Is Country Music Becoming Too Commercial?
Country music is one of the biggest music genres in America with 42% of the population being fans and dominates the radio stations of many of the US states. Most commonly, areas such as Texas and the South are the devoted fans of country music and revel in the religious lyrics and purity of the artists. There are a number of big named artists that have dominated the country music scene and with regular breakthrough acts the music niche has been one of the largest.
New acts, regardless of their musical style, are constantly joining the music industry, something that Wow247 are focused on highlighting, in order to boost the involvement within the industry and to raise the profile of up and coming artists. Country music does not have the type of following across the globe as it does in America and the number of new artists within this niche is beginning to fall. The distinct lack of popularity and falling enthusiasm towards the genre in America is causing country music stars to engage in musical crossovers in order to increase their own levels of success.
The Change to Country Music
Prior to the trend in crossovers, country music was based on being non sexualised and religious and artists promoted themselves as pure and innocent and as strong role models for fans but as the demographic are changing, so too are the artists.
The target demographic of country music was typically people aged 45 years with a higher income and strong moral and ethical beliefs with a focus on religion. As the demographic has begun to change the needs from music have evolved and the specific demographic has evolved to include a younger audience with a significantly smaller focus on religious references.
Pop music is and will possibly always be the most popular genre of music with a high number of fans, downloads and artists and performers. Country music is gradually being incorporated into pop music with country performers entering the pop music charts with songs that contain the elements, which have made country music so successful in the past.
Artist Needs and Influences
There are a number of country music stars that are responsible for the changes to the music scene and are indulging in cross overs in a bid to increase their visibility and audience engagement and ultimately their fan base. Country music is a niche that has a specific audience base and whilst stars may be big in America, they can be relatively unknown in other parts of the world.
Artists such as Shania Twain and Taylor Swift have regularly featured in both the country and pop charts and have dramatically increased their profiles often being considered more of a pop performer than a country star.
The crossovers are leading to more sexualisation as country artists breaking into the pop charts are competing against other artists such as Rihanna and therefore need to emulate her attitude and behaviour.
What Lies Ahead for Country Music?
The marketplace for country music has changed dramatically and the religious connotations within songs have been replaced with more of an uplifting and generalised view through music.
Country music is not what it was and as artists continue to campaign to raise their profile, they are changing the country scene beyond recognition, something that is unlikely to be regained to make it the high profile, unique niche that it once was.
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