sabre14
Diamond Member
Vince Gill & the Muppets make everything better
Joined: October 2013
Posts: 26,920
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Post by sabre14 on Jun 5, 2014 14:42:46 GMT -5
That was the most painful 2 and half hours of television I've ever witnissed. I literally sat their slack jawed& glareing at the screen. I know some of these folks have talent but I was hard pressed to locate it with 90% of the acts last night. David Nail, Brett Eldridge & Lee Ann Womack off the top of my head were about the only ones that didnt sound like drunken kerokee singers. All the ridiculously bad white boy rapping and goofy wanna be hand gestures, Eric Church's arrogant song choice (even though I will admit it was one of the nights better performances), The camera man flashing to Luke Bryans overly cheesey grin every five seconds,& possibly the worst uncharismatic host ever... it was like a junior high school talent contest....minus the talent. I would slam the over abundance of acts from other genres , but honestly , they came off looking better then the majority of the Nashville hacks. If you are going to play pop music , you might as well play talented pop artists . Short of CMT resurecting George Jones at a future show , I'll never sit through another awards show from that network. Wow, you sat through the whole thing. I think you deserve a purple heart for that. ;) I only caught some here and there. Plus game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals were on at the same time. Thank God for hockey. :)
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.indulgecountry
Diamond Member
Best Country Poster 2011, 2017, & 2018
"You left a mark on my face // And brought a dozen red flags in a vase"
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Post by .indulgecountry on Jun 5, 2014 16:55:32 GMT -5
Blake maybe with his catering to fans of adult contemporary balladry, but Miranda not really "country" music? The new Platinum album would like to disagree with you (and the other four + the 2 with Pistol Annies tbqh). I'd agree that if Carrie came out with something strongly country it would work and help push things in the right direction because then we'd have the two major females at country radio doing the opposite of what the top guys are doing. Well I've been listening to her new album on repeat. It's definitely country, no question... But there are some pop-ish tracks, in my opinion. I was speaking in general terms, more so. By no means am I saying Miranda is a pop artist, but even she has some pop tendencies, more so than she did five years ago, I'd say... "Somethin' Bad", comes to mind, particularly... Granted it's a Carrie duet, but it's still a single under Miranda's name. Eh, "Something Bad" is a bit of an anomaly to me on the album. I don't really think there's anything else on the album that I'd call poppy in the slightest, and Miranda's music has always remained much more traditional than Carrie's. I love Carrie, too, but there's no question that she walks on the two ends of the spectrum, while Miranda pretty much sits at one end. All four of the Blown Away singles, for instance, are sonically very different from everything on Miranda's latest, save for their duet. I'm a big fan of Carrie's music and I don't care how country or not her material gets because it's great, but I just am not following this idea that Miranda's shifting to being "poppier" at all and leaving some void for Carrie of all people to fill. If anything, a lot of the music on Miranda's last two records strike me as trending more alternative country than anything like say Cassadee Pope is releasing, imo. Oh and sorry y'all for getting off-topic with this as I know it has little to do with the awards, lol.
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carrieidol1
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Joined: August 2007
Posts: 12,588
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Post by carrieidol1 on Jun 5, 2014 17:30:14 GMT -5
Well I've been listening to her new album on repeat. It's definitely country, no question... But there are some pop-ish tracks, in my opinion. I was speaking in general terms, more so. By no means am I saying Miranda is a pop artist, but even she has some pop tendencies, more so than she did five years ago, I'd say... "Somethin' Bad", comes to mind, particularly... Granted it's a Carrie duet, but it's still a single under Miranda's name. Eh, "Something Bad" is a bit of an anomaly to me on the album. I don't really think there's anything else on the album that I'd call poppy in the slightest, and Miranda's music has always remained much more traditional than Carrie's. I love Carrie, too, but there's no question that she walks on the two ends of the spectrum, while Miranda pretty much sits at one end. All four of the Blown Away singles, for instance, are sonically very different from everything on Miranda's latest, save for their duet. I'm a big fan of Carrie's music and I don't care how country or not her material gets because it's great, but I just am not following this idea that Miranda's shifting to being "poppier" at all and leaving some void for Carrie of all people to fill. If anything, a lot of the music on Miranda's last two records strike me as trending more alternative country than anything like say Cassadee Pope is releasing, imo. Oh and sorry y'all for getting off-topic with this as I know it has little to do with the awards, lol. I wasn't implying Miranda was creating a void for Carrie to fill, not at all - that honestly didn't even cross my mind. I'm just saying everyone, generally, seems to be trending toward pop. Miranda is someone I would include, but I understand you don't agree with that. Nevertheless, I just think Carrie is one artist (of a few) with enough fan support and power to help change the tides in country music. That's not to say Miranda isn't, she has already had a huge hand in keeping country music country. My point, only, was that Carrie is in a great position to release a truly country album - like that of Miranda or Kellie Pickler, because it seems fans want that more than they have in 20+ years. I also apologize for getting off topic, although I don't think this topic is necessarily a derailment considering the pop-cluster-f**k that was the 2014 CMT Awards.
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onebuffalo
Diamond Member
#LiteralLegender
I am One Buffalo.
Joined: June 2009
Posts: 26,677
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Post by onebuffalo on Jun 5, 2014 17:35:36 GMT -5
Bring back the Nashville Network/Music City News Awards, thanks. Thank God I do not have cable!
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tonyei31
New Member
Joined: October 2013
Posts: 244
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Post by tonyei31 on Jun 5, 2014 19:04:55 GMT -5
Music does evolve but most of the times it would keep the talent. Take 90's pop radio....you went from Nirvana, Goo Goo Dolls, etc. to Matchbox 20 and Third Eye Blind. Sound evolved and changed but the talent remained very strong. Huh? While I like their music (I like basic pop), the Goo Goo Dolls, Matchbox 20 and Third Eye Blind were never considered "very strong" talent. They were certainly not respected by the same circles as Nirvana. Not saying country hasn't transformed, and not saying it isn't for the worse, but people are exaggerating the extent of the transformation. Nirvana was a bad example since they still remain one of the best ever. We can spin it anyway but the point being the talent dropoff from the start of the 90's to the later stages of the 90's on pop radio pales in comparison to the dropoff we have seen in country radio talent over the last 10 years.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2014 0:21:48 GMT -5
- Country Aircheck
**
Ratings are up...it was the most-watched CMT Awards yet. But given all the complaints online, what does this tell me? The audience watching the show are probably a lot of non-country fans, or fans of new "country" only. Basically, I feel like, if the fans of country radio/music for the last 10-20 years aren't on the bandwagon supporting the new sounds, they are getting replaced by a new target demographic of people that didn't grow up listening to country radio. There's something really wrong with that picture, IMO.
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Post by countrybamafan on Jun 6, 2014 22:49:41 GMT -5
I haven't posted in a while, but I agree with the other posters that country music nowadays has completely strayed off course, more so than ever before, in my opinion. To me, what defines country music is the lyrics and story telling that country songs bring to the table. Yes, country voices, fiddle, steel, guitar, etc. are ingredients, but the meat of country music is in the story telling. I believe throughout the years, country music has evolved in sound, but the message has stayed the same. I'll admit to not being very familiar with country music before the 90's, but it seems that country has always changed throughout the years in sound, but never in the lyrics.
Take the 90's with acts like Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, etc. Yes, the sound was more modern and country was reaching a wider audience, and yes you had your novelty type songs, but there were also an abundant amount of substantial country songs from all these artists, including other more traditional acts like George Strait, Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, etc. In other words, there was a mix, but even the modern country artists had some actual country songs, in my opinion. For Garth Brooks, listen to "The Thunder Rolls", "The Beaches of Cheyenne", "The Dance", "That Summer", "In Another's Eyes", etc. For Tim McGraw, listen to "Please Remember Me", "Angry All The Time", "Don't Take The Girl", "Red Ragtop", etc. Even Shania Twain had some good ones, such as "From This Moment On", "You're Still The One", "Forever And For Always, etc. Faith Hill had "It Matters To Me", "Like We Never Loved At All", "Wild One", "It's Your Love", etc.
I know I'm rambling here, but the point is even the big stars back then had some well-written songs. Older traditionalists back then screamed that these artists weren't country. Yes, the sound had evolved, but I feel the message never strayed. As I said, yes there were some quirky novelty songs from these artists (although I think even the novelty songs were way more clever than the novelty songs of today) that brought other fans to country, but these artists also released some high-quality singles and showed the masses just how great country music can be. In addition, there were other more traditional acts in country music that were popular and the masses were being introduced to as well.
Yes, country music does have to evolve, or it simply wouldn't survive long term. I believe what has many country fans angered nowadays and what separates this trend from others is the severe lack of well-written, heartfelt country songs. Turn on the radio, and most of what you hear are novelty songs about partying and finding a girl. Nothing in the song is country except for the country drawl. You may find a decent song on the radio mixed in here and there, but even those are very few and far between. In fact, it's been forever since I've stopped and heard a song on the radio and had it stop me in my tracks. I think "I Drive Your Truck" was the last one, and that's been a year and a half ago. That used to happen quite regularly. In fact, it wasn't that long ago.
I think fans are also angry at just how quickly country music has went down this path. Country music did start to become more modern in the late 2000's with acts like Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift, who I believe reintroduced the masses to country music. So there was a trend forming then. But it wasn't until Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line exploded that we have this current trend that has just quickly spiraled out of control lately.
I believe there are multiple reasons for this spiral that cannot be blamed on one single factor. As I said, Carrie and Taylor reintroduced the masses to country music, but then there's also the fact that album sales really started dying in the mid to late 2000's, with digital sales booming. Also, on an unrelated note to music, with the number of farmers in the U.S. shrinking and technology changing on a constant basis, the country life seems to be much less prominent. I do believe this has affected country music.
Regardless, the country music industry needs to do something. No trend lasts forever, and with country radio being more narrow than ever before, it will really hurt the industry when the trend dies. I believe many longtime country fans have left country now. If country radio would be more diverse in its playlists like they were in the past eras of country music, I don't think as many fans would have been angered.
Now I'll be the first to admit I actually enjoy many of these songs. No, I don't really consider them country, and no, they aren't particularly well-written, but after my workday, I enjoy these songs. In fact, I love Florida Georgia Line's music. Having said that, they don't belong on country radio. They belong on pop/rock radio, which unfortunately just will not play this kind of music. I enjoyed Nickelback growing up, and I equate Florida Georgia Line to them. However, I believe that I, along with many others, would be able to handle this type of music being played on country radio if there were actual country songs mixed in equally. Unfortunately, this isn't the case, and this is ultimately why many people are upset.
I truly think something has to be done, or the country music industry will fragment (which at this point may be the best thing for the genre). I miss hearing true country songs on the radio. I really believe this is the worst the industry has ever been. Seeing the faces on several artists' faces during the CMT Awards said it all. I bet there are many that feel the way Zac Brown does, but won't speak up. It's probably time to speak up. The CMT Awards was truly a demonstration of the extent of country radio right now. It would be nice if some uproar occurred, but I won't hold my breath. I'm thinking this will take a few years or so.
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bluedog6
New Member
Joined: June 2012
Posts: 217
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Post by bluedog6 on Jun 7, 2014 15:59:27 GMT -5
Really enjoyed reading everyone's comments here and it eased my mind that I did not watch the show. This the first country music award show that I have not watched in ........ well, I can't remember not watching one. And I was at home and in the house. OK I did turn it on for a bit. I got a couple minutes of someone talking then commercials that I swear lasted 10 minutes (I didn't time it, but it was painful). Then the show came back on and FGL won an award. I quickly had to change the station before I started to vomit. ;) That was the extent of that. So sad.
I agree with what has been said about the demographic shift and how the country fans that are buying the music and fueling this bro-country trend have only been on board the last 4 or 5 years at most. But where does that leave those of us that truly love country music in its purest definition? I'm thankful that the internet has opened the door for me to experience so many terrific singers and songwriters that never get played on radio. I buy their music and that is good. But country music radio and country music on television is something I truly enjoy and so all the CD's that are recorded by terrific artists on the fringe of popularity sure help, but they do not totally satisfy what I want in music. I want at least SOME country music back on country radio and television. Please.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2014 21:55:20 GMT -5
It's not completely radio's fault though--we didn't wind up in this predicament overnight...it's been a long slow process to get from where we were in the 90's with Garth, Shania, Faith, etc. to now but the problem is that no one drew a line in the sand and said where the limit, or boundary, should be for country music. I am definitely a vocal critic of the current state of country music and I do agree that most of what gets played these days barely qualifies as country, if at all. That said, I don't like the idea of drawing a line in the sand and forcing country artists to stay within that box. I think there would be too much amazing, experimental music that wouldn't get explored if artists weren't allowed outside of the box of what "defines" country music. Eric Church's latest album wouldn't happen. Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away" and "Two Black Cadillacs" wouldn't happen. There's a lot of crap out there today, but there's also a lot of great stuff if you look for it. I'd bean meaning to reply to this but somehow forgot. Anyway, I didn't mean to suggest that country artists need to stay in a box and have boundaries on what they can and can't record. I was speaking more in terms of radio...there has to be a line somewhere, right? I mean, what keeps radio from playing the Jason Derulo remix of "This Is How We Roll" when they jumped all over the original? And they played "Dirt Road Anthem" too but they won't touch Colt Ford's music (and I know there are label and industry politics involved here, but I'm trying to boil things down to the simplest argument). I feel that if country radio stations are going to continue to classify themselves as country, then they should play country music, simple as that. I think that, if there are no boundaries for what country radio will play, then by that definition any song could be classified as country, and I'm sorry, but I'm not really looking forward to the day when Katy Perry, Pitbull, Nelly, and others are getting played on country radio (and I know you weren't suggesting this would happen, countrygirl918, but if there were no boundaries for country radio then someday it certainly could happen). You brought up the Carrie example and I think she has made some great music, and, at least in my opinion, it was within the bounds of material that country radio will play (and apparently that was radio's opinion as well, as songs like "Blown Away" and "Two Black Cadillacs" became big hits). I do think radio's current target audience is way too small, which makes for narrower playlists and less variety, but I don't want radio to expand the boundaries and allow for crazy remixes and stuff that doesn't resemble country in any way to make it onto the country airwaves. They need to expand the boundaries to allow more talented artists like Kacey Musgraves, Ashley Monroe, and Chris Stapleton (just a couple examples) a chance at airplay, but I do think there is or should be a line for country radio, with songs that they will play on one side of the line, and songs that are too far removed from country on the other side of the line. If country artists want to record the occasional non-country song (and Taylor Swift is a good recent example with songs like "22" and "I Knew You Were Trouble") that's fine, but country radio shouldn't have to (or want to) play those songs simply because an artist who identifies primarily as country recorded them. That's basically all I meant with my "line in the sand" comment.
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