The decision to consider “Rollin’ Camera” as the Best Country Song was made by an anonymous committee within the Recording Academy, consisting of people who work in the country music industry. However, the “Star-Crossed” album is classified as a pop album. All three of Kacey Musgraves’ previous albums, “Golden Hour,” “Pageant Material,” and “Same Trailer Different Park,” were nominated in this category.
The Academy Recording sent a letter to Nashville Group Music Universal, asking them to reconsider their categorization of “Star-Crossed”
The study conducted by the Annenberg’s Southern California University Initiative Inclusion in 2019 found that only 16 percent of the top 500 country music songs from 2014 to 2018 were represented by women artists, which is a smaller percentage compared to the 100 Hot Billboard charts. It is a well-established fact that gender is often tied to the gatekeeping problem in country music. While the fate of Musgraves’s appeal remains to be seen, this issue is already recognized as a longstanding one.
Now confronting Musgraves herself, at the young age of 33, one of the main challenges faced by female artists in the country music industry is the lack of representation, as concluded by researchers.
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The current state of the country music industry is dominated by male artists, resulting in a cycle where women artists are effectively erased from the airplay and influence. This self-perpetuating cycle is evident in the annual Billboard lists, which consistently highlight male artists and exclude female artists. Research conducted by musicologist Jada Watson specifically examines the gender impact on radio play and longevity in the country music industry, pointing out that this cycle not only keeps women artists out of listeners’ ears but also affects their standing and career longevity. In fact, it is well-documented that many country radio program directors advise against playing too many songs by women artists in a given hour, creating a downright unfair and verboten situation for women in the industry.
Liebig, the podcast host of “More Than a Cowgirl,” expressed, “Even those female individuals who have achieved iconic status in the realm of country music did so by embodying a highly specific manifestation of femininity through their performances — and yet, they still encountered relentless mistreatment and prejudice due to their gender. Leibig further stated, “The initial women who truly left an indelible mark in terms of attaining widespread fame faced various forms of harassment from individuals within the industry and even their male counterparts, along with unfavorable recording contracts and insufficient compensation for their live performances, among other challenges.” “Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, all of them endured their own personal battles.”
She said, “Those challenges still exist, but we are now just starting to get to the point where country music artists are openly talking more about topics where women are up against.” However, there is still a long way to go.
Hubbs stated, “In the past, both the CMA and country radio have occasionally guided country music towards more conservative paths than what artists and listeners prefer.” According to Dean Hubbs, a professor at the University of Michigan specializing in women’s studies, music, and American culture, the Country Music Association (CMA) has been in existence since 1958 and is a professional organization committed to researching and promoting country music. Hubbs also mentioned to The 19th that country music, as an industry, holds a unique position within the broader landscape of popular music. There are certain structural factors that have contributed to country music’s historical gender issue.
Are there any examples that need to be looked at further, ranging from some notorious country songs that were banned from the radio, such as “God Wasn’t It” by Kitty Wells in 1952, to “The Pill” by Lynn Anderson in 1975, which is about a frustrated and angered woman who is driven by her husband’s desires and is unable to control her back-to-back pregnancies until she is able to start taking oral contraceptives, and finally to “Independence Day” by Martina McBride in 1994, which draws a connection between the independence of American women and a domestic violence escape to a firehouse, where she kills her mother.
During a 2003 concert in London, Natalie Maines, the lead singer of the country music trio known as Dixie Chicks, publicly stated that she was ashamed that President George W. Bush, who was the President of the United States at the height of the military intervention in Iraq, hailed from Texas. As a result, the Dixie Chicks, who were widely recognized in the country music industry and heavily played on country radio, were banned outright from all radio stations and faced a large writ industry-wide boycott.
“According to Hubbs, during the time when country radio initiated boycotts and record-burning events due to their political speech, Wells, Lynn, and McBride were the most prominent female artists in the country. However, they were not reprimanded solely based on gender-specific content, but rather because their songs were perceived to contain radical or hazardous messages about women. Consequently, fans’ cherished songs by Wells, Lynn, McBride, and The Chicks were removed from the airwaves.”
Women are frequently excluded from fully engaging in the country music industry due to the dominance of female voices and the restriction placed on certain opinions, thus preventing them from self-identifying with the genre.
The song “Lessons Daddy” was not nominated for Best Country Song at the Grammys this year. Royster added that discussions often emerged about Beyonce’s involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement, citing that she was often cited when discussing her not being “country enough.” Fans commented on her translucent beaded gown and how she played with the Chicks at the CMA Awards that year, highlighting how hard Beyonce had to work to get recognition in traditional country circles as a Black pop star. Royster pointed out that Beyonce’s album Lemonade from 2016, specifically her song “Daddy Lessons,” also addressed her experiences in country music. Francesca Royster, an English professor at DePaul University, is working on a book about African-Americans in country music, which also explores how race is often weaponized in the genre, but gatekeeping based on gender is not exclusive to country music, she added.
Royster said that in each of these cases, the defense of style and form is raised, but it’s not coincidental that these performers are also courageous and vocal artists who fall into the categories of women, individuals of color, queer, or queer-friendly, or a combination of these attributes. This notion of “belonging” has been a longstanding convention in the preservation of country music, and Musgraves’s exclusion is no different. In a similar vein, Royster mentioned that Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” was taken off Billboard’s country charts and criticized for lacking sufficient country elements.
In recent times, gender equality in the music industry has emerged as a significant and prominent topic, suggesting a need for broader discussions and attention.
She stated, “We have recently initiated the process of initiating discussions on the subject of equal opportunities for everyone.” “African American females have been excluded from the country music industry for numerous years. Mickey Guyton’s recent rise to prominence is frequently linked to a pivotal year. However, she has been tirelessly working for ten years. At the 2021 Grammys, she achieved the historic feat of being the initial African American woman to receive a nomination in the country solo performance category. The fact that it took this long for such a milestone to occur is both astonishing and utterly unacceptable.”
Liebig states that this demonstrates that the evaluation procedure for these accolades is not as simple as one might think. According to Liebig, Guyton’s “When My Amy Prays,” a pleasant but slightly unremarkable song, triumphed over Vince Gill’s love ballad to win the Grammy.
Examples of this phenomenon include Taylor Swift and Maren Morris, who have pointed out the tendency in the country music industry to shut out and punish women experimenting with their sound. She said, “It’s on-trend to shut out the authentic, real, and clever perspective that comes from traditional country songs at the core of Musgraves’ music — unlike any other ‘artist’ out there.” Liebig added that it’s fair to say Musgraves’ music has evolved over time.
In country music, regardless of gender and genre, artists who want to be able to do what they artistically desire without running the risk of becoming outcasts should be represented anywhere in the mainstream. Trans artists are not widely represented in the country music industry, even if their works are marketable. It is only acceptable in small doses and in the right packaging, as Leibig mentioned.
Since the beginning of her career, Musgraves has been closely examined by the authorities in the country music industry because of her expressed views, notably on LGBTQ acceptance and her gender. Hubbs stated that Musgraves has always been in a vulnerable position as a woman artist in the country music field.
The music industry’s long history of country music is not happening in a vacuum. Kacey Musgraves, a white, cisgender, and fit artist, strategically incorporates aesthetics and sound, both in terms of masculine and male mold, to deliver a coded message in her work. It is notable that Musgraves rarely takes an explicitly LGBTQ+-affirming stance in country music, but her desire to keep her music industry’s country music history is a significant consideration. In her debut album “Same Trailer, Different Park,” Musgraves sings about the desire for lots of girls or lots of boys, as showcased in her breakout single “Follow Your Arrow” and the song “Park Different Trailer, Same.”
CMT Television Music Country (CMT) launched Play Equal, a program charting impacts directly on the syndicated national program “CMT After MidNite” by featuring Country Women Artists. The program not only doubled the airplay for women artists on CMT Live Radio but also implemented parity 50/50 across all platforms, including TV channels and music platforms. This initiative signals that the industry is starting to look for meaningful ways to address the gender problem in the country’s music industry.
A survey conducted by CMT in February 2020, revealed that 70 percent of listeners and 84 percent of all listeners want to see more women in country music and want equal representation for women artists. A spokesperson for CMT stated this on the 19th.
Despite the long upheld gendered standards of the past, Hubbs is still hopeful as to why the country music industry is rapidly declining. In order to keep their ears out for diverse country artists, fans and industry players must collectively begin addressing gatekeeping practices and unapologetically challenge the industry’s efforts to embrace more and more music.
“Keep your attention, everyone,” Hubbs stated. “And along with these, there might be a change in the center of authority. We are witnessing fresh participants, new individuals with interests, and conflicts regarding principles in the realm of country music.”