In a recent interview with BBC, Trisha Yearwood gets candid about the current status of the country music industry and how they treat women artists. Industry leaders are “following a set of rules that don’t really exist anymore.”
via Russ Harrington/Rolling Stone
Trisha Yearwood Says Country Music should Change
In 2015, these rules were made to light when Keith Hill, a prominent radio consultant, had admitted that he put in a heavy word of warning about playing too many songs by women or playing female artists’ songs back-to-back.
Photo by Al Wagner/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock (9936640c)
He was also truthful with his interview with trade publication Country Aircheck when asked about female country singers’ airtime. Hill also used a very sloppy salad-based metaphor to explain why he holds such a strong premium with male artists.
“I play great female records, and we’ve got some right now; they’re just not the lettuce in our salad. The lettuce is Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and artists like that. The tomatoes of our salad are the females.”
According to Hill, he said that these claims were based on “observations on music tests from over the years” and responses from “more than 300 client radio stations.”
Yearwood had a lot to say about that, and even questioned the validity of the data, or its actual existence; asking if people really “change the channels” when they hear female voices on the radio.
Trisha Yearwood | Photo credit: wjs.com
She also pushes the narrative that people who run the industry are ‘following a set of rules’ that do not apply to the current status quo.
“Well, that’s not OK. It doesn’t have to be that way. I think the disconnect is between the fans, who want to hear men and women on the radio, and whoever is making these decisions.Those rules are being challenged and I think you’re going to see a change.”