Dear Mr. Brian Phillips
Throughout the years, the format for country radio, and television, has changed drastically. To real country fans, the radio is intolerable, demeaning, and most refuse to even turn it on, and that goes with country music television as well. Party Down South ... Really? Enlighten me, what does a show about drunken law breakers have to do with country music? Nothing.
Producers hardly even have the redneck stereotype correct, but that's neither here, nor there. Over the past decade or so, the country music audience has even changed. The explanation for that is simple. It is television, country radio, and the artists that it features, trying to reach an outside audience that would never actually listen to the genre to begin with. What you are failing to realize is that, in trying to gain a broader range of listeners, country radio, as well as companies like yours, have alienated your original audience. That being the fans that have listened to, and supported country music, and all that comes with it for quite awhile. They are the ones that bought albums. They went to the concerts, and they tuned into country radio to hear Finally Friday by George Jones every single Friday afternoon at 5:00 PM sharp after their tiresome work weeks were over. They also tuned in to CMT on Sunday mornings to hear the top 20 countdown. THEY are the ones that helped make country radio, and CMT in to what it is. So why have you turned your backs on them?
A little over two weeks ago, Radio Programmer Keith Hill went into his spiel about women not receiving high ratings on country radio, and even went as far as to compare women of country music to tomatoes, causing the benevolent food fight on Music Row.
However, you Mr. Phillips, spoke out against Keith. You said: "It is an industry trying to come to terms with living in a moment and trying to mark it off by saying, 'This doesn't work.' It is a mysterious art form. One day somebody shows up and the universe gets turned upside down and everything you thought was true is no longer true. That is the miracle of Nashville ... These imaginary rules that have people laughing at us have got to stop."
You have recognized the problem, but then you just stopped there. You have the power to correct the situation, so why aren't you doing anything to fix it? What is so hard about playing REAL country music? We want to hear steel guitars, and sincere story telling. We want to hear men that actually have a pair, not boys who try to hit higher notes than Carrie Underwood, but fail miserably. What we do not want to hear in country music, is computer generated beats, rapping, and laundry list lyricism that is all too common these days.
Where the lifestyle once fueled the music, the music now fuels the lifestyle. That has lead to the increase of arrests, property damage, underage drinking, as well as many other unlawful acts at these so-called country events. These youngsters that enjoy that type of music, and are the ones committing these crimes at concerts, rather than enjoying what the artist has to offer, are who you've attracted.
Those type of listeners aren't here for the music, they are here for the party. They could care less about country music, or it's rich history, and therein lies the problem. If you don't care about the depth of something, how it functions, and runs like a well oiled machine, how could you possibly respect it? Just because these "fans" are here now, doesn't mean they will be there tomorrow. They are the type of listeners that want flash in the pan artistry. They want the fireworks show, and could care less about the music that they are supposedly there to see. They are told who to listen to, rather than being smart enough to realize that what's being played on country radio today, isn't country music. We couldn't count the number of people who have reached out to us saying that they thought country music was dead, simply because of the garbage that you are shoving down their throats.
Let me throw some numbers your way, as we all know that Nashville is more of a numbers game than anything else. Your highest rated television show, Party Down South, doesn't even receive a third of the audience per episode that we receive on a daily basis from likeminded individuals who have been casted aside by the very industry that they have invested a lot of their own time, energy, and money into. That has to sting a little.
Luckily for you, there are many ways to solve the problems for which you all have created, because there are still traditional country artists around who are keeping alive the very spirit that built the foundation for which the country music genre stands. THOSE are the people you should be promoting. That is the audience you should be pandering to. Men, AND WOMEN who LOVE country music, and respect the hell out of it. They are the ones that know about its rich history from Jimmie Rodgers, to the Outlaw Movement, to the shit that's being passed as country music today, and why country music has gotten so far out of control that artists within the genre have been forced to abandon the country music title. Sad, isn't it?
Yes, but unfortunately, that is the reality that we all live within today. Don't be too down on yourself though, Mr. Phillips. As addressed earlier within this letter, there are many ways to begin repairing the damage done.
How, you ask? Simple. Give sincere artistry a chance, which is what this whole styling of music was once proudly based around. The common man and woman. Bring a swift end to these "imaginary rules," and actually work towards repairing the damage done, by offering performers who bring forth progressive, and beneficial change, but in a respectable manner to the genre format itself. Thus, constructing a level playing field, and by doing so, you may be surprised with what you find.
Not only will flocks of consumers return to the marketplace that many have since abandoned, the bar of integrity will ultimately be raised, breaking this historical industry free of the fictional guidelines that "have people laughing at us."
Sincerely,
A concerned, longtime country music fan.
