THE COUNTRY CONUNDRUM
How will genre's radio stations react to Beyoncé's new hit?
As country radio programmers settled into their seats for a presentation at a hotel for the annual Country Radio Seminar, they received a warning.
“I want to preface this with: The data really won't be easy to digest. It's not a pretty picture, right now, of representation,” said Jada Watson, an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa whose research focuses on country music.
Watson started clicking through slides about inclusivity and diversity on country radio: From 2002 through 2023, songs by white artists averaged 96.5 per cent of country radio airplay. Of the remaining small percentage of spins by artists of colour, nearly 96 per cent were from only three singers: Darius Rucker, Kane Brown and Jimmie Allen. And songs by women of colour averaged .06 per cent of the overall spins on country radio.
“Not easy to look at, right? Holding up that mirror to our current genre right now,” Westwood One radio host Elaina Smith, the moderator, told the audience. “But that's why we're here today, is to talk about how you can actually implement change and work toward a more diverse station and playlist.”
Plans for this recent panel — titled Diversi-'tea': Spilling the Data on Inclusive Programming — came together months ago. It's part of a slate of programming for the longtime conference where hundreds of country radio executives and staffers descend upon Nashville, Tenn., for educational sessions and to schmooze amid happy hours and music showcases from A-listers and new artists.
At the time, organizers could not have predicted that a few weeks before CRS, one of the biggest superstars on the planet would shine an intense spotlight on country music and inclusivity — and specifically, country radio.
When Beyoncé released a video during the Super Bowl that featured the plucking of a banjo, followed by two country-sounding songs titled Texas Hold `Em and 16 Carriages, the internet lit up with anticipation. After years of hints, Beyoncé was embracing her Texas roots and making a country album, scheduled to drop March 29.
Two days later, an online fury erupted: A fan emailed a small Oklahoma radio station and requested Texas Hold `Em, only to receive a reply that read, “We do not play Beyoncé on KYKC as we are a country music station.”
The fan posted the email on social media and KYKC was flooded with furious messages that pointed to the incident as an example of racism in a majority-white genre that has long sidelined Black singers, ever since the music charts separated “hillbilly music” from “race records” in the early 20th century.
In media interviews, the Oklahoma station manager said he had missed the news that Beyoncé released a country single, and after seeing the passionate response, added the song to the station's playlist. But the viral incident inspired a wave of online discourse that many in the industry have been having for years about the lack of success that artists of colour have found in country music, despite the genre's roots in Black culture.
At the Country Radio Seminar, Beyoncé came up in various panels across three days, referred to at least once as “the elephant in the room.” To the outside world, Texas Hold `Em is already a country hit; the song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart last month, making Beyoncé the first Black woman to mark the achievement. (Before her, only seven Black female country acts have appeared on the chart in its entire history.) But that chart includes radio play, sales and streams — those in the industry know that country radio, measuring only airplay, is a different test altogether.
After all, country remains the last genre where radio is critically important. Even in the era of streaming and Tiktok, a radio breakout is the mark of success.
Of course, a superstar on Beyoncé's level doesn't need country radio — so the presence of Texas Hold `Em on the airplay chart (it currently sits at No. 42 on Billboard airplay) really isn't even all about her. Instead, it's raising broader questions about the Black country artists in Nashville, particularly women, who have been diligently working in the genre for years, and those who wonder whether Beyoncé could finally be what helps bring attention to their efforts, given their music — as pointed out at the conference devoted to radio — makes up less than one per cent of airplay.
Singer-songwriter Julie Williams, a member of the Black Opry and part of the CMT Next Women of Country class of 2023, has seen an increase in followers and streams since Beyoncé dropped her new music. Williams posted several Tiktoks about how Beyoncé's country era could highlight other artists of colour.
“We've been out here making music, trying to be seen, sharing our stories — and the country music world isn't really listening,” Williams said in one video. “So as you're adding Beyoncé, make sure to add some other Black country artists.” She tagged Mickey Guyton, Brittney Spencer, Denitia, Chapel Hart, Madeline Edwards, Roberta Lea, Kashus Culpepper, Tanner Adell, Nicky Diamonds and Miko Marks.
While acknowledging Beyoncé's single as a “historic” event, nearly all the programmers who spoke to The Washington Post said Texas Hold `Em was proving to be polarizing in listener feedback and research among audiences.
“When we play it, we'll get messages from listeners that say `Thank you for playing the song' as much as we'll get messages from listeners that say `Why are you playing the song?'” said Jon Shannon, program director at WPOR in Portland, Maine.
“But my entire intent when the song first came out was: This is the most talked-about song in America right now. And however you feel about it, I think it was our place to make sure it gets on the radio so listeners could hear it and decide for themselves.”