Where are the women on mainstream country radio?

http://www.wideopencountry.com/women-country-radio/

 

Maren Morris's essay on women in country music: Maren Morris Is Moving Country Music Forward

 

One female artist who is catching on with her first major solo hit is Carly Pearce: Carly Pearce - new country singer

 

It's a sad state of affairs. I listen to maybe an hour a day of what passes for country radio, and these past few weeks about the only female voice I hear is Kelsea Ballerini repeating the words "yeah boy" 10,000 times in 3 minutes.

Oh, and "The Road Less Traveled" by Lauren Alaina.

Maren Morris's 2 hits from last year have vanished, Carrie Underwood's recents are falling off, and I almost never hear Miranda.

It's a far cry from the days when you could count on hearing the likes of Miss Loretta & Tammy & Dolly in regular rotation.

 

Maren is currently on the charts with I Could Use a Love Song and it is doing OK on the charts. Fans should just buy the album anyway as it is great overall.

 

Kacey turns out some quality Country music but does not get the love she deserves on the radio.

But that's just the way it is. Male or female, the song needs to have a sick beat with banal and cliche lyrics to get play.

 

In other words, Vice by Miranda was simply a fluke when it came to that success as there are no cliched lyrics in that song. Carly Pearce's Every Little Thing is also a great song as well.

 

For Every Little Thing:

 

Didn't we raise this question months ago, when that article took my friend the consultant's premise totally out of context?

It's simple: water seeks its' own level. In the broadcasting business that translates to, "If it weren't something that didn't impact their ratings, they wouldn't do it, would they?"

Ya know why we had all those disco songs on the radio in the '70s? Ya know why we didn't have nearly as many disco songs on the radio in the '80s? Same answer.
Ya know why they don't play Reba anymore on the radio? Totally different answer, but it's an answer that, just for offering it up, you'll get backwash from a very vocal, very (comparitively) smaller fragment of listeners.
Ya know why there's so much "Bro Country" on the radio in the past 7 years? "If it weren't something that didn't impact their ratings, they wouldn't do it, would they?"

Nobody is conspiring to deny women artists a spotlight. It's just that, when the audience tells you how many new female artists they can accept before moseyin' over to the other station on the dial, you better listen. And if there just happen to be an increase in plucky, determined female artists looking for a spot on the radio at any given time (like, say, a time when we've just had a decade full of Cinderella-story "singing gameshows" and 5 seasons of Nashville in which Rayna walks into a room, hears one of the cast member's friends sing, and immediately starts talking "contract at Hiway 65 Records")...well, that just makes it harder to get picked for a dwindling spot on the playlist. Besides, research tells Radio, apparently they've already got the number of female artists they need...and they've already got all the certified Superstar Female Artists they need to fill those spots.

Face it, if you're only buying 5 yogurts this week at the supermarket, you're probably more likely to choose the 5 flavors you know your husband likes...and you're not gonna feel all that sorry for the "pina colada" or the "strawberry kiwi". Because now that you've got your yogurts, you can proceed to the shortest checkout lane, obsess over the idiot at the front of the line who apparently never used a cash card before, keep the kids from grabbing the candy bars, fret with where the cashier is bagging which items, dig out your coupons, decide how much cash you want back, re-pack the bags into the cart, place the bags into the car without spilling, and drive the car home...where you still have to put away all the groceries. Oh, and now it's time to make dinner.

So, deciding which of these unknown quanties of female artists/yogurt flavors deserve your attention is pretty irrelevant when you still have a crapload of business to accomplish once that decision is solved.

But, solved or not, here comes your daughter, telling Dad there's other yogurts out there he never even gets a chance to taste. And so, obviously, Mom's at fault - where's all the strawberry kiwi yogurts on the mainstream yogurt shelf of the fridge!

 

That's a good song and most of Miranda's material is top shelf. I will check out Carly Pearce's tunes.

Just hoping the pendulum will M-O-V-E the other direction.

 

They all sound too twee?

 

These things go in cycles. Women will be back in country music at some point.

 

Aren't women the main audience for all the bro country crap polluting the airwaves, and concert arenas?

 

Yes indeed.

 

One of many things wrong with modern country music.

 

they are all on pop radio

 

Seems all the people on country radio are either men or groups.

 

Article from three years ago, same subject

Sheryl Crow Knows Country Music Has a Problem With Women & We Couldn't Agree More

SHeryl Crows returns to pop after country foray, found no welcome:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/arts/music/sheryl-crow-be-myself-interview.html?_r=0

 

maybe Shania never shoulda moved to Switzerland.

 

Yeah, judging by the abundance of songs where the singer is directly telling a girl that merely walking into a room with her has every man seething with jealousy.

Or how awesome she looks with no makeup and messy hair. Or how he can't sleep until she gets home.

And it's always "girl". I can't remember last time I heard the subject referred to as "woman".

 

I've heard on country stations everywhere that they noticed when consecutive female country artists are played many people change the dial, it may be sexist but for whatever reason there seems to be hard data backing this up (I should see if I can dig this up, I read it months ago). So they generally only play 1 female song for every 3 or 4 males

 

She is my favorite current country artist

 

not arguing, but, how would they know this? Do radio stations have technology that allows them to know exactly how many people are tuned in at any given time?
I can understand how this works on a web broadcast, pinging, etc. What about an analog radio transmission? How does this work?

no sarcasm, an honest question, I'd really like to know how this is done.

 

It's a far cry from the 90s when Reba, Lorrie Morgan, Martina McBride, Faith Hill, Trisha Yearwood and Shania Twain were all over the radio. They were serious record sellers too.

 

I feel like I read a thread with more on the subject but this is the best I've got right now:
Music industry expert's advice for country radio stations? Play fewer songs by women