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Let's Be Careful About Using The "S" Word
July 27, 2017
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Wow. Declaring "sexism." Like yelling "fire" in a theater. Such a dangerous, volatile word to use so recklessly.
But Rolling Stone (RS) went there. According to them, female artists aren't played enough and don't achieve #1 hits like the guys do, especially when some are posting strong album sales, and it's all Country radio's fault – part of some maniacal agenda. Last week's piece cited Miranda Lambert's "Weight Of These Wings" album – which was recently certified platinum – as an example, in spite of Country radio's alleged non-support of singles "Vice," "We Should Be Friends," and the current "Tin Man."
I have so many thoughts on this conspiracy theory – which I'll get to – but as far as any bias, gender or otherwise, I think Hall Country WCTK/Providence PD Bob Walker spoke best on behalf of programmers everywhere on his recent Facebook post while reacting to the RS piece, "The word sexist today is golden in driving page views…If only they knew radio would play ANYTHING that drives ratings – that is the only agenda in Country radio."
Like Walker, obviously, I don't agree with Rolling Stone. My first reaction after reading the article was, "Dude, WTF?!" I'll always feel close to radio; I'll always believe in it. But I tried to count to 10 on this, re-read the piece several times, and give them the benefit of the doubt. They aren't close to radio's inner workings. They're consumer-faced, so it's easy to make the challenge of breaking female artists at radio black and white, good versus evil, i.e. radio's fault. A lot of the assertions by RS seem driven by pure frustration. But guess what? Everybody is frustrated by this – yes, even radio programmers. None of them are pleased with the current situation. Today I hope to offer some reasonable, unemotional arguments why laying this issue solely at radio's feet – automatically declaring it guilty - isn't a properly vetted predication.
The RS piece recalled Lambert's solo performance of "Tin Man" on the ACM awards telecast in April: "The response from all corners was immediate and positive, bordering on rapturous."
I concur. But, here's an important reminder about context; the difference between a live, one-time, onstage performance – a television moment – versus a song that can successfully thrive on a radio station's playlist for months. Programmers know that difference, and a classic, reliable analogy applies: We all love drum solos, and guitar shredding, too – as a live, spontaneous concert experience – but they make awful radio singles and, historically, have never worked.
Lambert's live delivery of "Tin Man" at the ACMs? Incredible. Possibly the night's best, most poignant moment. Doesn't mean it's automatically a radio hit. Will "Tin Man" be that kind of song? That has yet to be determined. After 14 weeks on the Mediabase Country singles chart, it sits at #34. That's passive growth by Miranda Lambert's usual standards, but not unheard of in recent years for many artists who eventually reach #1, or peak inside the top 10, after a months-long journey.
And, what is a radio hit? All programmers probably have their own measuring stick for that, but to me, a true hit is the kind of song that can grow legs – i.e. passion and familiarity – the more it spins. A hit is song radio stations can play a year after its life as a current, eventually graduating into its gold library, to be enjoyed for years to come – something sustainable. Rolling Stone implied that not reaching #1 is some kind of fail, using Maren Morris' first two singles as examples of Country radio not supporting a female artists' goal to get there, saying: "’My Church,’ a smash by pretty much any other metric…peaked at number nine on the [Billboard] Country airplay chart. Likewise, her kinetic, neon-splattered ‘80s Mercedes’ stalled at Number 11. Despite the Airplay falters, Morris' excellent debut LP ‘Hero’ has been certified gold for sales of 500,000, a robust accomplishment in this era of decreased album buying."
Based on my time in record promotion, for a brand-new artist – male OR female – taking a debut single into the top 10 is actually considered a fantastic accomplishment. Ask any promo team, which would gladly perform cartwheels, high-fives, and a celebratory toast (or three) at Winners Saloon off Music Row as a result. Let's be clear: the idea that "My Church" – or Morris' follow-up, "80s Mercedes" – didn't hit #1 somehow means radio didn't support them is absurd. To say any record "stalled" at #11 is, too. Anybody who has ever worked a single to radio knows: That shit is hard, man!
But this is a mentality which exists on Music Row – hitting #1 is the end-all, be-all. Yes, it matters mightily, and on so many levels. However, some of the most famous songs in history – from all genres – never hit #1. George Strait's signature, career-catapulting song,"Amarillo By Morning," never topped the charts. Ditto other famous Strait standards, like "The Fireman" and "The Cowboy Rides Away." Garth Brooks' "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damned Old)" and "Rodeo" weren't #1. Glen Campbell's famous "Gentle On My Mind" peaked at #30. Patsy Cline's iconic "Crazy," which has been covered many times over the years by some great singers, stopped at #2. Want some non-Country examples? Bruce Springsteen's defining "Born To Run" ended its run at #23; "Hungry Heart" was #5. Hell, "Born In The USA" was #9 for God's sake! And, look no further than the greatest Rock band of all time, the Beatles, whose "I Saw Her Standing There," "Strawberry Fields Forever," and "Here Comes the Sun" also "stalled" (according to RS's yardstick) beneath #1.
Yes, having a certified Gold debut album IS a robust accomplishment in today's reality. It's massive. Wanna know what helped Maren Morris hit that milestone? A ton of airplay on Country radio. Both "My Church" and "80s Mercedes" spent months there. "My Church" first received near consensus airplay at radio in January of 2016, eventually peaking – again, triumphantly for a new, totally unknown artist – at #8 in June after 23 weeks. Next, "80s Mercedes" lived on Country radio stations starting in mid-June of '16 before peaking at #9 on Mediabase's January 31, 2017 chart – eight months later.
Rolling Stone claims Country radio fosters "a climate that doesn't allow more than one or two women at any time to have chart-topping hits."
The numbers say otherwise, and I don't mean chart or sales numbers. I mean the raw number of female artists sending music to Country radio. A look at artist rosters for some of Nashville's biggest labels shows fewer female artists compared to males. Nine of UMG Nashville's 36 artists – based on its website – are females. Seven of Warner Music Nashville's 26 are female, five of Sony Music Nashville's 23, eight of BMLG's 32, three of BBR Music Group's 16, and even two of Black River Entertainment's five.
For all labels, I counted groups that often feature females on lead vocal or a duet, such as Lady Antebellum or Little Big Town. Programmers would gender code groups or duos that include a prominent, noticeable female vocal performance as female in their music software system, so I'm doing the same here. But back to the numbers – RS is correct, that in the most recent Mediabase singles (or, currents) chart there are six female titles in the top 50, or about 12%. Similarly, in the top 100 most-played re-currents year-to-date, 13 are females (13%). A look at the 250 most-played Gold titles during the past 12 months shows 36 female titles (15%).
On the surface, yep, that seems like a disparity. So, I tracked every add week for 2017 so far, in order to see how female artists are being released to – and included on – radio's playlists. During the first 29 weeks of this year, 1,570 songs have been added – 259 of them female artists, or approximately 17%. Additionally, in all but six of these 29 weeks, at least one female artist was among the week's top 10 most-added songs. Nine weeks featured multiple females in the top 10 most-added. Female artists won the most-added crown in four separate weeks, and were the #2 most-added song in six other weeks.
That 17% figure is a slightly higher percentage than what we saw on the current, recurrent, and gold lists I mentioned earlier. Within a few percentage points, it appears that what's being offered to radio is being added and played. Does that mean we've got this right and things are perfect? Of course not. But I do think it debunks any notion that programmers, or Country radio as a whole, have some diabolical scheme to prevent the ladies from a shot at airplay.
Conclusion? When it comes to female artists, Country as a format doesn't have a sexism issue, it's got an inventory crisis. That is not meant to characterize female artists as inventory – please don't take it that way. My point is, it's hard for Country radio to play more of something it simply doesn't have an ample supply of. The format could probably use a dash more traditional sounding music, too, but not much of it is being signed and produced these days.
On the surface, it's easier to make the female-artists-on-Country-radio conundrum a simple one, claiming “Country radio is sexist.” While perhaps a convenient term, not to mention strong click bait, it's inaccurate. There are too many moving parts at play here, because programming is an elaborate cocktail of art and science. Reiterating what I said at the beginning – before we use serious, dangerous words, blended with editorial commentary about the quality or integrity of one song compared to another, a closer look at information readily available is probably the more circumspect approach.
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