Letters To The Editor- part two
Media hype, Beyoncé and country radio, and some tips how to discover new music
Welcome to part two of Letters To The Editor. Three more reader submissions get answered. I hope you enjoyed the previous installment and give this one a shot. The questions are interesting, and the answers thought-provoking. A feeling arose when I thought about these questions and answers. They centered around the limits of a critics perspective. For instance, the question about hyped up albums- after all in a very small way I contribute to that hype! Also, as one who aims to cover a lot of the big releases. I frequently feel somewhat forced to listen to music, and that is an experience that is rarely shared by the casual listener.
Additionally, my mentality on musical discovery is perhaps more niche than many others. The last question touches on that.
Lastly, as we already saw the previous post, I comfortably look to history as a guide for what to expect in the present. I attempt to do so in regards to the Beyoncé country songs. This is a flawed way of looking at things, because history only works as a guide until something changes. Perhaps other people who are focused more in the moment will have a different perspective, which very well may be more accurate.
Personal existential questioning aside, I think that the submissions by readers caused a great deal of thought and conversation to result. I’m proud of the readership. Feel free to chime in with your own questions and responses either via email or in the comment section.
Thanks for reading,
Joe
4) Why do you hate music? Real talk though, a fair one I’d ask is how often do you enjoy the media pushed albums that you are “forced to like” IE Isbell, Maren Morris, Kacey, and apparently Beyoncé?
-Cyrus Waugh
This is an important question, so I will try and break it down in two different ways.
First of all, the way I personally choose to deal with this reality is to just not bother listening to the hyped music. I will often read reviews of critically acclaimed music prior to listening. If most of the acclaim comes from the cultural side and not the music, the odds are it’s not for me. I have a limited amount of time. We all have mechanisms to filter what music we choose to listen to, and sorting for excessive hype is one of mine.
Additionally, I really don’t like any sort of hype. It’s often hollow and propped up. I often wait to see if the hype is validated. If two months later, peers of mine are still listening to the record and discussing it, it is probably worth my time.
Secondly, "mainstream” non genre media is very selective about what it covers. These outlets are heavily click focused and will cover only music that is guaranteed to have some amount of audience capture.
Take The Ringer. The Bill Simmons started sports and pop culture coverage focused website has been one of the recent and successful additions to a fractured media landscape. The strategy for growth is all about chasing clicks. Overt examples of how this chase impacts the function of the website includes its frequent changing of headlines, and very careful choice of topics. For example, the baseball coverage is quite limited. They started years ago with dedicated coverage that has mostly been slashed. The baseball podcast is no longer. The baseball writers have either diversified into other topics or left to other websites.
In this click maximizing atmosphere, it is no surprise that country music gets covered infrequently. Crossover material is the only thing that will be covered. In the realm of crossover, you have three forms. Political crossover, sonic crossover, and the cultural phenomenon that is too big to ignore. For example, Jason Isbell would qualify for the first, Sam Hunt in the second, and Luke Combs as the third. I am fine with that reality, but I think it often produces false or sample sized biased narratives about country music. They have a bias. And because I understand these biases, I don’t feel obligated to follow the hype created in large part by outlets and people possessing these biases.
Should I talk about Beyoncé? Well, lucky for you guys that's the next question…
Grace asks…
5) What do you think about Beyoncé?
I love how this question doesn't even have much of an explanation and yet we all know exactly what is being asked.
I’m probably putting my foot in my mouth, but the two country inflected songs she put out a week ago are fine. There is nothing particularly unique about merging the world of dance music and country. Ten years ago when Laura Bell Bundy tried, it was not received particularly well. However, since then there has been much in the way of crossover overlap. As EDM became part and parcel of pop music, naturally pop country began warming up to the idea. Now it is de rigueur to have authorized EDM and dance music remixes of country music. Even in the world of what we used to call electronica, there are artists who dabble with country, folk, and more organic sounds. Avicci, Jon Bellion, Bunt etc... I'm sure there are others I forgot. We have seen country acts like High Valley embrace a rustic dance music meets bluegrassy pop country sound. It is very clear that Mumford and Sons inspired stomp and holler pop folk is here for good. Now admittedly, Beyoncé’s exact spin on these genres hasn't quite been done at this level of the mainstream. The execution stands out. There’s more depth to the mix than the typical stomp clap track. Actual care is given to the organic and country instrumentation (much thanks to Rhiannon Giddens). Beyoncé also has significantly more vocal talent and presence as an artist than most of what has been put out, but it isn't fundamentally new as a concept. Is it better? Maybe. I could see others enjoying it, even if Texas Hold Em sounds a drop dry and punchless.
However, the fact that such a massive pop act is embracing country imagery and influence is tremendously noteworthy. Even though it is not Beyoncé‘s first time trying this out -Daddy Lessons (incidentally far more country than either of these two songs), this does show that country has gotten culturally cooler in the past few years. Is that good? Is that bad? What will that lead to? Great questions without answers, but it’ll be enjoyable to watch and see.
Will it do well on country radio? Will it get played at all? I am not a DJ. Even if I was, it really wouldn't be in my control. Music getting played on radio has very little to do with how country the music is, or even how good it is. If you recall correctly, the Old Town Road scandal was about mostly about Billboard’s classification of it as hip hop and not really about country radio. They didn't need genre excuses to not play the music. Heck, the countrier the material, the less likely they'll play it due to anxiety of losing crossover audience share.
For instance, Beyoncé will almost certainly chart higher than Tyler Childers has ever done. The fact that it will be a streaming charts number one while barely having any radio airplay is indicative of nothing more than the insular insiders game of radio. The fact of the matter is that one very particular slice of country music gets significantly more representation, airplay, and general exposure then the rest. And this kind is the country music made by and distributed by the labels. It has between little to nothing to do with sound, country credibility, authenticity or any of those buzzwords. If you play the radio/label games, they go along with you.
This is something I have found odd about the discourse. Aside from some country commentators, I haven't seen any in the mainstream commentary understand these dynamics.
This isn't a unique example either. When Jessica Simpson decided to try and go country back in 2008 or so, she smartly switched to a Nashville producer. Her label, Epic Records released the album as a joint venture with Columbia Nashville. With the appropriate amount of diligence paid, the album and the singles were granted a reasonably fair shot at country radio. At least relative to what the usual "pop star looking for a quick country hit" got.
Beyoncé did not play the game, betting on being bigger than the game. If anyone could pull it off, it would be her......or Taylor Swift. Speaking of Swift, she pushed a single to country radio a year or two ago. It even featured Chris Stapleton in an attempt to soothe the powers that be. Guess how it did? Peaked at 23. That may not look so bad. However, context matters. That was also its debut. Immediately afterwards it plummeted out of the Top 40 and never managed to claw back higher than 38. An ignominious defeat.
If Swift couldn't do it, what about Adele? Easy On Me was a global smash, hitting number one overall in TWENTY SEVEN countries......and none of that mattered. It also flamed out on the radio. Even with the attempts to ingratiate to Nashville, these artists operating at the peak of their popularity didn't get a shot. Precedent implies that this scenario with Beyoncé- who didn't make overtures- will not do particularly well on radio. Unless the fear of backlash pushes them to act differently. I doubt it.
Personally, I think it would be cool to have her on country radio. Not because I think the songs are that great or all that country (call it a 5 or 6/10 on both of those), but because it could be a good growth opportunity for the genre. Perhaps a Beyonce fan spins the radio dial on a commute and hears a song by their favorite singer. As the ad free hour continues, it jumps from the Beyoncé song to a song by Scotty McCreery or Lainey Wilson. Who knows, maybe you’ve just made a new country fan!
As for arguments that it takes away from “real country artists”, maybe that is possible, but one would hope that Beyoncé would bring in more fans to the genre, which would in turn make up for the spins taken from the one or two other radio artists that probably aren’t going anywhere anyhow. This argument presumes a zero sum game in the music world which doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Country music is in an extremely growthful cultural phase. A rising tide can lift many ships.
6) Hello Joe! Love all the work you put into the blog! I’m wondering how you figure out who some of the easiest entry level artists are to listen to that you have covered on the blog. I’m looking to expand my taste, and have always loved your coverage. Where do I start?? Thank you!
This is a great question that there is no one answer for. We each have our own individual balance points. The music writer Ted Gioia listens to hours upon hours of new music daily. He devotes significant amounts of his waking hours towards the intentional act of searching the globe for new stuff. That’s admirable, but by no means a model for how you and I should aim to relate to music. I find that heavily focusing on discovering new music often comes at the expense of deepening your relationship with the music. There are artists like Zach Bryan that their fans have absorbed themselves into every song the artist has put out. These are the guys or girls that always have the same record in the car and play it on repeat until it is coming out of your ears. We make fun, but it really is a depth of relationship to art (or content) that is very real. I and others who pursue discovery don’t really have that experience. Personally, I listen to favorite albums no more a handful of times upon release and then it goes into a minimal rotation with a few favorites. It rarely is what I turn to when I plug my phone in the car or pop in my earbuds. New music (or often podcasts) is what I turn to. I sometimes wish I had more of a connection to the music I listened to and occasionally aim to rectify that balance.
Enough about me, let's focus on your question. Implicit in your question is the fact that you don't branch out much in music and want to readjust your balance for more discovery. Some tips for finding new stuff.
A) Absolutely judge music by its cover. If a song has a catchy title or cool album art, check it out! If the artist put in effort in those aspects, hopefully the same holds true for the music. The opposite is true as well. See Jason Aldean album art and song titles for further evidence.
B) Readjust your view on investment. It takes three minutes to hear a new single. Usually, it only takes halfway through the song to get a feel for it. The "might as well" mentality has led me to find untold number of songs and artists I never would have given a shot otherwise.
C) Since the investment is bigger for an album, I would suggest using curators. I find the written word to be better than either short or long form videos. There's also just more in the blogosphere than there is on YouTube. Some websites I check are SavingCountryMusic, Country Universe, Holler Country, Kyle‘s Korner, The Musical Divide (although he’s been on hiatus recently), and Grady Smith. Nearly anything of note, mainstream or indie, will get covered. Use their reviews and recommendations to guide you.
D) Whiskey Riff's New Country Friday playlist and Spotify's release radar are great tools to expose you towards new and underlooked releases. Whiskey Riff is dedicated to putting every possible release on their playlist and Spotify playlists and algorithms do a decent job showcasing material you'll be interested in. Get on your app of choice and scroll around, you may find stuff that sticks out. Same applies for social media.
E) As you advance further in your taste, you start realizing that you are attracted to a particular subgenre. Dig deep into the subgenre and find niche artists in that arena. A great way of doing that is looking at advertisements for your favorite artists' shows and seeing who the openers are. Usually they will stylistically be aligned with the main act and just be lower profile and earlier on in their journey.
Happy hunting!
Joe