Open Thread

12 Comments

1. Oh, Kevin. If you need a Discussion topic, you need only ask!

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2. OK, I have something I want to get everyone’s opinion on.

   Why is is that the ladies are at the top of the country albums chart – therefore bringing in money at the cash register – while it’s hard for a woman to break the top 10 on the songs chart. I mean, hell, it even made news when Miranda Lambert got a top 10 hit this year …

   I can only think of a handful of artists who have been in the top 10 Country Songs chart in the past year and a host who have made indentations in the album charts …

   Any thoughts?

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3. Because radio programmers, or whoever decides what radio plays, shove men down the throats of people who are obviously going out and buying female singers albums. I personally much prefer female singers than male, the male singers in the mainstream tend to lean toward hick music, and I’m not a hick. Gretchen Wilson is the only hick female, except maybe Ashton Shepherd, and she doesn’t act like one at all!

   Yeah, Sugarland is one of the few that kills at the singles and albums charts, Taylor Swift too, and Carrie Underwood.

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4. Radio does it cause we keep listening, even though we have our cd’s and ipods people still enjoy the radio and want to hear their songs on the radio it’s just better for some reason. So as long as they have listeners they will play what they wish although they always we play what you want to hear it’s not always the case.

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5. I have nothing factual to base this on at all and my knowledge of the music business is scant.
   Here goes anyway:

   Given that, from the record companies Point of view, the reason for having singles played on the radio is to sell albums. If their female artists are doing fine without much radio then maybe they are giving a bigger radio promotional push to the male artists because they think this is a more effective way of improving sales for them.

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6. I just want to say, I’m sick of Taylor Swift already! Radio and Nashville shove the next big money maker down your throats whether they can sing or not and also even if the songs they sing are crap. I was listening to that song of TS’s this morning while laying in bed and it’s not a good song. It’s so childish! Sorry if I have offended but that’s just what I think! Is she suppose to be the savior of country music? If so, count me out! What is the big deal with her? I just don’t get it!

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7. it’s simply a matter of numbers. record labels promote more male country artists than female ones.

   as a consequence, the males have a larger portion of the overall available airtime, which is decisive for being successful on the single-charts.

   album charts, however, are based on units shipped, therefore only the absolute numbers count.

   one could say, that female country artists are absolutely strong, while, at the same time, being relatively weak.

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8. Gail I’m totally with you, I think she is a very sweet smart girl but can’t sing worth a dime she could never stand next to the big hitters and sing. I truely think that this new album should have been released as a pop album, her new one is so similar to Miley and that isn’t a compliment, I know she may be dating a Jonas brother but just last week she was saying she thought they were the best talent to come around in a long time, she apparently doesn’t think much of her own genre. I also feel the same with Kenny Chesney, not that he doesn’t have a good voice, his ballads are great but this last album of his is so over played and so not country, every time i hear one of his songs i feel like i’m on a vacation on a island somewhere, where is the country sound gone from his music.

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9. It may just be a cyclical thing. A few years ago, most of the top acts were female – Shania, Faith, the Dixie Chicks. Carrie Underwood is the only new female artist to have broken through in a big way in the past few years. The pendulum has probably just swung back toward male artists for the time being.

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10. Razor said “Carrie Underwood is the only new female artist to have broken through in a big way in the past few years.”

    Exactly. She’s the only artist – male or female – to sell more than 5 million copies of a studio album in the last 5 years or so. The ladies are selling gold and platinum consistenly. Even veterans like George Strait and Alan Jackson’s latest are only gold after 24 and 28 weeks out, respectively. Brad Paisley’s and Keith Urban’s latest – both on the charts over a year now – are platinum. That sounds like an accomplishment, but by Strait, Jackson, Paisley, and Urban standards, this is middling.

    Sugarland’s last album is double platinum. Their latest is platinum after only 8 weeks. Taylor Swift sold 3 million copies of her first CD. Carrie’s Carnival Ride is twice platinum. Reba Duets is platinum.

    So largely, the ladies are outsellin the men. I just don’t understand why they aren’t getting the airplay at radio to match their sales.

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11. I would say that female singers outsell men because they generally are able to cross-over much easier or at the very least be accepted by pop/rock music fans a lot more easier. Without that crossover appeal, Garth Brooks wouldn’t have sold what he sold. It’s a simple approach.

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12. I agree that it’s much more interesting to listen to country female singers than the new batch of male country singers. Trisha said this in an interview and I believe it’s very true.

    It’s not word for word, but she was talking about how she’s glad she’s a women as women in country(this was back in the early 90’s) have more variety compared to the men, who basically decide if they should have a cowboy hat or not.

    Those words to me couldn’t be more true. The sad thing is that country is becoming less realistic than pop. There are many good pop artists that are much better than these new country “artists”. Garth and Tim are the only men who really seem to have gotten more attention of the country men, and that’s partly because of cross-over appeal. And to tell you the truth, I think we need a country male singer that’s willing to break the mold, like Garth did, I’d much rather have a great artist that’s a variety(country-pop, country-rock.) and not this country-hick with pop elements.

    This isn’t supposed to be a sarcastic question, but does anyone else agree that the 90’s and early 00’s were some of the best years, in not just country but music in general, that good music was made?

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