Beyoncé is getting played on country radio. Could her success help other Black women?
DON GONYEA, HOST:
Why would one country music station based in rural Oklahoma make national headlines for a song it did not play after a listener requested it? Well, here's the song.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TEXAS HOLD 'EM")
BEYONCE: (Singing) This ain't Texas, ain't no hold 'em. So lay your cards down, down, down, down...
GONYEA: That's "TEXAS HOLD 'EM," a brand-new song by Beyonce, certainly one of the very biggest pop stars in the world but, up until now, not known for being a country star. NPR Music contributor Amanda Marie Martinez joins us now for more. Amanda, thank you for being with us.
AMANDA MARIE MARTINEZ, BYLINE: Thanks so much for having me.
GONYEA: It took less than a day for KYKC to reverse course and air Beyonce's new song. Amanda, what did Beyonce's fans and, I guess, more broadly, fans of country music have to say about this episode?
MARTINEZ: Yeah, well, fans were outraged after a fan showed that she received a message from the station saying, hi, we do not play Beyonce on KYKC, as we are a country music station. Now, the station later claimed that they were not yet aware that Beyonce had released these singles. But nevertheless, it reignited this really ongoing conversation about artists of color in country music and the lack of opportunities that they've been given.
GONYEA: There have been a lot of studies and analyses of country radio over the past couple of decades that have shown how overwhelmingly similar the artists played on country radio are, right? What do those studies tell us?
MARTINEZ: Right. These statistics are quite stark. There is one study done by Dr. Jada Watson where she looked at the country radio charts between 2002 and 2020 and found that just 3% of artists played on country radio are artists of color, and two-thirds of those 3% were by solo men.
GONYEA: But the lack of diversity in country radio playlists and in song selection - I understand it is not mirrored when you look at the actual genre of country music. So when and how did country radio - again, we're talking about radio here - come to be so completely dominated by white male artists?
MARTINEZ: By the time something known as format radio emerged in the 1950s - this idea where you would have certain stations that would not only play certain types of music but certain types of music that were catered toward specific demographics. And the reality is that radio is driven by advertisers. And in the case of country radio, decisions were made to cater to advertisers that particularly were interested in white women. So I think that over time, country radio has really prioritized playing male artists because they view their demographic as wanting to listen to these attractive male singers who are singing them love songs.
GONYEA: We think of artists like Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Tammy Wynette. Was it - even back in their day, this was a problem?
MARTINEZ: Yes. The '90s, if anything, was probably an exceptional period for country music in terms of chart play. But even these huge names like Reba - they have absolutely faced these barriers, as well.
GONYEA: I guess the impossible question - does anybody think maybe this is a big moment, maybe even a pivot point that can begin to change the history of of what we've been discussing here?
MARTINEZ: I am cynical that country radio will change. I think with the way that they're reacting to the Beyonce singles - shows that they are continuing to view their consumer as white suburban women, as soccer moms, as one radio programmer has called it. But we've seen how Black communities within country music have created their own communities, and we're seeing that now with things like the Black Opry, who just started a record label. There's an artist - a Black woman country artist named Tanner Adell. And even when you listen to her songs, she has lyrics saying things like, looking like Beyonce with a lasso.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BUCKLE BUNNY")
TANNER ADELL: (Singing) Like cattle, looking like Beyonce with a lasso. I'm a buckle bunny. Drive my own truck, got my own money. Banging with the chaw, so I talk funny. Rhinestone...
MARTINEZ: So I am hopeful that this will bring more opportunities to create sustainable careers for Black country artists.
GONYEA: That's NPR music contributor Amanda Marie Martinez. Amanda, thank you very much.
MARTINEZ: Thanks so much for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BUCKLE BUNNY")
ADELL: (Singing) ...Little tummy. Can't take nothing from me. I'm a buckle bunny.
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