Posted on 12/09/2006 5:29:28 AM PST by rhema
Three years after attacking President Bush, the Dixie Chicks and country music radio stations still aren't "ready to make nice."
One of the most successful female country acts is ending the year on a high note: five Grammy nominations, including album, record and song of the year.
Most refuse to play their songs, fearing alienated audiences, lower ratings and in turn, less advertising revenue.
Earlier this year, a few stations turned down ads for Dixie Chicks concerts.
Radio companies and industry experts insist the stations aren't picking on the Chicks.
Instead, in an industry driven by research, they're making hard business decisions.
The surveys keep coming to one conclusion: Country music fans, among the most patriotic of listeners, still haven't forgiven the Chicks.
"I love the Dixie Chicks' music, but you have to know your audience and know your marketing model," said Gerry McCracken, country format coordinator for Cox Radio Inc., which owns 10 country radio stations.
Mr. McCracken cited research conducted earlier this year that revealed half of country music listeners either did not want to hear any Chicks music now or never wanted to hear their songs again.
"Those numbers are off the charts," Mr. McCracken said. "With those kinds of numbers, we wouldn't even play George Strait."
Such research helps explain why only one country station out of 114 across the U.S. played the Chicks' song "Not Ready to Make Nice" – which was nominated for song of the year – during the week of Nov. 27, according to Radio & Records, an information firm that tracks the industry.
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
When the Chicks are playing the Holiday Inn lounge circuit (soon) the MSM will still cover them as some kind of "greats" and not ignore them as has-beens who opened their foolish mouths to comment on things about which they know nothing. I don't know any of them personally, but a neighbor of mine from a few years back worked for them and, following the oft-proved rule that you can see what people are like by the company they keep, I assume that they are arrogant, dimwitted buttholes.
Yes, and the fix is in.
This infers they'll be forgiven someday.
Yeah, that'll happen!
George "Baggage" Jones is alive?
My God' he would be in his 90's now. Or older.
He's on Jerry Lee Lewis's new album, and still sounds pretty dang good.
The Grammy's are just another DNC Rally.
If they did that they would have to admit the cluckers made this mess themselves, and continue to keep digging the hole deeper as they go. They try to blame everyone except the ones responsible. So people have to be reminded why they are in the spot they are in.
Yup! Was referring to the country George!
Thanks for the heads-up!
"This award is just a load of political solidarity to reward the looney left."
Exactly.
Screw them!
Well dont forget the quote where Natalie cliams she was never country to begin with...
"For me to be in country music to begin with was not who I was. I liked Martie and Emily's playing, but I did not grow up liking country music. And I guess I was ignorant to the fact that the stereotypes behind country music were true — and it was disappointing. And so at this stage, I can never... I would be cheating myself and not setting a good example for my children to go back to something that I don't wholeheartedly believe in. So I'm pretty much done. They've shown their true colors. I like lots of country music, but as far as the industry and everything that happened... I couldn't want to be farther away from that. And it's easier when you're financially set, because you can be a little more ballsy, and just do what you want to do. I don't want people to think that me not wanting to be a part of country music is any sort of revenge. It is not. It is totally me being who I am, and not wanting to compromise myself and hate my life."
And in the same article she goes on to say that GRAMMYS just arnt improtant to her...
"I mean, it's always an honor to be nominated for a Grammy, that's the most prestigious music award. But I just... I don't know, it's almost kinda sad, I don't really get excited about it anymore."
so why give one to her?
Oh... and lets not forget the pride she feels when a soldier dies.
" Every day a soldier dies, I am more proud that I spoke out"
Radio companies and industry experts insist the stations aren't picking on the Chicks. Instead, in an industry driven by research, they're making hard business decisions.
Translation: liberals in the music industry and media are doing their best to prop up the Chixie Dix but they're getting pimp-slapped by the free market. Sympathy awards, a movie (which is tanking badly), and good press do not make up for the fact that the current album sales are only 1/12th what they were in 1998 and the Chix can't sell out a stadium holding 12,000 people when they were routinely selling out gigs in stadiums that hold 30-40,000 back in 1998.
The media can try to put a happy face on it all day every day, but the 10,000-lb pink elephant in the room is that revenues are down drastically. The media can paste on a smile for the public but the business analysts know that that the Chixie Dix's music career has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.
If this was only about snotty comments toward GW Bush, nobody would've cared a week after it had happened. Natalie put the Chix's career in the dumper when she said publicly that country music fans are just a bunch of dumb rednecks and that she's glad they're leaving because she'd rather a small core of hip fans who "get it". In other words, bye bye to the '87 pickup truck/Joe-Bob's Bar crowd, hello to the 2005 Land Rover/Starbucks crowd.
You got what you wanted Natalie, and now you have to live with it. Retirement is just around the corner.
It's had delightfully abysmal receipts: less than a million in 7 underwhelming weeks. The ever-shrinking coterie of Chixie Dix fans must be saving their shekels to make payments on their Land Rovers.
I'm not surprised that they are getting Grammy nominations. The awards are always run by lefties.
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