Survey Says …
 It’s been almost a year and a half since Stark Country was launched, and in that time we’ve never broadly surveyed our readership about how you’re using the publication, what you like about it, and what else you’d like to see covered or improved (although we ask these questions of individual readers all the time). This week, we’ve added a two-minute survey to the Web site, and I’d like to strongly encourage you to take a moment to fill it out. There are no personal questions asked, and the information collected will strictly be used internally to better your reading experience.
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Should Country Stars Rap?
 When Jason Aldean debuted his new single, “Dirt Road Anthem,” on the recent Academy of Country Music Awards, country music fans got to hear something they don’t often hear in country music—rapping.
The spoken word elements in Aldean’s song reflect those of recent titles like Sugarland’s “Stuck Like Glue,” and much of Colt Ford’s repertoire. And while it certainly adds a freshness to the format, country radio programmers have mixed feelings about rapping in their country songs. Many chose to create and play an edit of the Sugarland song that did away with the rap/reggae breakdown in the middle.
“This has been a hot topic in our office for weeks now,” admits WBVR Bowling Green, Ky., PD Myla Thomas of the whole rap in country debate.
To be fair, the Aldean song is just now going for airplay at country radio, making it much too soon to get a read on what listeners think. And while programmers may have mixed feelings about rapping in general, Aldean may be just the right artist to test those boundaries as he emerges as one of the format’s new superstars with six No. 1 singles and three platinum albums already under his belt buckle.
But radio programmers like KRTY San Jose, Calif.’s Julie Stevens are wary of the trend in general. “I have to say I have a real philosophical aversion to rap in any song. It’s annoying,” she says. “We didn’t play the rap version of ‘Stuck Like Glue,’ and I dare say it didn’t hurt us any. Listeners are not crazy about the sound, and will let you know it by low test scores on songs that even sound like they’re going to rap. ‘Stuck Like Glue’ never did test real well for us.
“Having said all that, ‘Dirt Road Anthem’ is, Lord help me, really growing on me,” Stevens continues. “There is something just so infectious about that song and, frankly, it irks me that I keep going back to it. I don’t think it will be Jason Aldean’s best testing song, but I’ll bet it sells him a boatload of CDs.”
KNIX Phoenix PD Mark Medina has a completely different take on the issue. “Growing up listening to both country and hip hop/rap, and more importantly, programming several rhythmic/hip hop and pop stations in my career, I have a hard time personally calling any of the above examples ‘rap.’ It doesn’t jump out to me as such. Is it quirky and different, mostly yes. I guess for me, rap means a whole culture, lifestyle, and mindset. What I hear in these songs are just funky breakdowns that happen to be melodic and spoken at a tempo that one might hang a ‘rap’ label on.
 “The Colt Ford situation is a little different,” Medina continues. “He’s doing full songs like that, but we’ve not played any of those to this point, so I’ve not really spent a ton of time getting my brain around the ‘rap’ aspect of that.
“Rap has become more and more mass appeal over the past 10-12 years,” Medina says. “And while many in the country life group may claim to not listen, they’ve certainly been exposed, and it’s more palatable than it was 15 years ago. [That’s] especially true on the male side. A 36-year-old man today was listening to some amount of rap in his teen years in 1992, and women too (whether they admit it or not). Obviously as you slide up the scale on demo, that becomes less true.”
Medina also thinks some artists are more able to push the established boundaries of country music than others. “Certain artists have reached a point in their career where they can take a bigger step creatively and try some things,” he says. “Sugarland and Aldean have allegiances and libraries that allow them to take a step further, and the audience will go with them. A new act may not get the same consideration.”
WQMX Akron, Ohio, PD Sue Wilson thinks it’s not surprising that country artists are beginning to experiment with rap, given their influences.
“Today’s younger country artists like Eric Church, Jason Aldean and even Sugarland have said that their influences come from many genres, from rock (like Eagles or Springsteen or Mellencamp or even Kiss), as well as still mentioning artists like Hank and Waylon … so it makes sense to me that with rap such a force in our pop culture over the past 10-plus years, rap influences would find their way into artists’ songs, especially the newer artists appealing to a younger end of the demo,” Wilson says. “I think that’s where the rift—if we find there is one—will develop. The 18-34 end of the demo may be more accepting of rap influences in songs, and possibly the 40-plus may not be as open. I have no research to back that up—just a thought.
“And speaking of research, in the end, that will determine how these songs do,” Wilson continues. “Sugarland’s song did well for us, and we played it as is, no edit. We have not yet added Jason Aldean. We did a test spin, and Facebook comments were more positive than negative. It may be too early [to know] for Jason, but Sugarland did end up being a hit for us.”
 “The Sugarland song was interesting to follow,” says KWOF (92-5 The Wolf) Denver PD Jonathan Wilde. “We did initially play an edited version, although the label never provided one. I thought for sure the rap was going to kill that song and it didn’t. Guess I was wrong. The song was—and still is—a huge hit and tests extremely well. When our listeners started asking why we didn’t play the full version, we realized it was time to put it in. [But] I don’t regret playing an edited version to begin with at all.
“Aldean’s song is going to be interesting to follow also,” Wilde continues. “It’s already very polarizing, and there’s no way to edit that song. It is what it is. Think how many songs you hated until you heard it a billion times and now you love it. Right now, the younger audience doesn’t have as much of a problem with it as does the more traditional country listener. Aldean is huge, though, and has a lot of fans. Will they help drive airplay on the song? Not sure.”
WDAF Kansas City PD Wes Poe played an edited version of the Sugarland song, but says, “I think this Aldean record will be a good indicator [of] whether the listeners want to hear [rap]. I haven’t started playing it yet, but it’s on my list of things to get on. I think it will either be something that could change the format, or be a spectacular failure. But I think a guy like Aldean, with his pedigree and track record, deserves a shot to see if it will work, and I’ll be paying close attention when I get it spinning.”
Thomas says Aldean’s new single is under discussion at her station. “We think it has a place for country fans—but radio may not be the place,” she says. “So far, we’ve had no calls or requests for it, so I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. He’s a big enough name that he might get played in light rotation, evenings and weekends.
“Colt Ford is another story,” Thomas adds. “While he has a huge following, we’ve never played him on the radio. I think it’s perfect party music, but not something you want to hear during the workday.”
Some programmers, including Medina, try to avoid editing singles. “There are plenty of songs where I have opinions about how they’re put together, but as long as my business card says program director and not A&R, or executive producer, or artist, I try and leave the song arrangement to the experts,” he says. “I’m not saying I’ve never edited a record, but mostly it’d be for questionable content or something to that effect. I don’t think we’ve ever done an edit for a country song on KNIX since I’ve been here.”
Like Medina, WKHK Richmond, Va., PD Buddy Van Arsdale is more cautious in making edits. “If they test, we play them as is,” he says of songs that include rap. “It’s the listeners’ choice, not ours.”
Taking an historical view, Van Arsdale and Wilson both point out that spoken word segments have long been a part of country songs.
“It’s sort of the new version of ‘recitations’ in songs,” Van Arsdale says of the rap trend. “In some of the old country songs I heard growing up, the artist would stop singing and recite a verse. For instance, ‘Still’ by Bill Anderson. Or how about the ultimate country talk song, ‘Teddy Bear’ by Red Sovine. You can’t even hum that.”
Adds Wilson, “When you think about country music history, we’ve had ‘talking songs’ in the recent past with George Strait, Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney each ‘talking’ their way through a verse or two. Even way back Johnny Cash did it. What’s going on now with Jason [and] Sugarland is, in my view, a fresh approach, and puts a contemporary spin on this style.
“The listeners and general public will vote with their dollars,” she adds. “We’ll see if these songs turn into hits and are downloaded and purchased.”
Overall, WKHK’s Van Arsdale doesn’t see rap in country as a negative, but he has one amusing caveat: “If Jason Aldean starts rapping about his homies and bitches and capping cops,” he says, “Then we have a problem.”
Got an opinion to share about country rap? E-mail me at phyllisstark@radio-info.com.
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Feedback File: Readers On Thompson Square
 Tuesday’s “Anatomy of a Hit” feature on Thompson Square’s No. 1 hit “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not” generated quite a bit of reader feedback, including the two notes below. If you missed the original story, you can read it right here.
• “What a great song. We played it right out of the box because, well, it sounded good. Some PDs/MDs need to get over themselves and their huge egos. This is usually what is behind not playing a good song. They need to be right about it, and will actually try to make that happen. Or, they play it so safe, like consultants who tell every station they consult ‘Just play the hits’ and spout the old, outdated radio adage ‘You can’t get hurt by what you don’t play’ which, in my opinion, is totally incorrect in today’s environment. You can get hurt quite badly by what you don’t air. There’s too many alternative choices, and you’ll get left behind and seem dated all because you ‘played it safe’ instead of doing the job you were hired to do—present the best entertainment available on your radio station.” —Denis “Catfish” Miller, PD KCHQ (Q102) Idaho Falls, Idaho
• “[Stoney Creek Records regional] Shelley Hargis deserves credit for her hard work and for helping out non-reporter stations that wanted to play, and did play, this song early and often. Listening to the song and having personalities who know how to introduce a new song by a new group should come in for some praise, too.” —Pam Shane, Shane Media
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 Phyllis Stark is the executive editor, country music at Radio-Info.com. A Music Row veteran and longtime journalist, Stark has been reporting extensively on the radio and music industries for two decades and previously was Nashville bureau chief at Billboard magazine and Billboard.com. She can be reached at phyllisstark@radio-info.com and by phone at 615-260-7321. Her mailing address is 1811 Shackleford Rd., Nashville, TN 37215.
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Each week, our sister publication, Ross On Radio, highlights station concerts taking place across the country in all formats. Here’s a look at some upcoming station shows from country outlets. To see the full list of upcoming shows in every format, 
