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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2014 23:06:50 GMT -5
But the argument that radio is forcing "Leave the Night On" on a disinterested public also falls apart. It, a song from a no-name artist, is already in the Top 100 on iTunes. Clearly this isn't as universally hated as Pulse would have you suggest. Where did I say it was universally hated? Where did I say it was selling poorly? You are responding by saying "my argument falls apart" by saying I implied things that I never did, and furthermore you did nothing to shore up your argument. What I am saying is that, compared to many of the other new artists' songs on the chart, "Leave The Night On" is getting preferential treatment. It is clearly not going up this fast because of huge sales or listener requests or feedback from listeners. As far as the sales go, if you break it down to a sales per spin ratio, Brothers Osborne, Little Big Town, Easton Corbin, Kacey Musgraves, Kip Moore, and Randy Houser are out-selling Sam. Furthermore, of course Sam's sales are a bit inflated right now--the song was just released to iTunes a couple days ago so naturally the sales are front-loaded. Once his core fan-base members have all purchased the song, it'll slide back down on iTunes for a bit. But if you were to give all Sam's airplay to a song like "Clockwork" or "Like A Cowboy", the sales per spin statistics indicate that those songs would likely be selling as much or more than Sam's song would, if they were given the same amount of airplay. That brings me to another point...what about an artist like David Nail, who Sam is currently opening for on tour? David is coming off a huge #1 hit (one of the bigger hits of the year, especially with recurrent airplay factored in), and his new single "Kiss You Tonight" is testing #1 with listeners from the Bullseye Callout America sample. And yet, KYT has toiled on the charts and will be spending its 15th chart week outside the top 40. How about Kacey Musgraves? She's sold almost 450,000 records, and has won several country awards as well as a Grammy, yet radio is barely touching "Keep It To Yourself". And then there are artists like Hunter and Scotty, whose debut albums went on to sell more than 1 million copies each, and who have each had recent top 10's, and yet their songs are moving slowly when compared to Sam's. The fact is, the demand for Sam's song is simply not nearly as high as Clear Channel wants you to believe. I'm not saying that people don't want to hear it, but its success right now is coming from sponsored airplay, and not as a result of overly high sales or a huge demand from listeners.
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kanimal
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Post by kanimal on Jun 22, 2014 23:23:57 GMT -5
But the argument that radio is forcing "Leave the Night On" on a disinterested public also falls apart. It, a song from a no-name artist, is already in the Top 100 on iTunes. Clearly this isn't as universally hated as Pulse would have you suggest. Where did I say it was universally hated? Where did I say it was selling poorly? You are responding by saying "my argument falls apart" by saying I implied things that I never did, and furthermore you did nothing to shore up your argument. What I am saying is that, compared to many of the other new artists' songs on the chart, "Leave The Night On" is getting preferential treatment. It is clearly not going up this fast because of huge sales or listener requests or feedback from listeners. As far as the sales go, if you break it down to a sales per spin ratio, Brothers Osborne, Little Big Town, Easton Corbin, Kacey Musgraves, Kip Moore, and Randy Houser are out-selling Sam. Furthermore, of course Sam's sales are a bit inflated right now--the song was just released to iTunes a couple days ago so naturally the sales are front-loaded. Once his core fan-base members have all purchased the song, it'll slide back down on iTunes for a bit. But if you were to give all Sam's airplay to a song like "Clockwork" or "Like A Cowboy", the sales per spin statistics indicate that those songs would likely be selling as much or more than Sam's song would, if they were given the same amount of airplay. That brings me to another point...what about an artist like David Nail, who Sam is currently opening for on tour? David is coming off a huge #1 hit (one of the bigger hits of the year, especially with recurrent airplay factored in), and his new single "Kiss You Tonight" is testing #1 with listeners from the Bullseye Callout America sample. And yet, KYT has toiled on the charts and will be spending its 15th chart week outside the top 40. How about Kacey Musgraves? She's sold almost 450,000 records, and has won several country awards as well as a Grammy, yet radio is barely touching "Keep It To Yourself". And then there are artists like Hunter and Scotty, whose debut albums went on to sell more than 1 million copies each, and who have each had recent top 10's, and yet their songs are moving slowly when compared to Sam's. The fact is, the demand for Sam's song is simply not nearly as high as Clear Channel wants you to believe. I'm not saying that people don't want to hear it, but its success right now is coming from sponsored airplay, and not as a result of overly high sales or a huge demand from listeners. The Kacey Musgraves thing has always baffled me, but when it comes to the others, perhaps I'm placing a bit too much faith in the economics of the situation. Radio has not been shy about playing someone like Hunter, so my perspective is that if audiences were truly demanding Tattoo, radio would comply with that demand and give it more attention. But I'd argue that between the so-so fan response to the lead single and to the new album, the overall country radio market isn't banging down the door begging for new Hunter Hayes on the radio. The David Nail example is interesting, but I will say that when I first heard Kiss You Tonight, I thought it was a good song that wasn't a great fit for radio. Obviously supply > demand for someone who is getting preferential treatment like Sam Hunt, but that doesn't mean supply < demand for the other acts on the cusp of the top 40. And if the On the Verge program works, the excess of supply should create a rise in demand. I think that's what we'll see with Sam Hunt.
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Markus Meyer
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Post by Markus Meyer on Jun 23, 2014 1:36:37 GMT -5
As a single overall, without classifying it as any genre, this isn't too bad. It's catchy, well sung and a pretty solid feel good tune. That said, it has NO business being on country radio. At all.
Good pop music, poor country music.
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Post by backinstereo on Jun 23, 2014 7:13:09 GMT -5
Despite that, I don't understand what a guy like Sam Hunt, who sounds to me like a lesser Jason Mraz in terms of vocal tone and his adeptness with wordplay, is doing calling himself country. I get that Jason Mraz guested on a "country" single last year, but that seems like something less than a red carpet invitation for similar artists. Well, maybe I do understand -- if the ace marketers have their way, "country" may come to mean nothing but an occasional rural point of view, and accordingly, being a "country" artist will only take having grown up somewhere in the country, and will have nothing to do with the vocal and instrumental stylizations that have come to identify country music as country. But it is precisely because I, like many other people who post here, listen to many genres of music that I see the root sounds and styles of country as distinctive and important (as are the root sounds & style of soul, the root sounds and styles of blues, the root sounds and styles of rock, and so on). It is precisely because I, like many other people who post here, listen to many genres of music that I find it illogical to recategorize something that in vocal, lyrical, instrumental, and melodic elements sounds entirely like something already done in pop (or another genre) as "country." My boundaries are pretty liberal in this regard (regarding the Eric Church and Miranda/Carrie examples, the vocals are generally enough for me to accept the work in the country market), but Sam Hunt, along with much of what is being marketed to country radio today, doesn't qualify as far as I'm concerned. EVERYTHING about this. It frustrates me, too. I wish the DJs would do something about it. Bobby Bones coming (along with this, I mean, can we talk about the marketing for this single? It screams R&B/pop), with his synth beats between songs, is proof that this crossover/genre degrade isn't going anywhere but up.
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rsmatto
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Post by rsmatto on Jun 23, 2014 9:33:45 GMT -5
Yes,
Sam is actually marketing himself (via his management team and now label) via a R&B/hiphop way (acoustic mixtapes) and he does use a drum machine instead of bass in most of his songs but I'm totally OK with that. His lyrics are predominantly "country" and his work with Shane McAnally as co-writer/producer (along with Zach Crowell) will keep him mostly with interesting melodies and not as many 'bro' like lyrics). Sam Hunt CAN and TRIED to sing the more traditional-leaning stuff and got nowhere in Nashville by doing it (rejection from Big Machine too). By being more of a blend of the genres he grew up with, he's found who he is, a crossover-like guy. He blends the genres he grew up on into a stew and it's what we call modern country music. And I'm totally fine with it. His heart is in the genre (just watch him perform a medley of his influences, 90% of it's 90s country) and his whole musical education is based on trying to be a country singer. He didn't go try to be a pop star after his career as a football player ended, he started in country.
Sam is just 'blazing' a trail of sorts. He's not hiding the R&B and HipHop influences in his music and life, he's perhaps the first mainstream country artist (on a major) to willfully write stuff that is blended together. I know people will dislike him for this and this alone because of deciding that 'country' is something that needs to be one specific sound more than what being 'country' means. Honestly, it's different to everybody and as much as I like and admire the steel guitar and fiddle (I used to play), I don't think that what Sam is doing is too far out of step with the genre itself, even if it incorporates other genres sounds or styles into the mix. Country artists have ALWAYS done that. From the very moment I first heard Sam Hunt, I felt he was a star. He's the kind of star that rarely comes around, a transformational star. To me, if he brings more people into the country genre as fans, I find nothing wrong with that as it makes the genre itself stronger and I still believe -- even if others are skeptical -- that people who come to country via an artist like Sam or Hunter or Taylor or other pop-leaning artist arent' likely to like the more traditional stuff. In general that's not true. they come to the genre, they explore and eventually like even the more twangy artists.
Also, if country remained "honky tonk" or super traditional-leaning it would be more 'marginalized' and basically a 'dead' format for the world outside of the few dedicated artists. And while some people may be fine with such things, I'm not as a fan of the genre (and traditional stuff as much as the new stuff).
--
Now, as to the song...
To me Sam's getting this fast start because of all of the hard work and good will he had while out on his radio tour. Yes, the CC deal is definitely helping him at this point but I firmly believe he'd have hit no matter what happened, it's just going a little 'faster' than perhaps it would've in the beginning and maybe cutting out a 30-40 week run to chart peak.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Jun 23, 2014 12:50:53 GMT -5
^ I think Sam also would have had a good start with this single without the "On The Verge" tactic, but the fact this song is already at #33 on MB today is what I despise about corporate radio. Let's say that he debuted at #49, then jumped to #42, then to #36 and so on; at least he would have gotten traction at radio naturally with his hard work from his radio tour. Almost every artist does a radio tour though. What makes Sam's any more deserving to have this program granted to him than the countless other artists? Weeks on the road, visiting numerous stations across the country, along with appearing at station run events and countless interviews. Most of the artists he bi-passed did the same exact thing and are fighting for airplay, while let's face it, Sam's song got an E-Z Pass his first two weeks. I cannot stress enough how much I feel this is not Sam's fault; believe me I recognize his talent and dedication to music and making his dream come true. But being able to leapfrog that high on the chart and have a 100% guaranteed hit is just wrong in my opinion. I don't care who the artist is or what the song is, I still have a problem with the tactic itself. As for Sam's music; I understand he has many influences in his music like hip/hop and pop along with country and likes to infuse them to create his own unique sound. But to me that sound is not really country. When I tune in to country radio, I'm in the mood for country music. Just like if I turn on pop radio, or AC radio I want to hear pop or AC type music. Obviously things are changing, but that doesn't mean it's evolving. Sam's song hardly sounds like a country song to me (I still think it's a good song). If we have genre based formats, then I would like to think that we could stick to the music that fits in that genre. Lately it seems that the term "country" is no longer meant a style of music and the way the actual music sounds, but rather a way of growing up and a just a point of view which 43dudleyvillas pointed out earlier in this thread, and to me she's right. I don't find Sam at fault for this because he is just being who he is as a person and as an artist, but corporate country radio and the style of music that is OK with country's playlist (or syndicated playlist) is what I have a problem with.
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rsmatto
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Post by rsmatto on Jun 23, 2014 13:37:27 GMT -5
Well, I'd argue that 85-90% of what is in the mainstream isn't the "sound" or the "Country" of even the 1990s. Just an evolutionary change, to me. Still, I can see ALL the arguments of why people get upset and it's pretty much why there needs to be the "Nash Icons" format style change that is on the verge.
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carriekins
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Post by carriekins on Jun 23, 2014 15:23:01 GMT -5
Yes, the sound is just an evolution, as you've said countless times. And as we've said, again, countless times, it's an evolution to a SOUND that is nothing COUNTRY. Why do we have this back and forth in almost every thread? This is exhausting.
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onebuffalo
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Post by onebuffalo on Jun 23, 2014 15:26:21 GMT -5
Yes, the sound is just an evolution, as you've said countless times. And as we've said, again, countless times, it's an evolution to a SOUND that is nothing COUNTRY. Why do we have this back and forth in almost every thread? This is exhausting. This is exhausting. Cue We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. I wonder how many people will say after Sam Hunt's explosive move on the chart this week (and subsequent tumble next week) will even remember this six months from now.
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countryqueen
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Post by countryqueen on Jun 23, 2014 15:37:11 GMT -5
Yes, the sound is just an evolution, as you've said countless times. And as we've said, again, countless times, it's an evolution to a SOUND that is nothing COUNTRY. Why do we have this back and forth in almost every thread? This is exhausting. Agree! And there are still plenty of artists making actual COUNTRY music so I don't understand how artists like Sam Hunt (who aren't even trying to make country sounding music) can slip through the cracks. Looking at the charts, Miranda Lambert, Brett Eldredge, Blake Shelton, Chris Young, Craig Campbell, Joe Nichols, The Band Perry, Tim McGraw, George Strait and Dierks Bentley, among countless others, can still manage to make country music sound like country music (and have hits). Obviously the "bro-country" movement exists and there are artists like Florida-Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, Chase Rice, Cole Swindell out there who are going try to blur the lines between genres, but I just can't see real country going away that easily.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2014 15:39:09 GMT -5
Yes, the sound is just an evolution, as you've said countless times. And as we've said, again, countless times, it's an evolution to a SOUND that is nothing COUNTRY. Why do we have this back and forth in almost every thread? This is exhausting. This is precisely how I feel. I'm as big a fan of contemporary country music as many here are, and of course I love traditional country music as well. The problem with corporate radio today is that they are championing songs that are less and less country and now here we have a song that doesn't have a pinch of the country sound to it, not lyrically or vocally or production-wise. And a lot of this is coming at the expense of newer traditional artists like Easton Corbin, Kacey Musgraves, and Jon Pardi, just to name a few. If those artists can't get airplay on country radio, then where are they to turn to? If a song is well-written but has pop or rock elements woven into it, I'm fine with that (again, so long as it's a good song). Sam's song here is a good song--I actually like the lyrics--but it's not a country song...it's a pop song, plain and simple, from its sound to the vocal delivery and the production effects. It's almost entirely composed (I'd say 95% pop and 5% country) of pop elements with not a shred of country to it. And yet corporate country radio is crowning it as the next big thing.
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onebuffalo
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Post by onebuffalo on Jun 23, 2014 15:52:56 GMT -5
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McCreerian
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Post by McCreerian on Jun 23, 2014 15:57:07 GMT -5
I wonder if this will crash and start re-climbing soon like so many of these "radio deal" songs do. Same thing with Kenny's song. Both could fall back out of the top 40 and have to earn their way back up the charts in the next week or 2, albeit they'll climb again faster than most of the other songs if they do.
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layne
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Post by layne on Jun 23, 2014 16:04:05 GMT -5
Reading thru this thread I see that I agree with points being made on both sides. This on the verge program hasn't been in place very long. So far all the songs they have chosen for this have been good IMO. I realize some worthy Artists and songs are being passed by and no matter what it will never be fair and some fans will be disappointed. I have to say that I do think it's a good thing though....So many times new acts can't get noticed because radio only plays their music between 2:00am and 4:00am in the morning. I think at the end of the day I like this program and hope in the future they chose a female and someone like Chris Stapleton.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2014 16:04:20 GMT -5
I wonder if this will crash and start re-climbing soon like so many of these "radio deal" songs do. Same thing with Kenny's song. Both could fall back out of the top 40 and have to earn their way back up the charts in the next week or 2, albeit they'll climb again faster than most of the other songs if they do. Kenny's will have one rough day but I think he'll recover fine. As for Sam, I don't think his song will fall. We never saw it with Craig Campbell's "Keep Them Kisses Comin'" or Dustin Lynch's "Where It's At". Both of those songs got On The Verge airplay but it was sustained airplay...they didn't drop back down to the low audience levels they were at prior to the big boosts (and admittedly Dustin's boost wasn't huge, but it was still noticeable). Sam's gains will eventually slow down, maybe this week or perhaps he'll keep gaining strongly for 2-3 weeks before slowing down, but if the past On The Verge 'deals' are any indicator, Sam won't lose any ground; he'll keep the audience he has as a foundation to build from.
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McCreerian
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Post by McCreerian on Jun 23, 2014 16:13:59 GMT -5
Reading thru this thread I see that I agree with points being made on both sides. This on the verge program hasn't been in place very long. So far all the songs they have chosen for this have been good IMO. I realize some worthy Artists and songs are being passed by and no matter what it will never be fair and some fans will be disappointed. I have to say that I do think it's a good thing though....So many times new acts can't get noticed because radio only plays their music between 2:00am and 4:00am in the morning. I think at the end of the day I like this program and hope in the future they chose a female and someone like Chris Stapleton. If they just have to do this program, I wish Chris had got it with "What Are You Listening to." That is a traditional Country song with a slight R&B influence but it's one that would pass the "Would George Jones would have liked it?" test. And yes about a female. Maggie Rose should have got this with "Looking Back Now." That song would have shocked a lot of listeners into hearing a song that actually tells a story with characters again! They need to mix this program up with different styles of Country songs with both genders if it is going to even fair at all.
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Post by nncountrykid on Jun 23, 2014 16:14:12 GMT -5
I think some people here just don't want to accept the fact that traditional country simply isn't a popular sound anymore. Is there a market for it? Sure. There's also a market for Jazz and Blues and other stuff that doesn't get wide attention because it doesn't appeal to a wide array of people anymore. Traditional Country is falling into that zone.
Mainstream country radio is going to play what people want to hear. Country radio is championing non-traditional country now not to spite traditional country fans. It's because the popular opinion is that people don't want to listen to that anymore. Do I enjoy Luke Bryan? Not always. Do I enjoy Taylor Swift? Not always. Do I enjoy stuff like Sam Hunt? Not always. But so what. A lot of people do.
Most artists that people complain about not getting attention on here are either derivative of something better or are very clearly making niche appeal music. A lot of people on here have very respectable opinions of music and I often like the music that's championed by posters, but I'm aware that what I most enjoy isn't always indicative of the general listening population.
Country radio will play what the largest percentage of country radio listeners want to hear. This song has been promoted to hell and back in a short amount of time because it's very obviously a song that would do well on current country radio. Do his connections help? Sure. But if he had the same connections and was playing traditional music, those connections wouldn't do a damn thing for him because he wouldn't be playing something that sells.
If you want to yap at someone about the kind of music on the radio, go yap at the people listening to it. It's the station's job to make money, not to be some noble martyr for a bunch of forums purists. There's also nobody making anyone on this board listen to the radio so I just don't understand the ridiculous perpetual discussion of the issue on here. If people didn't want to hear it, it wouldn't be on the radio. It's that simple.
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McCreerian
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Post by McCreerian on Jun 23, 2014 16:15:01 GMT -5
I wonder if this will crash and start re-climbing soon like so many of these "radio deal" songs do. Same thing with Kenny's song. Both could fall back out of the top 40 and have to earn their way back up the charts in the next week or 2, albeit they'll climb again faster than most of the other songs if they do. Kenny's will have one rough day but I think he'll recover fine. As for Sam, I don't think his song will fall. We never saw it with Craig Campbell's "Keep Them Kisses Comin'" or Dustin Lynch's "Where It's At". Both of those songs got On The Verge airplay but it was sustained airplay...they didn't drop back down to the low audience levels they were at prior to the big boosts (and admittedly Dustin's boost wasn't huge, but it was still noticeable). Sam's gains will eventually slow down, maybe this week or perhaps he'll keep gaining strongly for 2-3 weeks before slowing down, but if the past On The Verge 'deals' are any indicator, Sam won't lose any ground; he'll keep the audience he has as a foundation to build from. Well hell, that was the only hope I could think of!
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layne
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Post by layne on Jun 23, 2014 16:20:18 GMT -5
Reading thru this thread I see that I agree with points being made on both sides. This on the verge program hasn't been in place very long. So far all the songs they have chosen for this have been good IMO. I realize some worthy Artists and songs are being passed by and no matter what it will never be fair and some fans will be disappointed. I have to say that I do think it's a good thing though....So many times new acts can't get noticed because radio only plays their music between 2:00am and 4:00am in the morning. I think at the end of the day I like this program and hope in the future they chose a female and someone like Chris Stapleton. If they just have to do this program, I wish Chris had got it with "What Are You Listening to." That is a traditional Country song with a slight R&B influence but it's one that would pass the "Would George Jones would have liked it?" test. And yes about a female. Maggie Rose should have got this with "Looking Back Now." That song would have shocked a lot of listeners into hearing a song that actually tells a story with characters again! They need to mix this program up with different styles of Country songs with both genders if it is going to even fair at all. I hesitate to bash this program before I've seen more of who and what it promotes. So far everyone of the Artists have had a radio tour and all of them have "worked" hard IMO.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2014 16:31:48 GMT -5
Do his connections help? Sure. But if he had the same connections and was playing traditional music, those connections wouldn't do a damn thing for him because he wouldn't be playing something that sells.If you want to yap at someone about the kind of music on the radio, go yap at the people listening to it. It's the station's job to make money, not to be some noble martyr for a bunch of forums purists. There's also nobody making anyone on this board listen to the radio so I just don't understand the ridiculous perpetual discussion of the issue on here. If people didn't want to hear it, it wouldn't be on the radio. It's that simple. You make it sound as if it's a crime for us to discuss a radio format that's changing, one that many of us have listened to for decades. We're not "yapping", we're having discussion. This is a discussion board after all. No one is forcing you to come in here and read our discussions about country radio and the music that stations are playing. And as for the bolded snippet, that is simply not true. Traditional country music has still sold very well. Easton Corbin has 4 Gold singles to his name. Kacey Musgraves' album sales (and single sales as well) have clobbered the likes of Tyler Farr, Cole Swindell, Thomas Rhett, Jerrod Niemann, and many other guys who have tried to emulate Luke Bryan and the few hot-selling A-listers. Justin Moore (while admittedly not my favorite) has tried to stay on the more traditional side of the spectrum and he's had 2 Gold albums and several Gold singles. His most recent album debuted with about 100k sold, a very similar opening week total to recent albums from Keith, Brad, and Tim. Eric Church's first couple of albums, which were more traditional than his last two, both sold very well and that was before he really ever was hitting the top 10 at radio. And George Strait's most recent album has sold quite well (closing in on 500k)--certainly more than the newcomers--and that's with much less airplay, too. Admittedly, George gets a boost from name recognition alone, but the fact is there that airplay for a lot of the popular contemporary country songs today doesn't necessarily translate to big album sales, and that's especially true for artists like Tyler Farr and Jerrod Niemann. Tell me, why is it that Brandy Clark has sold 30,000 records--with 0 airplay--while artists like Jerrod Niemann and Tyler Farr have only sold about 50-60k apiece? There's also Jennifer Nettles' That Girl album which has sold over 130,000 copies with virtually no airplay (although I wouldn't exactly classify Nettles' album as traditional country, but it is very rootsy and story-driven). The argument that traditional country can't sell doesn't really hold any water. Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line are basically the current standard-bearers when it comes to strong album sales, but the rest of the more contemporary country artists really aren't selling much more than those with a more traditional flavor.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Jun 23, 2014 16:47:39 GMT -5
I think some people here just don't want to accept the fact that traditional country simply isn't a popular sound anymore. Is there a market for it? Sure. There's also a market for Jazz and Blues and other stuff that doesn't get wide attention because it doesn't appeal to a wide array of people anymore. Traditional Country is falling into that zone. Mainstream country radio is going to play what people want to hear. Country radio is championing non-traditional country now not to spite traditional country fans. It's because the popular opinion is that people don't want to listen to that anymore. Do I enjoy Luke Bryan? Not always. Do I enjoy Taylor Swift? Not always. Do I enjoy stuff like Sam Hunt? Not always. But so what. A lot of people do. Most artists that people complain about not getting attention on here are either derivative of something better or are very clearly making niche appeal music. A lot of people on here have very respectable opinions of music and I often like the music that's championed by posters, but I'm aware that what I most enjoy isn't always indicative of the general listening population. Country radio will play what the largest percentage of country radio listeners want to hear. This song has been promoted to hell and back in a short amount of time because it's very obviously a song that would do well on current country radio. Do his connections help? Sure. But if he had the same connections and was playing traditional music, those connections wouldn't do a damn thing for him because he wouldn't be playing something that sells. If you want to yap at someone about the kind of music on the radio, go yap at the people listening to it. It's the station's job to make money, not to be some noble martyr for a bunch of forums purists. There's also nobody making anyone on this board listen to the radio so I just don't understand the ridiculous perpetual discussion of the issue on here. If people didn't want to hear it, it wouldn't be on the radio. It's that simple. I wasn't aware that anybody here was clamoring for traditional country music to be played on country radio. Obviously it's a radio stations job to make money and get as high of ratings as possible. The ironic thing about this "On The Verge" program, while it allows for a newer artist like Sam Hunt to get traction instantly at radio, it totally takes out the listener feedback aspect of country radio. Sam's song hasn't been out long enough for a large percentage of audience to gain their personal feedback on "Leave The Night On". That's one of the reasons I don't like this practice. CC stations throw that out the window and just tell their stations to add the song because they cracked a deal with Sam's label to play the song as soon as it's released. His song getting this treatment is not from high demand from listeners, but from a sponsored deal by CC. Country radio is appealing to a younger demographic these days and acts like FGL, Thomas Rhett, and Luke are widely regarded as their favorite musicians. But many still enjoy other more country sounding artist as well. By the way, when I say more country sounding artists, I mean artists like David Nail, Charlie Worsham, Jon Pardi, etc. I'm not asking to hear "I Can Still Make Cheyenne" style songs all over the radio, but I would like to think that there is room for a wider playlist than the music that to my ears isn't country. Sam's song to my ears has very little county music aspects to it. I know my opinions are meaningless in the grand scheme of things and artists who are marketed to country radio like Sam Hunt and FGL will continue to be marketed to country radio whether I like it or not.
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kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
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Post by kw9461 on Jun 23, 2014 21:32:17 GMT -5
Yes, Sam is actually marketing himself (via his management team and now label) via a R&B/hiphop way (acoustic mixtapes) and he does use a drum machine instead of bass in most of his songs but I'm totally OK with that. His lyrics are predominantly "country" and his work with Shane McAnally as co-writer/producer (along with Zach Crowell) will keep him mostly with interesting melodies and not as many 'bro' like lyrics). Sam Hunt CAN and TRIED to sing the more traditional-leaning stuff and got nowhere in Nashville by doing it (rejection from Big Machine too). By being more of a blend of the genres he grew up with, he's found who he is, a crossover-like guy. He blends the genres he grew up on into a stew and it's what we call modern country music. And I'm totally fine with it. His heart is in the genre (just watch him perform a medley of his influences, 90% of it's 90s country) and his whole musical education is based on trying to be a country singer. He didn't go try to be a pop star after his career as a football player ended, he started in country. Sam is just 'blazing' a trail of sorts. He's not hiding the R&B and HipHop influences in his music and life, he's perhaps the first mainstream country artist (on a major) to willfully write stuff that is blended together. I know people will dislike him for this and this alone because of deciding that 'country' is something that needs to be one specific sound more than what being 'country' means. Honestly, it's different to everybody and as much as I like and admire the steel guitar and fiddle (I used to play), I don't think that what Sam is doing is too far out of step with the genre itself, even if it incorporates other genres sounds or styles into the mix. Country artists have ALWAYS done that. From the very moment I first heard Sam Hunt, I felt he was a star. He's the kind of star that rarely comes around, a transformational star. To me, if he brings more people into the country genre as fans, I find nothing wrong with that as it makes the genre itself stronger and I still believe -- even if others are skeptical -- that people who come to country via an artist like Sam or Hunter or Taylor or other pop-leaning artist arent' likely to like the more traditional stuff. In general that's not true. they come to the genre, they explore and eventually like even the more twangy artists. Also, if country remained "honky tonk" or super traditional-leaning it would be more 'marginalized' and basically a 'dead' format for the world outside of the few dedicated artists. And while some people may be fine with such things, I'm not as a fan of the genre (and traditional stuff as much as the new stuff). -- Now, as to the song... To me Sam's getting this fast start because of all of the hard work and good will he had while out on his radio tour. Yes, the CC deal is definitely helping him at this point but I firmly believe he'd have hit no matter what happened, it's just going a little 'faster' than perhaps it would've in the beginning and maybe cutting out a 30-40 week run to chart peak. I get that he has tons of influences - that's great, but that doesn't make him a country artist. If having country influences was the only qualification, Kelly Clarkson would have a dozen country #1's under her belt by now. There's a genre that already exists for artists with diverse interests like Sam's- it's called pop. Why are country influences suddenly poisonous elsewhere, but we have to take in every artist who doesn't fit just right elsewhere. I like Sam's music more than most bro country, but I think he's far more dangerous to country's future identity. Over-saturation is going to catch up with bro country at some point, but blowing up faux-country like this set's a precedent that could derail the genre even further, regardless of how well the Nash Icons project goes.
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kanimal
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Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,043
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Post by kanimal on Jun 24, 2014 3:02:36 GMT -5
Another huge week of adds. Pales in comparison to the 100+ for American Kids, but solid nonetheless.
This is one to watch for sure.
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Ten Pound Hammer
9x Platinum Member
Banned
I watched it all on my radio
Joined: August 2006
Posts: 9,595
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Post by Ten Pound Hammer on Jun 24, 2014 13:59:17 GMT -5
I'm Sam Hunt for MCA Nashville, and we'll leave the night on for you.
Seriously, why the hate of this song? Because it's so pop sounding? This sounded all right to me on first listen.
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Markus Meyer
Platinum Member
Favorite Single of 2020 So Far: “betty” by Taylor Swift
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Posts: 1,625
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Post by Markus Meyer on Jun 24, 2014 14:13:57 GMT -5
I'm Sam Hunt for MCA Nashville, and we'll leave the night on for you. Seriously, why the hate of this song? Because it's so pop sounding? This sounded all right to me on first listen. I think the general consensus is it's a decent song, but not country at all.
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carriekins
5x Platinum Member
With my mouth wide open in a whiskey rain, I could stand here 24 hours a day...
Joined: November 2011
Posts: 5,330
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Post by carriekins on Jun 24, 2014 14:19:00 GMT -5
I'm Sam Hunt for MCA Nashville, and we'll leave the night on for you. Seriously, why the hate of this song? Because it's so pop sounding? This sounded all right to me on first listen. I think the general consensus is it's a decent song, but not country at all. Yep. It's not pop-sounding, it's just pop.
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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 24, 2014 14:27:18 GMT -5
Apparently the ridiculous debut for "Leave The Night On" has broken the record for highest debut ever on Country Aircheck at #36. Source
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onebuffalo
Diamond Member
#LiteralLegender
I am One Buffalo.
Joined: June 2009
Posts: 26,699
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Post by onebuffalo on Jun 24, 2014 14:35:36 GMT -5
I say give Sam Hunt another 20 point jump, pushing him past George Strait.
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McCreerian
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Joined: June 2010
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Post by McCreerian on Jun 24, 2014 14:59:32 GMT -5
5 Questions with UMGN President Cindy Mabe Cindy Mabe was recently promoted to the role of president at Universal Music Group Nashville, including Capitol Records Nashville, EMI Records Nashville, MCA Nashville, and Mercury Nashville. Previously Sr. VP of Marketing, the North Carolina native and Belmont University graduate has overseen marketing, digital marketing, media marketing, creative services, production and international strategies for Capitol Records since 2007. In 2013, Mabe was honored as one of MusicRow’s Rising Women on the Row. Prior to her work at UMG Nashville, she oversaw marketing and day-to-day strategy at Arista Nashville, where she was instrumental in the careers of Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley. New artist Sam Hunt was recently signed to MCA Nashville. How do you go about differentiating him from the numerous other male solo artists that are dominating the Country radio charts right now? Sam separates himself in the way he writes, his phrasing, the R&B soulfulness he brings to his music. He’s a dynamic live performer, he is a very visual creator of video, music and performance. When we were in the process of signing Sam, every discussion was about how we could get music to the fans in a different timeline than the typical 35-week single to album launch mentality. He had already put out an acoustic mix tape on his website for fans to find him. We put a little more strategy into the game plan but it all came from Sam’s original thought that his music is more dynamic than just one single will show. When fans are discovering an artist, you want as much music content as they can have to keep them invested. We have followed that strategy with our set up. We have had partners like Spotify and Sirius/XM who have invested their own money and time in Sam before we ever had a single at Country radio. We have pushed video content out that is super-serving the young fan base he is building and as he goes in to play each market, they already know multiple songs despite the fact we just went for adds at Country radio. Clear Channel and CBS have both stepped out of the box on our first single “Leave the Night On.” Many more programs and partners are stacked up for the next couple of months and he will be the guy we’re talking about for a long time. www.musicrow.com/2014/06/5-questions-with-umgn-president-cindy-mabe/
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layne
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Post by layne on Jun 24, 2014 15:44:40 GMT -5
My gut feeling is Sam Hunt is going to be this new young generations "Garth Brooks". He is going to bring a totally different sound and look and he will be the Artist that starts the fading of the Luke Bryan, Fla Ga Line sound. Like I said it's just my opinion.
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