Where Are The Women On Country Radio?

As the industry descends on Nashville for the annual Country Radio Seminar, The Tennessean notes there’s just one female solo artist (Danielle Bradbery) with a single on the most recent 25-song Billboard “Hot Country” chart. Bradbery, Lambert and Sara Evans are the only female solo artists with hits on the 30-song “Country Airplay” chart.

Critics say the chasm between critically acclaimed songs and country radio’s regular rotation has never been wider, and female artists are the ones on the outside looking in. Much of the conversation has especially focused on Clark, Ashley Monroe and Grammy-winning Kacey Musgraves, whose albums wowed critics, but less so country radio programmers.

Clear Channel Media Executive Vice President of Programming Clay Hunnicutt said he doesn’t believe the divide between critical success and radio airplay is wider than it has been during his 25 years programming country radio. He said radio is giving listeners what they want to hear.

“Being critically acclaimed is a great thing,” Hunnicutt said. “I look at the movies. Typically when something is critically acclaimed, it’s really great and it’s in commercials and you see the hype, but it doesn’t mean the masses will like the product.

“It means critics like the product. They don’t live in the same universe like you, me and others. I always take it with a grain of salt. It’s very good for the artist — great to be recognized — but it doesn’t always correlate to album sales and success on the radio. That’s up to the listeners.”

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