I recently attended the 50th anniversary of Country Radio Seminar, held in Nashville each year. CRS was an opportunity to learn the industry latest and greatest, network with peers, and meet with new and established artists and songwriters.
A few things struck me during the conference that validated my decision to launch CE:
Bro-Country / Rap-Country
Bro-country and “rap” country are still very prevalent in radio and throughout the industry. Some of the artists at the event even performed songs that made me question how anyone ever approved it. When one gentleman (whom I will not name) murdered a version of Chattahoochee after turning it into a rap song, I jokingly began to flip the cocktail table on its end. There was even a performance by a group and I couldn’t tell whether it was supposed to be ironic or not. Strangely enough, I’m hearing their song on the radio now.
Yeah, I understand that spoken word used to be a thing in country, but when you put a beat behind it, it turns into something it shouldn’t be.
Lack of Women Promoted
The lack of women promoted in country music was still very apparent at the conference. I was happy that Ashley McBryde, Lindsay Ell, and Lauren Jenkins were featured and they all did a phenomenal job. There are so many more talented women out there who need to be heard, too.
The Importance of Albums
We learned a lot from Garth Brooks, both during his acoustic set and his fireside chat. The most important songs to people are often the songs that hit you the hardest, help you through tough times, and may not even be the songs that are released as singles. Since modern radio tends to call for more up-tempo songs, the heartfelt ballads often remain buried on the album.
Do you ever feel like the songs played on country radio are starting to sound the same? Garth explained that it’s due to the decline in album sales. Let’s back up. When an album is purchased, it not only benefits the artist/band, but also the songwriters that helped to create it. If a songwriter moves to Nashville and gets a song on an album that does well, even if their song isn’t a single, it’s a paycheck and it might mean he/she gets to stay for six more months in order to create music.
In the next six months, they’ll likely write dozens of songs which may or may not land on other albums. Someday, they may even write a #1 hit! But without that “steady” paycheck, the opportunity is lost, as people often leave Nashville and their dream of making a living as a songwriter.
With the decline of album sales, fewer songwriters are earning a paycheck, unless their song happens to be released as a single and does well (think about how difficult that is!). The songwriters with hit songs can stay and keep writing, thus releasing more singles. The result: it’s the same small pool of people who are consistently writing and making it on the radio.
So what can you do? And where do we go from here?
- Buy albums! Vinyl is becoming increasingly popular, so if you’re no longer listening to CDs, that’s a great option as well.
- Support songwriters.
- Go to live shows and buy merchandise if you can.
- Continue to check back with Country Evolution as we promote great music, songwriters, and promote the people who aren’t always heard, alongside established artists.