Don writes: >> I think Jon's main point is that the powers-that-be that
control country radio
(the folks who own the stations and the consultants who help program
them)are primarily responsible for what you hear on country radio. That
seems pretty obvious to me.
Sure, the Nashville-based major labels are the source for the great bulk of
what's heard on country radio, but it's the stations who ultimately decide
what they are and aren't going to play from those labels.<<
My point, and I think we keep missing each other, is that country radio
(which is NOT based in Nashville) and the country music labels are in bed
on this together. Believe it or don't, the BIG labels pay the consultants
(who control many stations) to get their records on the air. It's not like
they send them a Fedex each week with cash in it, but there are under the
table deals made in all formats that control what gets played. I know this
kinda sounds like the X-Files, but it's true. The more money you throw at
the consultants and their ilk, the better response you get. If Sire REALLY
wanted to get Mandy Barnett on the radio, they'd hire a big time radio
promoter, who would pay some consultant to add her record to his stations
and then you'd hear her on the radio. Sire doesn't have the kind of money
it takes to play that game at the same level as MCA or Arista.
Sure it's called the Nashville machine, that doesn't mean it all happens in
Nashville. Some people call it country music, that doesn't mean it's
country music either.
Jim, smilin'
