bingo... but you'd think they would maybe play them out of RAT Solidarity
Posted on 09/25/2011 5:32:09 AM PDT by raccoonradio
In last Thursday’s Stark Country, we revealed that gold spins are on the rise for the Dixie Chicks eight and a half years after the incident that cost them their career. But even after all this time, a surprising number of country programmers say they’re still not playing the group’s past hits. Even those who are playing them are doing so very cautiously, with the politics of each market still playing a deciding role. When asked if all had been forgiven and forgotten when it comes to the Chicks, one programmer responded, “Are you kidding?”
We asked programmers how much (if any) Chicks music they’re playing now in the their gold categories, and how much that has changed in recent years. We also asked what kind of reaction they do get when they play or test music from the group now.
Surprisingly, PDs say the listener hostility toward the band still hasn’t abated, despite the more than eight years that have passed since lead singer Natalie Maines remarked at a London concert on the eve of the Iraq war that she was ashamed then President George Bush was from the group’s home state of Texas.
WYCD Detroit was instrumental in the group’s launch in 1997. But today, current OM/PD Tim Roberts says, “We are still not playing them in rotation as a portion of our audience continues to push back on them in research and in a very vocal way (complaints). We actually did a phone topic on it a few months ago and the negatives still far outweighed any positive comments or support.”
At WFRE Frederick, Md., PD Jess Wright reports, “We only have one song by the Dixie Chicks in our rotation at the moment, and it’s the Star Spangled Banner (we play a version of it every day at noon) and I’m not sure most people know it’s them. I have moved a song or two in and out of the light gold or fill categories a time or two because I genuinely like the way they sound on the radio, and that’s more than my predecessor played, but I’m always hesitant to play them during the daytime.
“Even after all this time, there are people who will call or e-mail and tell us we are un-American for playing the Dixie Chicks,” Wright says. “It’s a shame. While my personal politics may not line up with theirs (or more accurately, Natalie’s), they did make a radio station sound good, didn’t they?”
“It’s a similar situation in Richmond, Va., where WKHK PD Buddy Van Arsdale reports, “We don’t play any Dixie Chicks. Richmond tends to be conservative, and playing them just riles up a very vocal part of our audience. I would be willing to bet it’s a small percentage, but like the Tea Party members, they are loud!
“To be fair,” Van Arsdale continues, “I have checked Dixie Chick songs in our research and some of their songs still test well.”
But in this case his gut outweighs research. Asked if radio listeners have forgiven or at least forgotten about Maines’ comment, Van Arsdale says, “Are you kidding? Look at what’s going on in Washington right now. We can’t get a jobs bill agreement, let alone forgiveness for the Dixie Chicks!”
Ditto for KIXZ Spokane, Wash., PD/MD Paul Neumann, who reports, “[I] haven’t played Chicks for years and I haven’t seen any national research either, so no airplay.”
There’s better news for the band at KUPL Portland, Ore., where director of music programming Scott Mahalick reports he has five Chicks songs in rotation, and they generate no negative reaction. But, he adds, “Portland is very liberal.”
Interestingly, Mahalick is also ignoring his research, but in the opposite way as Van Arsdale. “Our research shows we should not play any Dixie Chicks,” he says. “[They are] highly polarizing, so this [five songs in rotation] may be changing in the future.”
Current KTTS Springfield, Mo., PD Mark Grantin has worked in three different markets since the Chicks backlash erupted, and he notes some interesting differences he’s seen market to market.
At KTTS, he says, “We are not playing any Dixie Chicks titles. Shortly after arriving at KTTS, I put several of their titles on a music test. I wanted to see if the country audience in this market had forgiven them, and if there was an appetite for their music. All titles in that test were scored by our listeners without naming the artists. Clearly our listeners told us that they don’t consider them to be core artists or songs that they want to hear on KTTS. Scores were very low with huge hate numbers.
“We saw similar results in Lexington, Ky., when I was there,” Grantin continues. “We did not play any of their titles for the same reasons: low overall scores and high negative scores.”
By he had a different experience in Madison, Wis., prior to his departure from that market in 2007. “We did continue to play some of their titles in Madison,” he reports. “The market was very different. I had just as many calls and e-mails from listeners indicating that they did not want me to censor their music [as] those who were very passionate about me removing their music. Ultimately, several of their titles scored well enough to continue to play, although all titles scored lower than prior to the [Maines] comments and controversy.”
After last Thursday’s story ran, Chris Mosser, host of “The Roadhouse” evening show on KVET Austin, Texas, reached out to offer his comments on the topic.
“We came completely off the Dixie Chicks when the Bush thing happened, and it has stayed that way since,” he says, “but I sneak in a few Chicks songs on the Roadhouse show (our Texas-intensive evening daypart), ‘Traveling Soldier’ and ‘Godspeed’ primarily, typically late at night and only occasionally, frankly out of caution of a negative reaction. But I have, so far, not drawn any heat. I’ve intentionally gone with ‘Soldier’ due to its pro-military theme, which is difficult for even the angriest Chick-hater to object to. Plus, being a Bruce Robison song performed by Texas girls, it couldn’t pass the regional test more convincingly.
“I’ll admit, I want to play the Chicks because the music is so good and I’m a fan personally,” Mosser continues, “but I think there will always be some hesitation among country programmers about them. My feeling is that probably most of the audience is over it, but those who are not are really, really not. Austin’s a liberal town, but we’re still in Texas.”
Townsquare Media VP/country Bob Moody says at his group of stations, “Songs by the Dixie Chicks continue to test too poorly to qualify for our recommended gold list. I’m not aware of any Townsquare Media country stations playing them enough recently to elicit a response.
“The backlash against the group (and Natalie in particular) doesn’t appear to have been due entirely to ‘the incident,’” Moody adds. “The FUTK stunt [in which Maines wore a t-shirt on a televised awards show with a thinly-veiled expletive aimed at her then nemesis, Toby Keith] and other offensive behavior may be factors as well.”
WYCD creative director/production director Terry Phillips sent Stark Country a note after last Thursday’s story ran with a reminder about some of the other behavior Moody is referencing.
“You forget to mention they publicly called country listeners stupid and backward,” he writes, recalling some blundering media statements the group made while attempting to mount a comeback in 2006.
Phillips also painfully recalls that when the group toured following the country radio backlash against them, “They gave tickets and backstage passes to CHR stations, stiffing us…Personally, I stood by them though almost it all, and I could forgive almost everything they said and did as personal opinion…but those amazing, incredibly talented women treated a station that supported them like crud.”
Meanwhile, WQHK Fort Wayne, Ind., OM Rob Kelley says he’s “still not playing any Chicks music, even though I’ve seen our local testing come back a bit with better passion scores on ‘Wide Open Spaces’ and ‘Cowboy Take Me Away.’ However, both tracks still pack significant polarizing negatives…The political landscape here in Northeast Indiana is very textbook ‘Red State.’ Playing by the rule of ‘You don’t get hurt by what you don’t play,’ there aren’t enough overall numbers give play to the Chicks.”
And Kelley cites another key reason why the group is no longer a top contender for gold airplay. “The Chicks have been gone for so long the young demo is virtually unfamiliar with them,” he says.
“In 8 1/2 years we’ve watched new superstars emerge. Some of those acts were not even signed 8 1/2 years ago. I would never fault anyone for sticking with their beliefs, but in the time passed does the public really care about the Chicks in general? Instead, we’ve seen 8 1/2 years of missed branding or re-branding, along with a bonding opportunity that was gobbled up by Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean and Taylor Swift.”
Sirius XM Radio director, music programming Al Skop shares a similar thought. “After seeing how well Pistol Annies are doing with [our] Highway [channel] listeners with their rootsy, gritty yet relatable and accessible melodies,” he says, “it gives me pause to wonder if the Chicks are thinking to themselves ‘If only…"
If I had a buck for every artist I’ve met who thinks the world owes him/her a living, I’d be a rich woman.
Judging by the response they received at the first of two Chicago concerts from a capacity audience, the Chicks will be clucking all the way to the bank for a few more years, at least. Nary a boo bird or a catcall was heard, and scattered signs of support were in evidence. One handmade poster simply read “1st Amendment.”
Maines mentioned the “incident” only once, as if referring to an indelicate piece of surgery. But there was one bit of Chicks hokum, when the “incident” was linked to the Patty Griffin song “Truth No. 2.” While video footage of civil rights marchers and suffragettes paraded across the screens overhanging the stage, Maines sang, “You don’t like the sound of the truth/Coming from my mouth . . . I don’t think that I’m afraid anymore, say that I would rather die trying.” For the Chicks to equate their public-relations dust-up with the historic fight against discrimination takes the kind of hubris associated with out-of-touch rock stars, not down-home country acts.
http://www.baylorfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33490&page=1
Maines paws the stage like a filly with her black boots, and when she leans into “Long Time Gone” and laments that the music she hears on the radio “ain’t got no soul,” she could use some of her own songs as evidence.
It’s interesting in that it is very clear that the audience has no interest in this group (whatever they put out) yet the stations are still trying to ‘squeeze’ a song in here or there.
If your business is target based and you have a product that has a negative response from a vast majority of your targeted base then why even look at the product?
The question then one asks is; whose running or whose is making the decisions for the business?
comment one of the Dixie Chicks made to Newsweek. One member stated, “Would Bruce do The View?” referring to Bruce Springsteen and his career path, which the Dixie Chicks hope to emulate. I’m not sure which is stranger to me, their attack on The View or that they actually think they’re in the same league as Bruce Springsteen
http://www.aoltv.com/2006/05/23/dixie-chicks-slam-the-view/
Dixie Chick Martie Maguire’s $6 Million House Is For Sale
http://www.rttnews.com/Content/EntertainmentNews.aspx?Section=2&Id=1718841&SM=1
Taylor made tattoo: Miss Swift inks song lyrics down her arm
The line is a lyric which comes from Grammy-award winning Country Music Group , The Dixie Chicks, and their 2008 single titled, ‘Favorite Year.’
In the past, Taylor has named the group as being one of her musical influences, crediting the women for the impact they have had by ‘stretching boundaries.’
“I never could fault them for speaking their mind”
Me neither. I just never buy their CD’s or listen to their music.
Remember Benedict Arnold? So does everyone else. But it's only been 230 years.
Well the NPR audience isn't exactly known for liking Country and Western music....:^)
She attacks the group of people who she sold songs to and then everyone is asking why CW stations dont play their songs anymore.
Maines also said she didnt want Dixie Chicks CDs next to Reba Mcentire CDs. Well, That dont sound a problem anymore. Since Reba has class and sense enough not to offend the people who support her, she still has a following. The Dixie Chicks couldnt get gigs playing Childrens Birthday party unless they brought along a pony and a clown.
bingo... but you'd think they would maybe play them out of RAT Solidarity
I couldn't either. But I hope no one will fault me for speaking my mind when I fault them for the content of what is in their tiny little anti-American minds. I hope no one will fault me for speaking up with my dollars. When a station I listen to plays the Dixie Chicks, I call them immediately, point out that I am not fond of that group, and that if it shows up even once or twice more I will delete their station from all my radios and never listen again. I also call their advertisers from the same segment and point out that they are paying for ads that associate them with a rather controversial position. We all exercise our free speech rights, freely. Fortunately, when we all speak freely, the Dixie Chicks lose. I've forgiven them and no longer hold a grudge, but I have not forgotten, and I never will. To me they are the moral equivalent of the nationalized "new" GM - dead to me because they are anti-American.
As Sid Sodnagel once said,
“The Dipsy Chix are a threat to the country & western civilization.”
” there are certainly some country artists who may lean left including Steve Earle”
Steve Earle admits that he’s a communist!
I don’t have a problem with the sisters. I just think the little fat one has a big mouth. Sure you can speak your mind, and wear FUTK tee-shirts, but you also might have to suffer the consequences.
They disgraced themselves, so why would I ever want to listen to them? If I want to hear Liberals spewing their garbage, I’ll watch C-SPAN, CNN, MSNBC or Family Guy.
Guess i didn’t edit that one down enough. Or is Yahoo on our do not post list now? I couldn’t find it on the list. Anyway, I was gonna say that the DChicks will try to make their upcoming charity event for Texas wildfires about themselves somehow.
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