Report: Women Account For 10% Of Country Radio Airplay

From 2010 to 2019, female artists faced a decade of airplay disparity on commercial country radio, per an updated study examining the format.

The Tennessean reports the research — published Monday by University of Ottawa adjunct professor Jada Watson in partnership with CMT's Equal Play campaign and listener research project SongData —  examined radio airplay and chart position for male and female artists, finding that women overall represented roughly 10% of the space "within country music culture by 2019." This includes 2019 radio spins, as well as representation on weekly and year-end industry charts from Mediabase and Billboard.

Watson published a study last year examining airplay from 2002 to 2018; research released Monday includes 2019 figures and decade-end totals.

These charts play an important role within popular music culture and are often a barometer for measuring the vitality and diversity of a genre.

With such limited airplay, we see that only a handful of songs by women are able to enter and then climb the weekly charts. pic.twitter.com/7khF9xWdB7

— Jada E. Watson (@data_jada) February 17, 2020

Findings include:

• Women accounted for 10% of daily radio spins on Mediabase's weekly airplay reports in 2019. 
• Women accounted for roughly 10% in the top 150 on Mediabase's year-end reports from 2010-2019
• From 2010-2019, Jason Aldean received the most country radio spins, roughly 4.2 million — nearly twice as many as Carrie Underwood, the top woman, with 2.2 million spins. 
• One woman earned a No. 1 song on Billboard's Top Country Airplay chart in 2019, Maren Morris' "Girl." 
• A majority of female daily airplay took place during overnight (29% of spins, per the study) or evening slots (22%), periods known for reaching fewer listeners. 

"Ten percent," Watson wrote in the report. "Depending on the time of day a listener tunes-in to their local station, that’s barely enough to be heard. It’s certainly not enough exposure to become known, to build a fanbase, to climb charts, to gain enough recognition to have access to opportunities and resources within the industry."

The three-part study examines representation on airplay reports, how representation impacts chat contention for women and the overall cultural impact of "gender-based programming."

SongData Watson Inequality ... by The Tennessean on Scribd