning awards and her sales are growing from that (Up 26% since ACMs), they should play her, plain and simple.
I just sent WKKT this in reply:
"I just read that Kacey's album sales went up 26% after the ACMs and she didn't even get a performance. She was offered a 90 second slot but turned it down feeling that with 5 nominations she deserved a full slot. With album sales going up from this alone, that proves people somewhere out there want to hear her. I take it back to the female issue. It's a disgrace that there aren't as many women hit makers in 2014 on radio as there were in the 80, 90s, and most of the 00's. This decade has gone back to the 1950s/60s in regards to the number of solo females on Country radio. With solo women flourishing in Pop and R&B, it's very odd that in Country music it's going totally in reverse. I miss the 90s Country...it's sound and the number of female stars that existed."
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carrieidol1
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Post by carrieidol1 on Apr 15, 2014 17:47:33 GMT -5
I do see WKKT's point. Mainstream country radio consists mainly of pop-leaning music. The stars with the biggest hits are; Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, FGL, etc, and they all have pop elements to their music. Yes, even Miranda has some pop-leaning stuff. That is what does well on radio, and that is what attracts new listeners (in the demographic radio stations cater to; younger audiences). Kacey's music, while critically and widely acclaimed, is far from what is typically played on country radio. People may have liked "Merry Go Round", and it did really well, but if it isn't being requested like a Carrie/Blake/Luke/Miranda song, it isn't going to be played as much. So I do see WKKT's point, she isn't what listeners necessarily want (at least not the majority), and unfortunately in the radio business it's a majority wins game...
She has the industry support; hence her wins, but without fan support, you can only go so far. And to her album sales; they are quite impressive, but selling albums doesn't always translate to fan power. I've purchased many former "Album of the Year" winners from the ACMs, Grammys, CMAs, etc, just because they were widely popular and/or acclaimed and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about... But the artists of most of those albums are not artists I would call into radio stations and request, nor are they artists I'd truly consider myself a fan of. Essentially, I think what I am saying is Kacey's album sales might translate more to casual fans, not the fans of someone like Carrie, Blake, Taylor, or Miranda (who not only will buy a new album, but will purchase multiple copies as gifts). My reasoning, I realize, is based on assumption rather than fact, but I do think there's some validity to my argument, unprovable validity nonetheless.
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Post by countrygirl918 on Apr 15, 2014 18:27:14 GMT -5
I don't really buy WKKT's theory. Kacey may not be popular with the particular demographic country radio is currently targeting (males 18-34), but eventually radio is going to have to realize that they need to please more than just the one demographic to be sustainable.
To me, the hugely differing peaks of "Follow Your Arrow" on the Hot Country Songs chart versus the Country Airplay chart speaks volumes. FYA went all the way to #10 on Hot Country Songs, proving that there was a significant audience out there wanting to hear the song. However, radio only pushed FYA to #43 on the Country Airplay chart. That's a difference of 33 spots - huge. Kacey has sold over 1.4 million singles and almost 400k albums. There are several male artists who've generated much less fan support than Kacey, but who are getting much more radio support.
There is obviously a disconnect, at least in Kacey's situation, between what fans want to hear and what radio thinks fans want to hear.
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