Let’s Talk About Women on Country Radio
2 weeks ago I was in Maine driving past houses separated by miles and miles of pine trees, surrounded by forested yards scattered with lobster buoys, weathered chairs, and boats covered by tattered tarps. Something about the rugged isolation prodded me to turn on the radio and scan to a country station. Perhaps I was feeling a similar feeling that millions of Americans had when they increasingly turned to country, roots, and bluegrass music during the first months of quarantine, even as pop, dance, and rap streaming numbers fell. (1) Millions of Americans, stuck in their hometowns, often ripped away from bohemian cities and lives, trapped with their families and the detritus of their childhoods, decided to listen to country music. If they turned on the radio to fulfill their country fix, what would they hear?
When I turned on the radio that day in Maine, I was pleased to hear a Miranda Lambert song. Consistently one of the most interesting artists in country, her work ranges from the barnstorming fire and brimstone of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to the acoustic, folk-adjacent The Weight of these Wings, lyrics soaked equally in caustic anger and betrayal as well as wistful wanderings and escapes.
After the Lambert song faded away, it was followed by a couple of those typical pop-country songs that seem to suffuse country radio, talking lazily of jeans, beer, and women as objects. Frustrated by the milquetoast sameness of these mediocre male country artists, I kept scanning to try to find something entertaining. Man after man after man wafted from my car speakers. Exasperated, and ready to hear something slightly more compelling, I plugged the aux cord into my phone and played Lucinda Williams’ 1998 masterpiece Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. While I was listening to the deliciously horny “Right In Time” to the provocative talk-singing and wonderful titling of “2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten” or the muted, gorgeous “Jackson,” I couldn’t help thinking how good country radio could be if I didn't have to wait 45 minutes between every song performed by a woman.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love male country stars too (minus the occasional instance of homophobia and sexism). From outlaw Willie Nelson’s spectral Stardust, Kane Brown’s heady pop-country, Tim McGraw’s anthemic standards, or George Strait’s wistful and excellently played lamentations, there are plenty of fantastic male country singers I’d love to hear on the radio. I wish there was less pop on country radio and more grit, for sure, but this article isn’t about the quality of country radio, aside from the fact that having more equality will inherently improve its quality. This article is about the glaring lack of female country artists on country radio, and what that means for the future of country. We shouldn't have to wait for an average of 9.7 songs performed by men to be played on country radio before we hear 1 by a woman. (2)
Often during discussions of sexism in the music industry, and in country specifically, the argument used to rebut concerns about unequal playing time boil down to “it’s simply based on commercial success,” and that women get 1/10th of the playing time because they have 1/10th the commercial success of male country stars. The people who argue this usually believe there is no systemic sexism in country music present aside from that of listeners who don’t purchase and stream enough music from women. There are a few things wrong with this line of reasoning. Let’s unpack.
Even if this line of reasoning was true, it’s still bad. Even if country radio isn’t explicitly excluding music from women, men still dominate the songs they play. country radio has a responsibility to work towards country music’s long-term success. If country fades, so too will country radio. A genre that doesn’t accurately represent it’s listener base risks losing listeners. Country’s listener base includes equal numbers of women than men, and increasing numbers of people of color. Not only does country radio have an ethical and moral responsibility to play more women in the name of gender equity, it’s key to their own survival.
This purely commercial argument simply doesn’t hold up. Radio play is at the root of commercial success. It is extremely challenging to build a fanbase, become well-known, and gain access to vital industry resources and contacts if you aren’t played on the radio. Not every radio station just plays the top 40 over and over again — they lay an important role in music discovery and new artist growth, from artist discovery programs, new music Fridays, and giving local talent opportunities to shine. Many artists have built their popularity and commercial success from radio play, starting before they were stars. Female country artists don’t have equal access to these growth opportunities radio offers, and therefore have a harder time building the very same commercial success people claim is necessary to get radio play. In short, as researchers noted, “programming decisions have a direct impact on the success of songs, and... women are not afforded the same opportunities as their male colleagues.” (3) Country radio’s sexism is at the root of the lack of commercial success female country stars have. Lastly, female country stars are consistently icons. Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Shania Twain, and more have proved beyond a doubt that women can not only chart and top the charts, but become pillars of the genre. Female country artists deserve radio play because they’re freaking amazing.
There is evidence of specifically sexist words and actions coming from inside country radio that illustrate women aren't being excluded simply because of their lack of commercial success but because they are women. In May 2015, a radio consultant was quoted saying women were the “tomatoes” in the country radio salad, the sparse garnish to the all-male leafy greens. (3) The music industry, which includes country radio decision makers, constantly says things like “Country radio is a principally male format, We only have space for one female on the roster,” and even “Women don’t want to hear women.” (1) These statements reveal the explicitly sexist attitudes that pervade country radio. The last quote is especially troubling because it is simply false — 84% of listeners would like more gender parity in airplay, with 53% of total listeners reporting no gender preference for artists, and 28% percent reporting they’d listen to country radio more if there were women, and only 11% reporting they’d listen less. (3) It would be a good business decision for country radio stations to play more women — sexism, whether implicit or explicit, though it’s often the latter — not business, is holding them back.
These issues of sexism become even more pronounced when you add race into consideration. Black men are still far and few between on country radio, and racism is all over the genre’s history. country radio has its roots in music created by Black artists, and Black artists were some of the first country artists to exist, and continued to play country music throughout the 20th century, even as the mainstream often refused to acknowledge that they were playing country music. (5) These issues continue into today as controversies around Lil Nas X’s ”Old Town Road,” and Beyoncé’s “Daddy Issues” as well as country’s seeming insistence on only allowing one Black male artist chart high at a time. Only 5% of charting country songs are by Black men. (6) 0 were by Black women in 2019, although innovative stars like Mickey Guyton and Yola are seeking to change that. The onus is on the industry and radio station to recognize Black country artists’ popularity and potential and give them equal access to resources and airtime. The fact that Black men are slowly gaining a few industry opportunities, as the success of artists like Kane Brown illustrates, while Black women still see little to no airplay, displays how intersecting biases and discrimination can affect female musical artists.
The consequences of country radio’s sexism and racism for the genre as a whole are chilling. Marissa R. Moss of Rolling Stone puts it best: “Right now, a whole generation of girls are growing up barely hearing themselves represented on the radio — a scary reality for what the future of the genre could ultimately sound, and look, like.” (2) country music lost 18% of it’s listener base from 1982 to 2002, and while it’s recently been seeing promising growth across gender and race lines, this growth is liable to decrease and reverse if country radio doesn’t reflect it’s increasingly diverse listener base. (7) As technology spreads country music across the world and country, making it less rural, less white, and less geographically concentrated, country needs to shed its racism and sexism so they aren't losing future listeners and artists. Radio stations and industry organizations need to create equity committees filled with diverse women in the industry to advise on the best way to create true parity in country, and plan for the genre’s future. I’d listen to country radio a lot more if there were more women played, as would 28% of country radio listeners. (4) What you can do in the meantime is listen to some fantastic country music from artists in the mainstream and on the margins, from decades ago to recent breakthroughs, and support these iconic artists with your money and streams. Lucky for you, we made a wide-ranging, curated Spotify playlist for that. Get listening!
Works Cited
Blake, Emily. 2020. “Streaming in Quarantine: Pop Is Down, Acoustic Sounds Are Up.” Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone. May 18, 2020. https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/news/coronavirus-acoustic-music-trends-1000796/.
Moss, Marissa R. 2019. “New Study Shows Women Receive Less Country Radio Play Than Men.” Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone. April 26, 2019. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/women-country-radio-airplay-study-827675/.
Watson, Jada. 2020. “Country Music Radio Has Ignored Female Artists for Years. And We Have the Data to Prove It.” NBC News. NBC News. February 17, 2020. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/country-music-radio-has-ignored-female-artists-years-we-have-ncna1137571.
CMT.com Staff. 2020. “Study: Country Fans Want More Women on Radio.” CMT News. February 18, 2020. http://www.cmt.com/news/1817926/study-country-fans-want-more-women-on-radio/.
Elamin Abdelmahmoud. 2020. “Rewriting Country Music’s Racist History.” Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone. June 5, 2020. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/country-music-racist-history-1010052/.
“New Report: Inequality on Country Radio – 2019 in Review – SongData.” 2020. Songdata.Ca. February 17, 2020. https://songdata.ca/2020/02/17/new-report-inequality-on-country-radio-2019-of-review/.
Crawford, Brett, and Caryn Anderson. 1982. “Music Preferences in the U.S.: 1982-2002 .” https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED511715.pdf.