It has been about a year since I looked at how many females were making an impact in the format. I bring it up again because there has been a change since last year when I compared Country to Top 40 and AC to see the comparison between the formats.
A funny thing happened this year. No, Country has not gotten better, but the other formats have gone in the other direction.
In 2012, three females placed songs in the Top 20 on the Country Mediabase year end chart. Jana Kramer, Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert were the only three females on the list. Taylor Swift was not on the list but she had kind of a good year and really doesn’t need chart position to influence sales. In Top 40 Ellie Goulding, Carly Rae Jepsen, Kelly Clarkson, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Rihanna (twice), Demi Lovato, Adele and Pink all made the Top 20. That is 50 percent of the Top 20 for the year compared to 15 percent for Country.
In AC, there was between 11 and 13. “Moves Like Jagger” credits Christina Aguilera and The Band Perry is on the list. Certainly Kimberly is the “voice” on the song. Let’s agree on 12 which means 60 percent of this chart was female.
Today, as I write this column, the Country chart has two female voices in the Top 20. Again, one is TBP and the other is Carrie. Top 40 has five in the Top 20 and AC has eight. I ask this question every year. I think I have written about this three times now and it completely stumps me.
We see female acts working very hard, without the success their efforts should show. There are a few female artists bubbling under, like Sheryl Crow, Kacey Musgraves and Jana Kramer, who is flirting with repeating her debut success. I really like Maggie Rose and Jaida Dreyer because I happen to know personally how hard they both work at it. Katie Armiger is pounding the highways as is Sarah Darling. Gretchen Wilson is a great act live, but she may be overlooked because of her early music being too big to repeat. Not fair.
Blake Shelton has given us Cassadee Pope and Gwen Sebastian. You might think his influence would count for more but so far that has not been enough. Speaking of TV success, what female has had more tube time than Kellie Pickler? And who doesn’t love Kellie? But her current single is just out there somewhere. I know I have failed to mention a couple of young ladies that have shown up on the radio but with little play. Actually, this isn’t about individual acts. My point in mentioning them is to show they are out there and working hard but to little avail.
Looking for a reason, you could blame male PDs but that doesn’t really work. You can blame label support but that wouldn’t make any sense either. Sony has Miranda and Carrie. Maybe that is enough for them. Taylor is (and should be) the queen of BMLG. Warner Bros. doesn’t have a lead female but Ms. Crow is pecking away at chart position. The Universal Label Group has a ton of successful male and group performers but no stand out female yet.
I once worked for a boss that DEMANDED we play 50 percent females on the station. It wasn’t too long ago and it was impossible. As I look at their list today I see some questionable titles from female acts so this philosophy must still be in place. Maybe this is the way to force females on the air. As a programmer, I would love the balance of sound and tempo that ballads and females bring to the station. But I have learned that trying to force feed the audience is a mistake. You need to lead them until they take over and then you had better follow them.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MusicRow.)

George Strait has released “I Believe” as the new single from his current album Love Is Everything and the follow-up to his 60th No. 1 “Give It All We Got Tonight” which named Strait the first musician in music history to achieve the milestone. The May 2013 release is his 40th studio album, produced by Strait and Tony Brown.
Strait co-wrote the new single with his son, Bubba Strait, and legendary songwriter Dean Dillon after watching the news coverage of the tragic school massacre in Newtown, Conn. last December. Having lost his daughter at a young age, Strait felt as if it was a song he needed to write. Yet, when he was working on the album, he didn’t initially record the song. After listening to the playback of the album, Strait’s wife Norma insisted that he record the song so at the end of the session he asked the band to record one more.
“Like everybody, I was watching the coverage on TV,” said Strait in an interview that can be viewed here. “I know what these parents are going through. It’s the worst thing that can happen to you in your life. To lose a child….there’s nothing worse than that. So I started thinking about saying something about it.” He continues, “It’s a statement of faith, is really what it is. It turned out beautiful.”

Well, the world as we know it is changing. Soon a new female singer might remake Tim McGraw’s “Don’t Take the Girl.” Soon an illegal alien is really going to be someone from Mars, not Mexico. Soon healthcare is going to make you sicker than coughing in an elevator.
A lot of the change is coming because the largest generation in U.S. history is entering adulthood and these Americans were raised under different circumstances than their elders. I am from the Baby Boom Generation. We were associated with a rejection and redefinition of traditional values but we look like amateurs compared to the Millennials.
A lot of this has to do with technology. I was an early adopter with computers and cell phones but I gave all of that up when I passed the Samsung delivery guy bringing in the newest phone as I was leaving with my purchase. There is no way to keep up. That realization comes with experience and Visa bills that look like the national debt. Millennials don’t yet know that.
A recent study by Fizziology and Horizon Media broke the generation into four groups:
Youthful Pursuits (18%)
Confident and Connected (32%)
Creatures and Comfort (25%)
Indie Dreamers (25%)
Without stating the obvious, this is a group both the radio and music industry needs to appeal to every day. Understanding these groups should help. What I love, when looking at the characteristics of each group, is with some planning and focus each of the segments has a window of opportunity for our industries.
The Youthful Pursuits are image-seeking and live in the “Now.” This is the kind of person who wants to be on top of everything new, and it is important to their self image. Identifying this group with new music and a “hip” station is an opening.
Confident and Connecteds are social and knowledge-seeking. Providing the C&C with information about the artists and their communities is something that might appeal to this group. Having them on your team will help because they are likely to talk about you. They will tell their friends about their favorite artists.
Creatures and Comfort enjoy the simple life and are unmotivated. Okay, I am not touching those descriptions. Let’s just say they should be easy to manipulate with programming and hit makers.
Indie Dreamers are ambitious, creative and individualistic. This is the kind of person we definitely want in our fan base and as radio station listeners. This group is unhappy with their standard of living (as many young people are as they grow their careers) but these folks feel like they can change things when or if they want.
Your best opportunity to impact this generation is with Confident Connecteds as they talk most actively about brands and share promotions with a sense of pride. If you have something that you’re promoting like a new station, a new act or a new song, these are the people that you need to be talking to. The other groups tend to mock those who do not agree with their opinions and can be negative influencers if you do not fit in their lifestyle.
You can guess the Youthful Pursuits are a prime target for new product lines in fashion, beauty and entertainment. They tend to brag about what they have and this helps to spread the word fast. The hard part is not identifying these four groups but finding them in your base. Once you do, you will know each of them needs different nurturing and attention. When you engage a listener or a fan, ask them about their likes and dislikes. Ask them how they feel about other media, including social media and work them towards your goals by knowing their goals.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MusicRow.)