Country crosses over to pop after years of ‘crying into their beers’

    There was once a time in the country music industry when ugly farm kids and washed-up alcoholics wrote creative and humorous songs about the daily life of the common man. While country has never had a Hendrix or a Hemingway, it has always been real and therefore purposeful.  Early country didn’t just entertain people or help them drown their sorrows; it also provided a voice and hope to those who didn’t have the education or resources to speak for themselves.
    Today the world of country music is totally different, and a new breed of crossovers have found their home on the country stage and inspired high-level executives to shift the focus of the entire industry.              According to a recent AP article by John Gerome, country music is crushing all opposition on the radio with over 2,000 stations nationally.  Changes in the format of country music have created a recent demand for stations in urban areas where they have traditionally failed, such as Los Angeles, Calif.,  and New York City, N.Y.          Dr. Richard Greene of GCSU doesn’t listen to much music within the popular spectrum.              However, Greene has a doctorate in guitar performance, was raised in New Orleans, La., around a diverse mix of musical styles, and has years of experience as a freelance studio musician.  According to Greene, today’s country music is a studio musician’s dream come true.
    “Record labels perform marketing research to determine their strongest demographic,” Greene said.  “After that, studio musicians are brought in to fuse different styles of music together to reach that demographic.  It’s a lot of fun and it pays good money to kids with music degrees.”
    While country stars may seem happy, good-looking and well-paid, the music has suffered for it.
    “There’s a lot of money in the business and there’s a lot of talent willing to change styles to get it,”  Greene said.  “They are told to change their look, get new clothes, take voice lessons, and before you know it they have nothing of themselves left to sing about. Country just doesn’t sound like a real place where people live anymore.  It’s all just sort of made up.”
    It doesn’t make sense that an industry that was built on stories of simple people and places would suddenly want to shift their focus to  make believe, but Greene thinks it’s all about the total interactive experience.
    The country crossover concept has been around for years with stars like Garth Brooks and Shania Twain, but the newest crop of fly-betweens is even better looking and less country.  The two most obvious examples that come to mind are the long-haired, frosty-locked Australian, Keith Urban; and Carrie Underwood, Season Four “American Idol” winner.  Urban recently took “best dressed” and “male vocalist of the year” honors at the 2007 Country Music Awards, and Underwood won “female vocalist of the year” when she debuted in 2006. She is also one of two “country” singers who currently have a song on the Billboard Hot 100 top 50 list, the other being the Dixie Chicks.
    Big time record labels and promotional agencies have obviously noticed the popularity of country crossovers among consumers.  In 2004, Tim McGraw released a single with rapper Nelly, called “Over and Over,” becoming the first country singer to ever make the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Top 100 and the Mainstream Top 40 at the same time. 
    Ken Farr, economics chair at GCSU, believes there’s a very simple explanation for the shift towards pop in country.
    “Profits motivate behavior,” Farr said.  “The market is there and the job of these labels is to find it and sell to it.  These people are businessmen, not musicians.  They have an obligation to their shareholders to maximize profits and that’s what they do.”
    With hordes of crossovers descending on the air waves, it’s hard to define what qualifies as country today and even harder for aspiring singers to make it in a sea of beautiful, marketable talent.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 20 2007. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry