Dierks Bentley & Wife Welcome Daughter, Evalyn Day

So country album sales are down 16.7% and that is only expected to get worse when country fans eventually jump on the digital download bandwagon. How can this be??? We are constantly being told that Carrie, Taylor and the other flavors of the month are bringing new fans over to country music. The numbers don’t seem to be reflecting that, do they?

wouldnt Swift recording that type of record be that be the final nail in the coffin of the term “alt”, as it pertains to non-mainstream country?

Man John, I am glad someone got in the requisite Dale Watson reference today,cuz I just didnt know if I had one in me!!

“We are constantly being told that Carrie, Taylor and the other flavors of the month are bringing new fans over to country music. The numbers don’t seem to be reflecting that, do they?”

Declining country music album sales don’t necessarily constitute evidence that pop country acts have failed to bring new fans to country music. The most that can be said is that -if- pop country acts are bringing new fans to country music, then the gains aren’t enough to offset the losses. Those losses are likely driven by the changing nature of the market, the state of the economy, declining shelf space for music at brick & mortar stores, and other factors (for example, I’m sure some here would argue that there is declining enthusiasm for the music thanks to increased blandness and reliance on formula; some might argue that it is also country’s embrace of pop that has driven some fans away).

Two years ago, the changing nature of the market didn’t seem to be impacting the country genre so much. In 2006, country music sales were actually up while sales in other genres were down. Here is a Forbes article about this:

http://www.forbes.com/business/2006/11/02/country-music-sales-tech-media-cx_lr_1103country.html

At the time, Billboard’s Wade Jessen credited country music’s sales resilience to a few acts: Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Johnny Cash and the Dixie Chicks, noting that the latter two were certainly not benefiting from country radio exposure (the Dixie Chicks weren’t even self-identifying as country anymore, even though their album could easily have passed as contemporary country). In a Tennessean article on the Dixie Chicks documentary Shut Up & Sing, Geoff Mayfield of Billboard made the same point.

The thing is, they were both merely looking at who had the best-selling albums that year. We could do that for 2008 as well and find that the gaudiest sales numbers probably belong to pop country acts, more or less as was the case two years ago (other than Johnny Cash, obviously). What we didn’t know in 2006 and what we don’t know in 2008 is whether the people buying albums from the likes of Carrie and Taylor are in statistically significant quality supporting other country artists. I’m sure there is anecdotal evidence that some fans are, just as there is anecdotal evidence that some Taylor (or Carrie) fans are just Taylor (or Carrie) fans with no interest in anyone else in the country genre. But there isn’t any publicly-available data on the buying patterns of these fanbases.

Bottom line: Considering the multitude of other factors that are dampening music sales in all genres, I don’t think you can point to a year-to-year decline in country music sales as evidence that some acts aren’t bringing in new fans. For all you know, the sales declines might have been much worse if not for Taylor, Carrie and the like. That said, the fact that Taylor and Carrie have two of the best selling country albums charting right now doesn’t necessarily mean that they are bringing in new country fans. We would need different data to assess their impact in that area.

How in the heck did Julie Roberts get booked to share the stage with Josh Turner, Brad Paisley, and Trisha Yearwood at that private press event? My guess is that she performed between the top acts and Bob Schieffer to cushion the shock from the transition. Or maybe Julie was planted by the McCain-Palin campaign to drive the press out of Nashville prior to the debate! Hmmmm…….

What Taylor Swift said: “Later on there will definitely be a huge temptation for me to make an alt-country record, something edgier and a little darker,” Ms. Swift said.”
What Taylor Swift should have said: “Because I have made so much money off country radio’s audience, later on there will definitely be a huge temptation to give back to the genre by making and honest to goodness country record. Something with deep, meaningful adult lyrics and a recognizable country sound and style that will appeal to people over the age of 13!”

The Top 40 Crapola Country Radio industry has attracted a demographic audience that doesn’t seem to have much interest in purchasing the music they play. These listeners use country radio as background music to their daily routines and how many people seek out and purchase music they hear in an elevator or fast food establishment? There are big exceptions though like American Idol viewers and teeny-bopper and tween girls who will beg their mom’s into submission to buy the latest release from Taylor Swift, Hannah Montana, The Jonas Brothers, High School Musical, etc. The true country music lover / collector types have mostly abandoned AirHead Country Radio and find new music via satellite radio, MySpace artist websites, or blogs like The 9513. It seems its getting harder for everyone to find new artists and music that they get really excited about. Ultimately though I have to admit the availability of file sharing programs and the ease on unauthorized digital file duplication will continue to send music purchases into the tank.

“Okay, who told Taylor Swift that Alt-country exists?”

Nobody. She just heard the term somewhere but has no idea what it really means.

I’m glad to hear that Julie is still alive and, apparently, being asked to preform. Gee, it sure would be swell if she’d put out some new music.

As for Miranda’s video…

Hmm.

I love Miranda like a fat kid loves cake. Am I the only one, though, that thinks she seems to have a hard time with videos? Not that they’re bad, per say, but they never fail to match up with what I think they should be. Watching this, I found myself thinking “I would have done this so different…wonder what happened this time?” Then I realized that I think I’ve thought that about almost every video of hers, save maybe Kerosene.

Singers are singers and not meant to be actors, so I’m not implying she should be taking home Oscars. I’d rather you be able to sing the hell out of a song than watch you “smile with your eyes.” But a song of this emotional magnitude deserves more than some Ikea furniture being moved about, a handful of “Stay” close-up references to Miranda’s WOE!ANGST! face and two partirdges in a pear tree.

Oy! Is there a career to be had doing nothing but writing treatments for videos?