Ask Kix…Everything you wanna know about country music! Our listeners submit their questions about country music and Kix will answer…
This week's question is from Joan in Alberta, Canada who writes…
Dear Kix,
First of all, I have been listening to ACC for 23 years, and I truly look forward to the Countdown every weekend. Your hosting and quirky comments always keep me tuning in… Keep up the great work!
My question is: Why does it seem that there are numerous songs coming out, around the same time, with the same theme: oceans, wrecking balls, trucks, etc. I’m thinking that the record companies get together and decide collectively that there needs to be songs written about X, and then the songwriters go at it and magically write those songs… Am I close at all?
Thanks,
Joan
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Kix's Response:
Well, thanks for listening, Joan…
And, you’re right. There does seem to be an abundance of songs about trucks and tailgates and bonfires and beaches, but it’s not the record companies that ask for these songs – in a round about way – it’s actually you guys!
What??? Yeah!!!
It kind of goes like this: A certain kind of song becomes a big hit and it goes to number one because the folks listening are liking it and requesting it and people buy millions of copies… And then, a lot of these great songwriters around here go, "Hmm… Well, that worked. Let’s write another one of those." And, some artist goes, "Well, that sounds like a hit," and they record it and put it out and you guys go “Love that one, too” and ask to hear it again and it goes to number one and it sells a million and on and on… until you guys don’t want to hear anymore songs about trucks and tailgates and beaches!
I say it all the time, you guys are the boss of what we do. If you change the channel because you don’t like a song, we find out about it. If you don’t come to see us play because you don’t like those songs, we are out of business. But, right now more tickets are being bought for shows and more downloads of these songs are being purchased than ever before, so it’s hard to argue that it’s not working, and themes do go in cycles…
Also, there’s a thing called a "pitch sheet" that goes out to songwriters. It tells what kinds of songs artist are looking for. I remember a time back when I was writing songs for a living when it said “no drinking songs” and now it’s the "party songs” that are selling. I”m proud to say great songs like "The House That Built Me" are still appreciated too, but those songs are very special and just don’t come along that often. Hopefully, some great songwriter is working away at one of those right now!
Good question, Joan. Thanks for listening!
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