On Wed, 21 Apr 1999 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> 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.
All right then -- let's assume Jim's conspiracy theory is actually the way
it works. (I'm not so naive to believe shit like that doesn't happen, but
I very much doubt it's the overly simplistic, pay-for-play scenario
described by Jim above.) Then what happened to The Key, Jim? You think
Tony Brown decided all he wanted was one hit single from the album? If
it's all a matter of consultant payola, then it shouldn't have been a
problem for MCA to turn the followup singles on the albums into a few more
megahits for Vince. That didn't happen, and the PRIMARY reason those
singles stiff is that those MCA Made-In-Nashville products were deemed
too-country-for-country-radio BY country radio. It's not because Tony
Brown forgot to pay a few consultants. Like most conspiracy theories,
Jim's may be attractive for those who like simple explanations for the
complicated doings of the real world, but that doesn't make it right.--don
n.p. James Hand - "Did You Forget Last Week's Payment, J.P.?"
