The mainstream radio media has seen great transformations in eradicating male superiority complex in show programs.
Equal play amongst male and female artists falls back to the older days.
Decades have passed with female artists struggling to gain similar attention and recognition accorded to their male counterparts.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Recent events on the radio have sparked an uproar over the erosion of the hitherto gains made in radio country music programs.
An interchange between female and male artists characterized most of the country music radio stations.
Criticism is ripe as an augmented debate continues on the likelihood of playing female artists back to back.
It is common for male artists to follow or precede each other. However, when it involves female artists, it takes a different turn.
On Twitter, 98 KCQ, a Saginaw, a staff at Michigan-based country radio station downplayed the station’s back-to-back play of two female artists
It aroused intense fightback among artists, including Kacey Musgraves.
The 98 KCQ comment heightened the ingrained sexism in country music.
Willman’s Tweet
On January 15, 2020, Variety editor, Chris Willman sarcastically tweeted
The tweet came after Go Country 105 FM played two female artists back-to-back (Yahr, 2020).
The seasoned journalist took to the Variety webpage to explain his tweet.
It was an intended irony punchline to raise issues with the underrepresentation of female artists at country radios (William, 2020; Yahr, 2020).
According to William, the quip should have ignited support rather than uproar.
William was lamenting the many years of write-ups calling for equal airplay between female and male artists at country radio.
William’s tween attracted more backlash than he intended.
His intentions could have meant to ridicule the minimal play female artists are accorded.
Chris Willman expressed his sorry state that the country radio could not be fined for the back-to-back play of Gabby Barrett and Kelsea Ballerini songs.
To Willman’s surprise, it attracted intense criticism than he bargained for.
98 KCQ Tweet
Chris Willman’s tweet could have passed unnoticed.
It took the unusual candor of the 98 KCQ station based in Saginaw, Michigan, to arouse the previously unimagined response to Willman’s quip.
98 KCQ station later deleted its retweet, but it affirmed that Willman’s sarcastic tweet was truly the golden rule in country music radios.
98 KCQ tweeted on Willman’s Twitter feed that:
“We cannot play two females back to back.”
Not even Lady Antebellum or Little Big Town against another female.”
I applaud their courage,” (EASTVALE, 2020).
The 98 KCQ response was the igniting factor.
Its admittance that playing back-to-back of female artists was tolerable set country music enthusiasts off.
98 KCQ demonstrates the shameful embodiment of country radios’ backlash against women country artists.
Inequality in airplay is deeply ingrained in the media such that admitting its existence invokes no sense of responsibility (Pecknold and McCusker, 2016).
This notion is a clear demonstration of sexism in country music.
Female Artists Speak Out
The depth of the sexism expressed in the 98 KCQ’s tweet angered female artists.
Female artists among them Kacey Musgraves spoke out against the despicable content.
According to them, the 98 KCQ’s tweet was nothing less of male superiority complex and unquenched yearns for boredom (EASTVALE, 2020).
Her tweet expressed her anger against 98 KCQ’s admonition of female country artists.
Kacey tweeted:
“Smells like white male bullshit and why long ago I decided they cannot stop me”
“And yet, they can play 18 dudes who sound exactly the same back to back. Makes total sense” (EASTVALE, 2020).
Musgraves’ tweet shows that the radio station’s admission of inequality in airplay is a display of sexism.
The radio stations could play 18 males back-to-back without due regard to boredom.
While the male artists sound similarly, the radio stations are less perturbed by the need for tonal or even sound variation (EASTVALE, 2020).
The assertion by Hubbs (2014) that inequality in airwaves is appalling in the music industry supports Kacey’s lamentations.
Guerra et al. (2018) opine that media personalities are more inclined towards promoting male artists at the behest of their female counterparts.
Lieb (2018) explains that there is a backlash against female artists, which has been cultivated in the mainstream media for long.
Musgraves’ fight against the Twitter-expressed sexism in the country music got the backing of other female artists, friends, and fans.
Kelsea Ballerini noted the unfair rules that some companies force stations to operate while playing country music (William, 2020).
It is disappointing that such stations still lag after many years of discussions on an equal play, Ballerini argued (EASTVALE, 2020).
Other supporters against sexism in the country music backed Kacey Musgraves.
“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” show shared a YouTube video castigating sexism fronted by radio stations (EASTVALE, 2020).
Depth of Sexism in Country Music
Different studies indicate that sexism in country music is deeply ingrained.
Willman’s tweet and the subsequent 98 KCQ response are a clear manifestation of sexism.
However, it is just but the tip of the iceberg.
The ratio of airplay given to women artists compared to that of men artists is 1:9 (Malone & Laird, 2018).
These statistics show a huge disparity in justice and equality in the country music industry.
Radio stations pass the buck of minimal airplay of country songs by female artists to their listeners.
Some journalists say that most listeners are not interested in women as much they are enthusiastic about male artists (Donze, 2017).
In reality, some media personalities offer a divergent opinion.
Christine Martindale, a media personality at Go Country 105 posits that:
Country music listeners at the station request for women artists in the same frequency they request for male artists (EASTVALE, 2020).
It seems Christine Martindale's perspectives could be skewed in favor of female artists.
Underexposure of Female Artists
A song data research in 2018 found that for every single song by a woman artist played, “9.7 songs by male artists” were played (EASTVALE, 2020).
Country songs by female artists rarely get airplay relative to the songs produced by male artists.
A report quoted in USA Today shows that women's songs constitute about 10% of all music played in the country radio stations (Paulson, 2020).
The report by Jada Watson, a University of Ottawa professor illustrates that 10 percent is barely adequate for female artists to be heard.
It represents female artists’ underexposure to the listeners.
It is hard for them to build a fan base.
Poor fan base affects the artists’ ability to climb the music charts or gain recognition worth accessing opportunities in the radio industry.
Legitimizing Prejudice against Female Artists
Radio stations choreograph and legitimize discriminative airplay against women in country music (Katz & VanderHamm, 2015; Saltz, 2015).
The buck stops with the country radio stations as they exercise the sole discretion of allocating airplay to the musicians.
Female artists produce great music (Watson, 2019).
Their efforts are less appreciated by the very individuals who could promote their music (Watson, 2019).
These individuals are influenced by deep-rooted sexism rules formulated and upheld by radio stations (Tsioulcas, 2019).
Some radio personalities could be willing to promote female artists.
Their choices are limited by the discriminative airplay rules in their stations.
Quality of Female Artists’ Music
Lack of equal airplay between female and male artists is a sign of sexism in the country music industry.
Evidence indicates that while quality could be a leading factor in determining the songs to be played.
Females just like male artists produce quality music (Askin et al., 2019).
Musgraves's angry response to the 98 KCQ tweet came at a time her musical career had picked.
The “Golden Hour” album, by Kacey Musgraves, had won the award for album of the year in the 2019 Grammy Awards (Paulson, 2020).
Musgraves’ feat came despite the minimal airplay she received from the mainstream country radio.
Media personalities could limit airplay for female artist songs.
But, fans and industry players recognize women's efforts in the country music industry.
Winning a Grammy Award for the best album of the year is not a small feat.
Quality, acceptability, and content are integral components to make up good music (Katz & VanderHamm, 2015; Malone & Laird, 2018).
Lack of airplay for the female artist music was not fan-motivated.
It was not grounded on poor quality and unacceptability.
It is more of a prejudice against women artists.
Gender Gap
Female artists dedicate considerable resources to the production of their music.
The gender gap in the country music industry continues to expand.
The legitimized prejudice against female artists’ works to their detriment in the allocation of airplay.
Discrimination against women is deeply rooted in the social strata such that it is rarely noticed (Watson, 2019; Saltz, 2015).
Country radio stations have fashioned a trend that allocates women artists’ airplay time.
Women get airplay when the country music audience is limited.
Female artists could be allocated airplay mostly during off-hours (Paulson, 2020).
The audience for the country radio stations in off-hours is smaller (Paulson, 2020).
This practice gives male artists the leeway to reach a wider audience during peak hours.
Prejudice demonstrates a clear gap in gender balance within the country music industry.
While the average age for top-performing women artists was 29, for male artists was 42 (Tsioulcas, 2019).
The above data shows that country radio remains insular with gender diversity in the music industry.
It is highly narrow-minded that prejudice against women becomes a norm in journalistic practice.
Conclusion
The Kacey Musgraves fight against the backlash 98 KCQ tweet highlighted the ingrained sexism in country music.
Different perspectives have illustrated that sexism in country music is rampant.
The prejudice against women is also legitimized to the disadvantage of female artists.
The Willman’s sarcastic tweet and the 98 KCQ follow up affirmed the institutionalized prejudice against women artists.
Country radio stations allocate airplay discriminatively with more favors being accorded to male artists.
The airplay discrimination is driven by neither fans’ unacceptability nor the quality of music but sexism.
The 2019 Grammy Awards shows that female artists such as Kacey Musgraves outshine most of the male artists in the industry.
Her album, “Golden Hour” scooped the 2019 album of the year.
However, the gender gap between female country music artists and male counterparts is wide.
The buck of the widening gap stops with the country radio stations.
Country radio stations have the sole responsibility of eradicating the discriminative airplay rules.
Fundamental reforms are necessary to address the challenge of sexism in country music.
Formulating accommodative airplay rules that treat both female and male country artists could reduce sexism and the widening gender gap.
References
Askin, N., Mauskapf, M., Koppman, S., & Uzzi, B. (2019). Are women more creative than men? The gendered effects of networks and genres on musical creativity . Working Paper.
Donze, P. L. (2017). Gender and popular culture: A comparison of promoter and listener preferences for popular music artists. Sociological Perspectives , 60 (2), 338-354.
EASTVALE. (2020, Jan. 17). Kacey Musgraves, Kelsea Ballerini call out country radio stations for apparent sexist airplay rules. CBS Los Angeles. Retrieved from https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/01/17/kacey-musgraves-kelsea-ballerini-country-radio-station-sexist-airplay-rules/
Guerra, P., Bittencourt, L., & Gelain, G. (2018). Punk fairytale: Popular music, media, and the (re) production of gender. Gender and the Media: Women’s Places , 49-68.
Hubbs, N. (2014). Rednecks, queers, and country music . University of California Press.
Katz, M., & VanderHamm, D. (2015). Preserving heritage, fostering change: Accidental archives of country music and hip-hop. The Public Historian , 37 (4), 32-46.
Lieb, K. J. (2018). Gender, branding, and the modern music industry: The social construction of female popular music stars . Routledge.
Malone, B. C., & Laird, T. (2018). Country music USA . University of Texas Press.
Paulson, K. (2020, Feb. 24). Country music sexism: Women fight for equality on the airwaves, and country radio shrugs. USA Today. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/02/24/country-music-sexism-women-artists-fight-discrimination-column/4820142002/
Pecknold, D., & McCusker, K. M. (Eds.). (2016). Country boys and redneck women: New essays in gender and country music . Univ. Press of Mississippi.
Saltz, J. (2015). Why have there been no great women bad-boy artists? There have been, of course. But the art world has refused to recognize them.
Tsioulcas, A. (2019, Apr. 5). Country music excludes women, especially over age 40, study finds. NPR News. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2019/04/05/710262673/country-music-excludes-women-especially-over-age-40-study-finds
Watson, J. (2019). Gender on the billboard hot country songs Chart, 1996–2016. Popular Music and Society , 42 (5), 538-560.
William, C. (2020, Jan. 19). How a Twitter joke about women on country radio reignited firestorm (Column). Variety. Retrieved from https://variety.com/2020/music/opinion/women-country-radio-tweet-reignites-firestorm-kacey-musgraves-kelsea-ballerini-1203472923/
Yahr, E. (2020, Jan. 22). There’s another controversy about lack of women on country radio. This time, it inspired change. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/01/22/theres-another-controversy-about-lack-women-country-radio-this-time-it-inspired-change/
