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: 5,376
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Post by carriekins on May 27, 2015 16:52:59 GMT -5
Wouldn't surprise me to see Grady Smith write about it in The Guardian before week's end. Already done. :)
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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 May 27, 2015 16:55:28 GMT -5
ETA: Good lord, what a bunch of idiotic gems littered throughout that Alison Bonaguro interview. Wow, this guy is just dense.
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Post by McCreerian (Harris 2024!) on May 27, 2015 17:42:51 GMT -5
Wow I'm just now reading this! This is everything about why I quit listening to Country radio a few years ago. Women of Country in the 80s and 90s were who I listened to as a child thru my teens. I didn't buy an album from a man til Garth Brooks put out his first hits album in 1994. Country women are who shaped my love for music. It's sad that today's generation of kids can't find that type of passion listening to new Country females because of small minded (and other parts) executives in Nashville offices. Pathetic and sad!
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sabre14
Diamond Member
Vince Gill & the Muppets make everything better
Joined: October 2013
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Post by sabre14 on May 27, 2015 17:52:39 GMT -5
Alison Bonaguro from CMT interviewed Keith Hill. Men are Lettuce, Women are TomatoesHe was asked what he thought of Jennifer's tweet and he said this "“I understand where she’s at. She’s one of the best female vocalists there is. If she sees it as an opportunity, that’s fine.” Oh my God, this guy is an absolute gem. His arrogance knows no boundaries. Keith Hill sounds like he thinks he's smarter than everyone he's talking to and I have never heard such condescending remarks from a person associated with radio in my life. Uh, have you listened to country radio lately Keith? Just today I heard "Crash And Burn" followed by "Drink To That All Night" and then "Hell Of A Night" to close out a segment. All you give them is lettuce, lol. Ah, okay. Some more comments to talk down to the people who listen to country radio. On a personal note, why the hell did he think to put donuts and salad together? That's not what anybody said though. Country radio needs more females on the airwaves, not nothing but women. Just like it's not justified to have nothing but men. Millions of people enjoy ballads. "Don't Blink", "I Hope You Dance", "Remember When", "Colder Weather", "You're Gonna Miss This" and "In Color" are all currently in the top 200 of the iTunes country chart and each of those songs are 4 years old or older. Of course people like them. Because they get massive airplay. People like Stapleton, Watson and Simpson too and they get little or no airplay. We know people like FGL, and nobody said differently. This is about the music we know for a fact people like that radio ignores to please it's demographics. All those fans who loved Lee Ann Womack, Faith Hill, Patty Loveless, Martina McBride and LeAnn Rimes didn't go anywhere. They fled from country radio because they actually didn't like what they were hearing. This quote right here shows how arrogant he comes off in this interview. "Sharing what I've discovered", like he's the one who broke the news to everyone outraged at his short-sighted quote. The lack of female hit singles on country radio has been blatantly obvious for quite some time, so this isn't like it's breaking news to everyone. Listeners will desire to hear more female voices if they hear them more often. This isn't overly complicated.
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Post by McCreerian (Harris 2024!) on May 27, 2015 18:02:17 GMT -5
Just read that CMT follow up. Wow! That's more crap than I've seen in a baby's diaper! This guy needs run out of Nashville and the music industry.
I listen to Pop radio now cause they have so many great females. How are Country programmers that ignorant not to follow that "trend" and bring it to Country radio? Country fans hate women but Pop fans love women? I've heard better logic from a 5 year old.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2015 19:13:11 GMT -5
He definitely didn't say this to start a debate, judging by his tweets over the past 24 hours. Glad this got its own thread. It's quickly blowing up on social media and there are journalistic pieces currently being written in response to it. Wouldn't surprise me to see Grady Smith write about it in The Guardian before week's end. Maybe debate wasn't the right word, but controversy. Maybe he really believes it, but wanted this outrage to erupt. He could be that kind of person.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2015 19:26:13 GMT -5
Its really sad to see the genre that I know and love being torn to shreds like this. Based off of the comments in this thread, this guys seems like an arrogant SOB. I recently said goodbye to radio as I read stories such as this and am reminded as to who runs the genre today. People who don't give a care about the genre. You know what though? These guys want to be pop (or rather as successful as it) but are always a step (er...rather a mile) behind the times. Pop is flooding with females, and it's far more commercially successful than country is. So this backwards thinking makes absolutely no sense. I've been saying this a lot lately but country is just the recycle bin of failed ideas. I'm sick of that, and guess what? The country music system has more holes in it than a swiss cheese sandwich. We have people who don't want females on the radio, we have pop stars camouflaged as country stars, we have people desperately hanging on to old trends , we have rock stars who are clinging to country for a last breath of relevancy, need I say more? This dams going to burst soon.....
On to this topic, I echo what everyone else has said so far, eliminating all females at radio isn't going to solve anything, its just digging an even deeper hole.
These thoughts all came from a disappointed country music fan
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jsbeall
Bubbling Under
Joined: July 2012
Posts: 16
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Post by jsbeall on May 27, 2015 20:34:53 GMT -5
It's been alarming the lack of diversity shown by mainstream country radio. I had looked at my hometown's station "last 50 played" list one day and was shocked that only two songs were from solo females and one was by a group lead by a female. Out of 50! I posed a question on their Facebook page asking why they wouldn't play more females (I suggested Lee Ann Womack, Brandy Clark, and Ashley Monroe). They gave me a line of BS and then blocked me from their page so I couldn't even respond.
The 90s proved that there was room for many ladies having radio success (Lorrie, Patty, Pam, Trisha, Reba, Tanya, Suzy, Faith, Martina, Lee Ann, etc). Where have those type of fans gone? I know I'm actually more likely to buy music and tickets to female acts partly because I don't want them to be completely phased out.
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Post by McCreerian (Harris 2024!) on May 27, 2015 20:42:09 GMT -5
In the late 1980s we had an older female (KT Oslin, late 40s) emerge with multiple platinum top 10 hits. We had KT Lang (who was gay) have Country hits. So now in 2015 we are more backwards than we were 3 decades ago? Country music is going so far backwards it will be the 1950s again before we know it!
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2015 20:51:37 GMT -5
Country music is going so far backwards it will be the 1950s again before we know it! If it did that would be an improvement, actual solid country songs with intelligent lyrics that inspire fans is better than music that merely entertains them
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Post by McCreerian (Harris 2024!) on May 27, 2015 21:12:08 GMT -5
Country music is going so far backwards it will be the 1950s again before we know it! If it did that would be an improvement, actual solid country songs with intelligent lyrics that inspire fans is better than music that merely entertains them Music wise, yes. But I was more referring to women. Who did we have back then...Kitty Wells and Patsy Cline. Who do we have now...Carrie and Miranda. Hell it is the 1950s in female Country now!
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2015 21:25:52 GMT -5
If it did that would be an improvement, actual solid country songs with intelligent lyrics that inspire fans is better than music that merely entertains them Music wise, yes. But I was more referring to women. Who did we have back then...Kitty Wells and Patsy Cline. Who do we have now...Carrie and Miranda. Hell it is the 1950s in female Country now! True, but those ladies were slowly changing the tide for women in country. Unfortunately Carrie and Miranda are fighting for their lives (at least that's what I gather based on this guy's comments.. )
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carrieidol1
Diamond Member
Joined: August 2007
Posts: 12,671
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Post by carrieidol1 on May 27, 2015 21:27:39 GMT -5
Whatever the case may be, Carrie and Miranda are some BIG ASS tomatoes. Males may far outnumber the females, but the females that actually make it are often much bigger and much more supported than any of their male counterparts. This at least appears to be the case, it would seem. Carrie dominates in pretty much anything fan voted and has snatched Grammys from male artists time and time again. She also outsells pretty much all of her male counterparts. Miranda has legions of fans as well and dominates in pretty much all awards that aren't fan voted. Of the past five-to-ten years, if one had to list the top five country artists, three would likely be female: Taylor, Miranda, and Carrie. Taylor is doing her Pop thing now, but there's no denying she was one of the biggest artists country music has ever seen when she was releasing country music. Taylor, Carrie, and Miranda did/do well at radio because at one point or another they were given the opportunity to have their music heard on a large scale, not in spite of that. When females are given enough airplay to get their names out there, they are often embraced and loved! Why it's so rare for women to get adequate airplay for stardom, I don't know? But when they do, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, and Taylor Swift happen; and those are just examples from today's generation. Even Kacey Musgraves, she may not get a ton of airplay, but casual country fans definitely adore her. I think her album went gold and "Follow Your Arrow" went gold, too, along with winning Song of the Year at the CMAs... and that was just generated from moderate airplay at best. I cannot even fathom how one can come to the conclusion that ridding country radio of female voices would somehow increase audiences... like, what?
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liza
Gold Member
Joined: April 2012
Posts: 637
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Post by liza on May 27, 2015 22:04:35 GMT -5
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2015 22:18:08 GMT -5
Jesus, it makes me so angry and sad that Country music is being treated like this by the very people who are there to support artists and help them get their music out there.
It doesn't surprise me one bit that a guy who can champion FGL, Luke Bryan, and bro Country all day simply because it makes money would tear down women who can't be given a fighting chance because of his desire to make money off the same old nonsense.
Frankly, I'm getting really sick and tired of hearing all these radio DJ's standing up for all the men who make lots of money...and lots of awful music that's polluting the airwaves.
The lack of diversity at Country radio has been a huge issue for years now, but the obnoxious attitudes towards women (and radio programers who claim listeners don't WANT to hear women), is just so wrong on so many levels.
If listeners DON'T want to hear women, why have Carrie Underwood, Shania Twain, Taylor Swift, The Dixie Chicks, etc have been so successful?
This kind of attitude is outright dismissing ALL of the stellar women who have (and will) contribute to Country music in the future, and it's disgusting and outright degrading.
Go figure that a guy like this would champion crap, and fail to mention that the women are (largely) creating BETTER music than the men who are supposedly so wonderful.
Put Carrie, Kacey, Miranda, and the great women of the past against the men, and the ladies will wipe the floor with them.
What a joke this genre is becoming, and I'm ashamed to think so many people are defending it.
PLEASE let the bottom fall out, and let karma take care of the rest.
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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: 5,376
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Post by carriekins on May 27, 2015 22:55:33 GMT -5
Shane McAnally is getting in on the action. He tweeted that without women he wouldn't have a career, and is now tweeting Keith Hill.
Kinda want to pop some popcorn and watch but it's getting late.
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sabre14
Diamond Member
Vince Gill & the Muppets make everything better
Joined: October 2013
Posts: 26,923
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Post by sabre14 on May 27, 2015 23:30:44 GMT -5
Shane McAnally is getting in on the action. He tweeted that without women he wouldn't have a career, and is now tweeting Keith Hill. Kinda want to pop some popcorn and watch but it's getting late. Ha, I'm watching this as long as I can. He continues to advocate the damn salad analogy, lol. It's pretty clear to me that Keith Hill thinks he's radio's God send.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2015 23:43:54 GMT -5
Bummed that I was so busy today and couldn't be online to watch this unfold. This is another pretty good article from The Tennesseean: Lon Helton's quotes... He's defending Keith Hill Oh. My. God.
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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 May 27, 2015 23:49:14 GMT -5
It's amazing to think that dunderhead has been working in radio 42 years. Like how? WHY? I just hope it's his last because honestly he shouldn't be in the business of what he's doing with such poor judgment and such awful PR skills.
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14887fan
Diamond Member
Joined: November 2013
Posts: 11,308
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Post by 14887fan on May 28, 2015 0:27:18 GMT -5
It was sexist in the 1960s, it's sexist now. What are you not seeing, Helton? (+ Hill)
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Uncle Lumpy
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The poster formerly known as Lumpster
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Post by Uncle Lumpy on May 28, 2015 11:53:44 GMT -5
I'm going to say something that's going to make me as popular on Pulse as the proverbial turd in the punch bowl. Hes right. I'm not defending him or his short sighted opinion & I certainly don't agree with him but what he has said is technically correct. Country as a genre has been dumping their core audience and trying to attract the kids for quite a few years now and this is the result. We now have a fan base full of air headed teens & young twenty somethings that are nothing more than image based zombies. I hear a lot of blame going to the male demo that Bro "country" has infected ....err... brought us but I believe there is more than enough blame to throw on the other gender as well. I have no science or stats but just go to any random male A-lister's facebook page when new music is introduced. Those threads are usually busting at the seams with how "hot" the male star is with nary a mention of the music. I could be wrong but I seriously doubt that the chubby 17 year old girl from Florida that cant comment on Like Bryans new single without mentioning his "cute butt" is gonna scramble for her smart phone to request Carrie Underwoods latest single.
Again , I'm not defending him . I think hes an idiot , but this is just more of the same , which I now expect from the mover & shakers in Music City. They are not interested in the long term solutions that face the genre but what is working right now. And as they scramble to hold on to that golden young demo , this works.
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Post by countrygirl918 on May 28, 2015 12:15:39 GMT -5
Country radio is shooting themselves in the foot. It's already obvious that the importance of radio is on the decline, particularly terrestrial radio. Sure, country radio is still a huge (perhaps the largest) factor in breaking a new country artist, but with all the different ways of discovering new music these days, the importance of radio will only continue to decline, slowly but surely. And radio's refusal to be inclusive of women or diversify their playlists will only speed up that process. They've done it to themselves. They've narrowed their audience so significantly that it's not just about people changing the station when a song they don't like comes on - many loyal listeners from the past don't bother to listen to them at all anymore. They don't see it now because they're thinking short-term. But they're going to have to adapt to the rapidly changing nature of the music business if they want to still be relevant in 10+ years.
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Uncle Lumpy
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The poster formerly known as Lumpster
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Post by Uncle Lumpy on May 28, 2015 12:57:11 GMT -5
What exactly did Jennifer Nettles say? I cant find it but radio guy Jimmy Carter said he couldn't even repeat it on the radio?
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14887fan
Diamond Member
Joined: November 2013
Posts: 11,308
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Post by 14887fan on May 28, 2015 13:07:06 GMT -5
McBride has been gaining a TON of majorly positive peas in the media. Nice to see her name circulating at such a high-profile level again, even if it's just until this ordeal becomes water under the yet-to-be-constructed bridge. What exactly did Jennifer Nettles say? I cant find it but radio guy Jimmy Carter said he couldn't even repeat it on the radio?
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Uncle Lumpy
3x Platinum Member
The poster formerly known as Lumpster
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Post by Uncle Lumpy on May 28, 2015 13:12:52 GMT -5
^^^ HA! Love it!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2015 13:17:43 GMT -5
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onebuffalo
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I am One Buffalo.
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Post by onebuffalo on May 28, 2015 13:21:13 GMT -5
Yet, females make more compelling music than male artists. Go figure!
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jptexas
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Post by jptexas on May 28, 2015 13:25:37 GMT -5
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sabre14
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Vince Gill & the Muppets make everything better
Joined: October 2013
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Post by sabre14 on May 28, 2015 13:34:08 GMT -5
Yet, females make more compelling music than male artists. Go figure! Compelling music and today's country radio don't mix.
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onebuffalo
Diamond Member
#LiteralLegender
I am One Buffalo.
Joined: June 2009
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Post by onebuffalo on May 28, 2015 13:36:47 GMT -5
Yet, females make more compelling music than male artists. Go figure! Compelling music and today's country radio don't mix. We could go back to the 1980s, the BEST decade for country music (and I was around for ALL of it).
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