CMT Study Reveals 84% Of Listeners Want Equal Airplay For Female Artists

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CMT and Coleman Insights have released a new study with first of its kind research unveiling insights into country radio listening habits and attitudes toward female artists. 

Debunking long-perpetuated myths claiming both female and male listeners don’t want to hear female voices, CMT’s Equal Play Radio Research proves they want equal play for female artists on radio, as well as more female artists in the genre they helped to build. Data reveals that not only do 84% of listeners want equal play for women on radio, but 7 out of 10 want more female artists in the genre. Listeners reported they would even seek out country radio more if women were specifically highlighted, with 28% saying they would listen to radio more if additional female artists were featured, versus 11% who would listen less. CMT’s Equal Play Radio Research indicates that a majority of fans are indeed open to hearing female voices, with 53% reporting no gender preference when it comes to artists. 

“The age-old myth that ‘women don’t want to hear women’ has led to a multitude of unproven public claims about female voices on the air, including ‘you can’t play two women back-to-back’ or ‘ratings drop when you play women’” said Leslie Fram, Senior Vice President, Music & Talent, CMT. “When we approached Coleman Insights about this specific line of research, we were shocked to learn no one had ever commissioned data on the listeners themselves. CMT took it directly to the fans and what we found couldn’t have been more clear: listeners want equal play and women do want to hear women on the radio.”

While it may be common knowledge among industry insiders that more male artists are played on country radio than female, listeners were polled for the first time to uncover whether or not they recognized the bias. The data proves the understanding to be nearly universal, with 72% of country listeners reporting they hear more songs sung by men on country radio, with no differences shown in gender or age. 

Listeners also heavily acknowledge (88%) the pivotal role females have played in country music’s history, a theme that is reiterated in additional research released earlier this week by University of Ottawa’s Dr. Jada Watson.

The specific findings of the study will be discussed at an industry panel ahead of Country Radio Seminar (CRS) in Nashville on Tuesday, Feb. 18. The research overview will be conducted by Sam Milkman, Executive Vice President and Senior Consultant, Coleman Insights and will be followed by a panel moderated by CMT’s Leslie Fram with Milkman, Dr. Jada E. Watson, Cody Alan (Host & Executive Producer, CMT Radio), Cris Lacy (Senior Vice President, A&R, Warner Music Nashville) and Mike Molinar (General Manager, Big Machine Music).

 

SongData Study Reveals Women’s Voices Are “Nearly Invisible” On Country Radio

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SongData has released a review of country radio airplay in 2019 that revealed that females occupied 10% of the pie in airplay representation within the last year. The report was prepared in partnership with CMT’s Equal Play Campaign, with a goal of evaluating broader relationships between airplay, streaming, sales and awards through a variety of charts.

“Ten percent. Depending on the time of day a listener tunes-in to their local station, that’s barely enough to be heard. It’s certainly not enough exposure to become known, to build a fanbase, to climb charts, to gain enough recognition to have access to opportunities and resources within the industry,” says a statement from the report. “It’s just enough airplay to show that songs by women are receiving airplay, but not enough to make their work visible to viewers. Over the last 20 years, women’s music has become invisible through the quota system that has limited their space on playlists and their access to prime location in daily rotation.”

For the first time, this SongData report also includes information on race/ethnicity of artists within this cultural system. In most cases, the results point to absence of artists of color, especially women. The study draws on several datasets, including both Mediabase’s and Billboard’s Yearend Airplay Reports over the last 10 years, as well as the Weekly Reports and Charts in 2019 for both organizations. The study also includes data from SongData’s Spotify experiment, Billboard’s Streaming and Digital Song Sales Charts, and CMA’s nomination history. According to the report females accounted for:

  • 10% of the spins for songs within the Top 150 on the Yearend Airplay Reports between 2010 and 2019;
  • 10% of the daily spins on the Weekly Airplay Reports in 2019;
  • 10% of the songs in the Top 20 of both Mediabase’s and Billboard’s Weekly Airplay Charts in 2019;
  • 10% of the songs in the Top 10 of both Mediabase’s and Billboard’s Weekly Airplay Charts in in 2019; and
  • 10% of the songs on the Billboard’s Yearend Airplay Chart in 2019.

Despite a 1.2% increase in daily spins for songs by women last year, from 8.9% in 2018 to 10.1% in 2019, the distribution in the daytime remains nearly identical to 2018, with the 1.2% increase occurring in the evening and overnights. Since any increase at the amount of spins for songs by women in 2019 is thus neutralized by the time these songs are spun, the potential impact on an audience is negligible and women’s voices continue to be nearly invisible to radio listeners.

“It’s time for a change in programming across all facets of the industry. Achieving parity in country music cannot be achieved by a handful of stations and CMT alone. And it certainly is not a problem isolated to dissemination platforms,” the report concluded. “Program directors need more songs by women in their programming database to be able to increase representation on their playlists. The entire country music community needs to play a role in increasing the 10% by supporting and promoting female artists, from labels to publishers to tour and festival rosters. The April and December 2019 reports offer a series of actions developed with WOMAN Nashville that could be taken by organizations within the industry, artists and even those outside of the industry such as advertisers.51 These actions were conceived as a suggested starting point for taking the necessary and meaningful steps to include more women in daily programming and develop strategies for a more inclusive and diverse country music. Only through a cross-industry collaborative approach will women start to be seen.”

Brett Young Teams With Norway’s Astrid S For New Track “I Do”

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BMLG Records artist Brett Young is known for his own brand of soulful, heart-tugging songs such as “Catch” and “In Case You Didn’t Know,” and now he’s teaming with Norway’s Astrid S to trade vocals on her song “I Do,” which releases Feb. 28 via Virgin EMI Records/Universal Music Norway.

The track, which Astrid S wrote solo, offers an honest reflection on remaining feelings for a former lover.

“I’ve grown up with country music – it’s a genre I admire very much and it’s been a big influence and inspiration throughout the years in my songwriting,” Astrid says. “I’m so happy Brett wanted to do this song with me. Hope you’ll love it as much as I do!”

Young adds, “I was so honored to be asked to collaborate on this track with Astrid. When I first heard ‘I Do,’ I instantly connected to the lyrics and storytelling, so jumping onboard and digging into something a little bit different was a no-brainer for me. I can’t wait for the fans to hear this one.”

Young has released five consecutive No. 1 singles, as well as a Platinum-selling debut project, and topped the Billboard Country Albums chart with his latest release, Ticket To L.A. on BMLG Records. Young has earned more than 3 billion global streams and is currently headlining The Chapters Tour, before hitting the road with Jason Aldean later this year.

In the last two years, Astrid has earned more than one billion streams, released two EPs, Trust Issues and Stripped Down, completed a sold-out tour across the US and Europe, toured with Years & Years and Zara Larsson, and became the face of Fendi’s F is for Fendi campaign. Astrid will release her debut album later this year.

Artist Updates: Jameson Rodgers, Chase Rice, Charley Pride

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Jameson Rodgers Launches Grew Up In The Country Tour

Jameson Rodgers. Photo: Emma Golden

Jameson Rodgers launched his headlining Grew Up In The Country Tour on Friday (Feb. 14) in St. Louis, Missouri. He offered his Top 40 debut single “Some Girls,” as well as the fan favorite “Missing One” and more. To celebrate the opening night of the tour, he released the tour’s namesake track “Grew Up In The Country,” which Rodgers co-wrote with Jake Mitchell, Josh Miller and Smith Ahnquist.

Rodgers, who is signed to River House Artists/Columbia Nashville, will continue the tour on Feb. 28 at The Blue Note in Columbia, Missouri.

 

Chase Rice To Open Concert For Garth Brooks On Saturday

Pictured: Garth Brooks, Chase Rice

Chase Rice recently stopped by Garth Brooks‘ “Inside Studio G” to announce that he will be a special guest joining Brooks’ show at Detroit Lions’ Ford Field on Feb. 22. The moment was a full-circle one for Rice, who had previously been surprised during an Entertainment Tonight broadcast during CMA Fest when he was surprised with Brooks as a co-host for the segment. The two had chatted about Rice’s dream of performing at Nissan Stadium one day and Brooks offered a promise: “Let’s do a deal, okay? Let’s say if we ever did play Nissan Stadium, you want to open that show?”

That promise to open a Garth show is happening sooner rather than later, as Brooks invited Rice to open the stadium show in Detroit this weekend.

“Growing up, Garth was it for me,” Rice says. “He was the first concert I ever saw as a kid growing up in North Carolina, and like I told him when he surprised me on set – he’s the reason I play country music today. To open a show for him, let alone in a massive stadium like Ford Field, is an absolute dream come true.”

 

Charley Pride Returns To The Studio

Pictured (L-R): Jim DeBlanc, Eli Beaird, Billy Yates, Scotty Sanders, J.T. Corenflos, Charley Pride, Eddie Bayers, Stuart Duncan and Larry Beaird. Photo: Aaron Beaird

Charley Pride recently returned to Nashville to record his latest as-yet-untitled album, and tapped many Nashville studio veterans in the process to lend their talents to the songs. The album is being produced by Billy Yates.

Maren Morris Has Earned The First Multi-Week No.1 For A Solo Female Country Artist Since 2012

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Maren Morris continues at No. 1 for a second week on both the Billboard Country Airplay and the Mediabase/Country Aircheck chart with her single, “The Bones.”

Morris’ two-week run atop the charts brings to an end an eight-year drought on country radio, as the first solo female multi-week No. 1 since 2012, when Carrie Underwood’s “Blown Away” ruled the Country Airplay chart for two weeks.

Morris shared her brutally transparent thoughts on the feat in a recent tweet.

“If I can be honest, I really thought the only way this could ever happen is if I was the feature artist on a guy’s song. Sitting here seeing my name at the top of a chart at all is rare, but to break this 8 year streak just feels so unbelievable. Thank you,” Morris said via Twitter.

“The Bones” marks Morris’ third solo No. 1 single (she also notched a No. 1 song with Thomas Rhett on “Craving You” in 2017), following “I Could Use A Love Song” and “Girl,” the title track from her CMA Album of the Year-winning project that released last year. Morris co-wrote “The Bones” alongside Laura Veltz and Jimmy Robbins.

Martina McBride Announces Livin’ Life Up Tour

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Martina McBride will hit the road this year for her headlining Livin’ Life Up Tour, which features openers Hailey Whitters and Sarah Allison Turner. The 15-city tour launches March 12 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, before wrapping May 2 in Orillia, Ontario.

Singer-songwriter Whitters recently released the project The Dream, and was the sole writer on “Low All Afternoon,” from McBride’s 2016 album Reckless. She also co-wrote “Happy People,” recorded by Little Big Town.

Turner has penned songs for Alan Jackson (“The Older I Get”), Randall King (“Dent In It”) and Tyler Farr (“I Should Go To Church Sometime”), among others. She has been in the studio working on an album with producer Bart Butler.

In addition to gearing up for a new tour, McBride recently launched the Luminary podcast Vocal Point with Martina McBride, welcoming artists including Garth Brooks, Loretta Lynn, Runaway June, and more to discuss their lives and careers.

For a full list of tour dates, visit martinamcbride.com.

Chris Tomlin Sets Good Friday Nashville Event For April 10

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Chris Tomlin will return to Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena for the fourth consecutive year for ‘Good Friday Nashville’ scheduled on Friday, April 10, 2020.

Chris says, “My desire for these ‘Good Friday’ concerts is to open the doors to everyone in the community to join together to praise God and to feel the power that as an army of God’s people we can achieve great change.”

Chris is continuing his commitment to impact Nashville and the state of Tennessee with each Good Friday Nashville concert by again donating proceeds to the foster care and adoption crisis. As in previous years, Tomlin will welcome surprise guests for the event.

Since its inception in 2017 ‘Good Friday Nashville’ has increased its momentum all four years. The inaugural show in became the largest ticketed Christian concert in the history of Bridgestone Arena and in 2018 the demand for tickets forced open additional seating. Last year, Chris smashed his own previous attendance record set in 2017. Chris has committed to host the yearly concert indefinitely, currently holding Bridgestone through 2024.

Good Friday Nashville is produced by Awakening Events who have enjoyed a 15-year touring relationship with Chris and offer their time and talents to this concert benefit as well. ‘Good Friday Nashville’ is presented by K-LOVE, Air1, The Fish and WAY-FM.

Early Music From Allman Brothers Band Members Coming To Vinyl Again

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Early music from members of the Allman Brothers Band is set to be released on vinyl that has been out of print since the 1960s, and will be released on CD for the first time on March 27.

Four albums that trace three of the band members’ earliest music projects, including Allman Joys, Hour Glass, and31st of February, will be released.

Duane and Gregg Allman formed a band which was originally named The Escorts, and then Allman Joys, shortly after high school. They recorded the band’s only session work in August 1966. The project wasn’t released until 1973 and has been out of print since. After the Allman Joys parted ways, Duane and Gregg formed Hour Glass, releasing a self-titled debut in 1967 and then Power Of Love in 1968, via Liberty.

The fourth release is a September 1968 recording session for Scott Boyer, David Brown and ABB drummer Butch Trucks’ band the 31st of February. These demo sessions for their second, unreleased album feature probably the earliest versions of Gregg’s hit “Melissa,” and would be released as the project Duane & Gregg in May 1972.
The Allman Brothers Band formed in March 1969, and the original lineup of Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Jaimoe, Butch Trucks, Berry Oakley and Dickey Betts would go on to become one of rock’s biggest names, bolstered by their definitive 1971 live album, At Fillmore East. The Allman Brothers Band earned seven gold and four platinum records and they are members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and were given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.
ALLMAN JOYS: Allman Joys (self-titled debut; Duane and Gregg, 1966)
HOUR GLASS: Hour Glass (self-titled debut; Duane and Gregg, 1967)
HOUR GLASS: Power Of Love (Duane and Gregg, 1968)
DUANE & GREGG: Duane & Gregg (31st of February demos, 1968)

Combs, Veltz, Copperman Maintain Top Three On MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart

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Luke Combs remains at the top of the MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart for a second consecutive week; while Laura Veltz remains at No. 2 and Ross Copperman at No. 3.

Jimmy Robbins and Josh Osborne trade spots as Osborne rises to No. 4 with co-writer credits on Midland’s “Cheatin’ Songs,” Sam Hunt’s “Kinfolks,” Old Dominion’s “One Man Band,” and Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani’s duet “Nobody But You.” Robbins rounds out the top five with credits on Kelsea Ballerini’s “homecoming queen?” and Maren Morris’ chart-topper, “The Bones.”

The weekly MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart, published every week, uses algorithms based upon song activity according to airplay, digital downloaded track sales and streams. This unique and exclusive addition to the MusicRow portfolio is the only songwriter chart of its kind.

Click here to view the full MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart.

Carrie Underwood’s Upcoming Book Tour To Include Nashville Stop

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Carrie Underwood will embark on a four-city book tour in support of her upcoming book Find Your Path: Honor Your Body, Fuel Your Soul, and Get Strong with the Fit52 Life, which releases March 3.

Underwood’s book tour will launch March 2 at Brooklyn, New York’s Powerhouse and will include a March 5 stop at Nashville’s Parnassus Books.

Other stops on the book tour include Stamford, Connecticut (March 3) and Los Angeles (March 17).

Underwood is set to take part in this week’s Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, an annual private event that hosts top country radio personnel from across the nation.

In November 2019, Underwood broke a record at the American Music Awards for the most Favorite Country Album wins when she took home her sixth honor in the category, for her Cry Pretty project. She also picked up a trophy for Favorite Female Country Artist, marking 15 overall career wins for Underwood at the AMAs.