Posted on 06/11/2006 12:56:22 PM PDT by mnnymonhak
How the Dixie Chicks Hit the Charts Without Radio Support
By JEFF LEEDS
In February, eager programmers at the nation's top country music stations got their first chance to hear new music from the Dixie Chicks in four years. But in a suite at the annual Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, brows soon furrowed over what would be the band's first single, the angry "Not Ready to Make Nice,"...
"It took our breath away," Julie Stevens, program director of KRTY-FM, a country station in San Jose, Calif., said of the song. Before hearing it, she said, she had figured "fans would forgive and forget as long as she shut up about it." Now, she said, "that's not going to happen."
But surprise: even though the Dixie Chicks' new album, "Taking the Long Way," has been shunned by country and other mainstream stations, it has spent its first two weeks at the top of the Billboard chart. That is one of the best starts ever for a country album receiving scant airplay. Has it broken the mold?.....
But staying power is another matter....
"The question becomes, without radio airplay, will they see any spikes, or will it just be a slow, steady downward spiral?" said Lon Helton, the Nashville bureau chief for Radio & Records magazine....
That kind of sentiment has undermined the Dixie Chicks' prospects even at radio stations that had not abandoned it before. Ms. Stevens, the San Jose radio programmer, said she had played the band's music even when many other country programmers had taken it off the air in 2003. But now, she said, the band's choice of songs seemed aimed at renewing old tensions.
"If they don't care, how in the world am I going to care?" Ms. Stevens asked. "I'm tired of fighting their fight."
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Easy. The DNC and other liberal organizations bought tons of copies to give away to supporters making donations. Kind of like Bill and Hillary's books.
They're getting a bit of play and a lot of pimping for their appearance in Philly on a lib-friendly Philly NPR/PBS/Public radio station. Could be they know their welcome will never be quite the same in the Country world and they're focusing on other markets.
They picked their audience. Too bad their audience is now comprised of people who have no discernable income or are of the "intellectual" type who only spend other peoples money.
Not being happy with the rude little twit, I casually said "Oh, a protest buyer" to which he reacted badly stating how wonderful their music is and how much he's always liked the DixChx etc.
I responded by asking him what was the DixChx last album, to which he didn't know. He also didn't the name of anyone in the band and didn't know where the country & western music section was.
Well, the DixChx did make a lot of sales base on their anti-Bush rhetoric, but protest buyers do not a fan base make. I personlly used to like their music, but will never buy another one of their CDs again and will never go to any event where they're singing.
Is there a way to read the complete article without registering for The Slimes?
They'll probably end up in cereal boxes too.
The Dixie Chicks have made their bed, so to speak. Why should or would anyone want to stand up for them? The sooner they fade away, the better for all of us.
Or, you coulda said, "Rude fan for a rude band."
Or.. "Check the 'Bad Manners Section' - the aisle with your picture above it."
Or..
Go to:
http://www.bugmenot.com
and get a pass..
Why bother reading the rest of the Slimes' spin?
D'bitchy Chicks...
Who are they again?
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