Taylor Swift giving the cold shoulder to country radio stations?

I get a lot of emails from people who want to gripe about this thing or that. I generally I just let people use me as a sounding board but don't pass the info onto you guys.  But then occasionally there's something that makes me go hmmmm. This is definitely one of those things. 

Now if you've been coming here for very long you know I love me some Taylor Swift.  I think she's fab (yeah, I said fab, I'm just in that sort of mood). But if this is true then I think it's a bit crappy.

I got an email today from a DJ who wanted to remain anonymous (probably a smart move) but was more than a little angry.  It was a pretty long email, but the gist was that this DJ's country station was being offered a prerecorded interview with Taylor, while the local pop station is getting a live interview with the teen star. Now prerecorded doesn't sound real bad unless you consider the fact that the DJ(s) wouldn't actually get to talk with Taylor, her peeps would send Taylor answering questions and the DJs would pretend they were talking to Taylor.  From the email.... 

The local POP STATION Has been promoting their BIG TAYLOR SWIFT INTERVIEW FOR A FULL 36 hours--thats right POP station. WE --THE COUNTRY STATION are being sent a RECORDED INTERVIEW we can make our own--Ya know we ask the questions and play her recorded responses. ALL THE WHILE THE POP STATION GETS HER LIVE.

When my gypped DJ friend asked why the pop station got a live interview while the country station had to make do with a prerecorded one she was told, "They are concentrating their effort on getting the #1 at pop this week."

IM SORRY WE CALL BULLSH**--TAYLOR YOU WERE JUST NOMINATED FOR FOUR CMA'S INCLUDING ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR AND YOUR FOCUS THIS WEEK IS WHAT?????

Well my DJ friend, you certainly have a point and I can definitely understand your frustration.  Taylor's a busy gal and I know she can't humanly do it all, but should she be focusing on country or pop?  What do you guys think? 

{photo via Deviant Art}

Comments

[cyn]

I could careless about Taylor Swift. The girl can't sing.. Yes she has all these teen and young people fans that why she is popular...she sings to them. that little '15' song. blah blah. Yeah young girls like her because they can relate to her... but talent I dont think she has much of it. She is in NO way country.....alot of these new so called country stars aren't even singing country music. Back to Taylor.. How in the world she won entertainer of the year is beyond me.. much less female vocalist..It's her time right now I guess.

[KgatorKerri]

OK, here is the deal! The way I see it is there is NOT just country, rock, jazz, blues, etc. All music nowadays is mixed together. You can't just classify any type of music, it is always going to have infiltrators no matter what! I adore Taylor Swift, no matter what "style" of music she sings. My daughter and I have been to 3 of her concerts, one before the Fearless tour where she was just up on a stage and singing. She is a really good performer period. Taylor is living her dream and whether or not she reaches in or out of "country" music is up to her. There is a demand for her music all over, so re-mixing a song or two to fit on a "pop" station should not be a big deal, fans wanted it, Taylor gave it to them. Personal choice period.

[Adam]

I think she has used country music and country fans as a stepping stone to get into pop music. She is almost 20 years old and knows exactly what she is doing and probably laughing at our expense. She can not sing worth crap and should never win as a female vocalist ever. I do not think she should be nominated for ANYTHING IN THE COUNTRY CATAGORY. She should go over to pop where they don't care if you can sing or not and leave country to artists that can sing and love countrymusic. And PLEASE stop gushing Taylor--it is very annoying.

[hjhj]

She is not just both. She makes a song and then changes it to something else. She is only country when it is convenient for her. And not only does she remix, but on every tour date she plays the remixes.

[Lara]

I listened to the Radio link above and to me the Radio dude was waaayyy off line. He was asked NICELY by Taylor ANNNND the lady before to move on with other questions. The incident at the AMA awards is over, its done and the girl is just trying to get over it. This guy just cant shut up. He is rude, obnoxious to someone who is graciously giving time out of her BUSY day so he will have listeners! The whole time I am listening to this idiot pound and insist on asking, i was thinking to myself, "and she is just 17!" This guy is talking to a 17 year old girl like this. She was greatly affected by kenye's obvious idiocracy, lets not pour salt in those wounds. I respect her for not wanting to USE that moment to attract publicity. It wasnt rigged and she refuses to use it to benefit her. That for one shows the type of person she is.
Let me ask this. If you told a telemarketer that you are not interested and they kept it up not once but 4 times, what would you have done? Kudos Taylor! There are still people out there that would love to see you fail so they try to make you look a SNIPIE spoiled brat. Stupid Jealous people!!!!

[Lara]

Faith Hill, Kerry Underwood, Wynona, and bunches more have won in both categories. If the Artist can do that, then why not. TAYLOR can only be in one place at a time. Its not as if she is turning down an interview all together! Taylor has been more pop like with her style. However, she still has a banjo and a violin in her music. Try seeing Beyonce have those. If she kicks the Pop stars rears with her sales and fans then she has earned the accolades. Just because she isnt sitting in a honky tonk singing songs about being a Red NEck WOH-MAN doesnt mean she is not country. To me, She is both. How many of you country girls also listen, and sing along to BOTH country and POP! I did, and if I wrote songs it would show in my art. Its just her personality. She is very Young still and these are her words and sound. I for one, love that she is different and a what you see is what you get person. Nothin' fake here. Nothing groomed by others to make money off of. She is her own self. Country, simple, but youth and still fun loving innocense. She aint a Drunk, Bar hoppin, red neck WOHHHH MAN!!

[music city]

taylor isnt being allowed to do her interviews without her publicst there, her publicst will be fired, call big machine records and complain.her publicst wouldnt even let her talk on radio about what the card said that janet jackson sent her after the vma incident. so yea, its not taylors fault, its her publicst doing all this and making taylor look bad.

[hjhj]

It gets annoying when people say that Taylor Swift's songs simply crossed over. Before he Cheats crossed over, Taylor remixed. I don't believe that she took a bullet for country music. Taking a bullet for country music would have been playing the country version of her song, or not remixing an entire album for Europe. At the VMAs she said she was a country singer as the remix of her song played behind her. Then she tries to act like she is the only country singer ever to win a VMA, meanwhile, they played the pop version of her song on the video. Other artists in the past have remixed and the country community was furious, now people are trying to defend her for doing the same thing. She wants pop sales and country awards. She only wants to be country when it benefits her. On her tour, she sings all of the pop remixes. Even her performance at the ACMS was not really country. I absolutely love her first album, but now she has changed.

[jessica. cook]

I think Taylor Swift will always be a country music singer
but she is a country music singer with pop appeal. I don't like someone because of the genre they are from i like them because i like the songs they sing and i like the sound of their voice.lots of singers cross over into different genres all the time but that just makes them more talented and that also means that the singer can appeal to a wider audience.look at people like Shania Twain when she was the biggest thing in country music they used to always talk about how a lot of her music crossed over into different genres just the same way there doing with Taylor now, but all this time later since the 90's everyone still classes Shania twain as a country music singer even though during the height of her career her music crossed over to the pop audience as well,so the same thing most likely applies to Taylor she will always be known as a country music singer

as long as Taylor Swift is happy with her music career I'm happy too.

[jessica cook]

i think they might choose to now do pop music radio stations to promote Taylor as Taylor swift is already known by the country music crowd but by putting Taylor on pop stations she can be introduced to more people who may not be listening to country radio .so i think it is a smart move to get Taylor on a variety of station.some people might not have found out about the great talent of Taylor swifts song writing and singing if Taylor didn't go on pop radio

[jessica cook]

I think Taylor Swift will always be a country music singer
but she is a country music singer with pop appeal. I don't like someone because of the genre they are from i like them because i like the songs they sing and i like the sound of their voice.lots of singers cross over into different genres all the time but that just makes them more talented and that also means that the singer can appeal to a wider audience.look at people like Shania Twain when she was the biggest thing in country music they used to always talk about how a lot of her music crossed over into different genres just the same way there doing with Taylor now, but all this time later since the 90's everyone still classes Shania twain as a country music singer even though during the height of her career her music crossed over to the pop audience as well,so the same thing most likely applies to Taylor she will always be known as a country music singer

as long as Taylor Swift is happy with her music career I'm happy too.

[Ranger station]

I'm not surprised at this because I think once Taylor experienced the success at POP she was all for that direction as her tour concerts proved this past spring - all the songs she performed at the concert I went to were the Pop versions -and I think her label wants her to be a POP success also - Carrie Underwood never released a POP version of Before He Cheats - Carrie believes that a songs quality is compromised when you format it to another genre and won't allow her songs to be changed. Before He Cheats was a successful crossover hit in it's original form.

[Courtney]

When Taylor first became famous, Carrie was on top of country music mountain. Now Taylor's on top, but it looks like she's preparing to jump over to pop mountain. If she does, I hope she stays there, instead of jumping back and forth. I hope that Kellie Pickler gets her turn on top of the mountain. She is more country than Taylor or Carrie.

[hjhj]

What I don't like is that a few months ago her label released an article saying that she was more pop than country, then she tries to say she's country when its convenient(her label's video of why she should win CMA awards). At every concert, she plays the pop version of her songs(she even played the pop Love Story at the opry). She also says that ahe doesn't think about genres, she just writes the songs. Then why does she remix her country songs? I loved her first album, now she is not who she used to be. Also, I think that every time country music supports her, its like telling Miranda,Carrie, Kellie,ect.. to remix to pop and be more successful.

[Frank Bell]

Last Sunday night, Taylor Swift took a bullet for Country music. The first words out of her mouth - before she was so rudely interrupted - dealt with the pride she felt as the first Country artist to win a VMA. That some Country DJ is offended because his competitor got a "live" vs. "taped" interview says more about his oversized ego than it does about Taylor. Good luck finding any artist who's done more to service Country radio in the last five years with interviews, liners, autographs, and hand-written notes. She's the real deal, in a very Country sense, and has sold more cd's and brought more positive attention to Country music than any other artist in recent memory. Without question, she deserves to be voted CMA Entertainer of the Year

[K]

I like some of Taylor's songs, and seems like a sweet, humble person in the world of peseduo, rude celeberties posing as nice individuals to appeal to the public.

That being said though, I honestly don't know how people refer her as a country artist; there are factors about her success that don't add up to me. She was a country artist with her first album, but there is debate whether she still is. Why was there no argument of this before "Fearless?" Because there was NO doubt her debut was country.

If Taylor was country, why would she remix her songs, appear on MTV and let her label make statements that she IS a pop without her knowledge? If she thinks people will accept her as country, why did she remix her songs only AFTER success at pop radio? If she is country why does it seem ironic that the only time she has ever pronounced herself as so was at the MTV awards? Artists like Carrie say they are proud to be country, whether it is at The Grammy's ACM's, CMA's or anywhere else.

Deb:

Carrie DID NOT remix "Before He Cheats." That version was released without her knowledge, and it can even been done without another vocal track.

Even if that version was relased, the ORIGINAL was the only one played on country and pop stations. Taylor's REMIXES get played at pop radio, not originals.

If Taylor is a "country" artists why don't artists in this genre get the same treatment she does? Rascal Flatts is the top selling band this decade as example. Carrie is the most successful Idol Winner, and Kenny is the top selling ticket seller of the decade.

Equal success. Different treatments because of genre lablels. Period.

[K]

I like a few of Taylor's songs and I think she seems like a sweet, humble person in a world of fake entertainers.

However, I do agree with everyone that says she needs to pick which genere she belongs in. If she says she's country, she should stop remixing her songs, appearing on MTV and letting her label make statements about how they saw her as a pop artist from the begining.

I think this example of choosing to cater to pop radio is pretty crappy BUT Taylor is probably doing anymore to promote herself than any other artist in that position.

Deb,

Carrie DID NOT release "Before He Cheats" to pop radio. She said on her fan club that the remix was released without her knowledge and she never approved it. The popular version was in its original form and it blew up at country and pop radio.

Taylor's REMIXES blow up radio- not her original country recordings.

Also, this site should not be bashed for this story; they are just reporting a proplexing somehwat odd story for their readers to discuss.

I think Taylor deserves an Entertainer nomination but NOT a win. She is successful, yes, but much of her crossover success comes from pop fans.

How the heck else did she land on a Rolling Stone, Teen People, Blender and such? How did she land a spot on CSI? How did she land spots on MTV, a performance on the VMA's much less a nomination and a win?

No one can honestly sit her and say it's because she's a country artist. If that was the case every artist in this genre would get as much attention as Swift.

Take Carrie, Rascal Flatts and Kenny as examples. They are all huge stars in country, right? Rascal Flatts are in the top ten tours of music, and the top selling BAND (notice I didn't say country band) this decade. Kenny is the top OVERALL ticket seller of the decade, and he is enormously successful in the genre.

Carrie was the top-selling female touring artist of last year, she's a member of the Opry, and "Some Hearts" was the top-selling album by a female this decade. She had ten consecutive number one singles, which again broke another record. She became a member of the Oaklahoma Hall of Fame, hosted the CMA's and started a charity.

Why are these artists not getting the attention Ms. Swift is? They have accomplished just as much as her, right? It's because they DON'T cater to pop and sell themselves as two completly different artists to sell albums.

If Taylor is so popular as a "country" artist, why didn't "Tim McGraw" explode and make her a crossover superstar as soon as it hit radio? Why did "Our Song," "Love Story" and "Teardrops On My Guitar" get remixed only AFTER she had her first successful song at POP radio?

Funny...the only time I EVER heard her refer to herself as a country artist was at the VMA's.

[Deb]

Taylor Swift is 'country' and doens't pigeon hole her music like ya'll think she should. That's old school. She isn't anymore pop than Carrie Underwood or many others.

Taylor Swift deserved the nod for EOTY and I hope like heck she wins it-- she is so deserving.

I'm very disapointed in this article posted by NashvilleGab. You go by the word of one 'maybe country dj' and let's play devils advocate here, and say it was true, as the DJ above told you all and he/she is the expert, it was/is the right thing for Taylor to do! A great business woman, come on her song is #2 right now on pop.

Carrie Underwood released 'Before He Cheats' to Pop radio! Yet, she was FAN voted ETOTY and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry! Go figure. Look up her Pop remix of 'bhc' on youtube.

Go Taylor. WE HOPE YOU WIN ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR and EVERYTHING you were nominated for.

[Diana]

I read a recent article that said Taylor's music was pop but Taylor herself was country. Maybe so. I like her personally but not her singing. How she got a nom for EOTY is as perplexing as how Darius Rucker got the nom in his category or how Heidi N got all those noms last year. There must certainly be a lot of politicking in these awards shows instead of awarding talent. It doesnt work either in fan voted awards, thats just which fanclub out votes another. If they keep bussing in these celebrities and rappers, etc. to present at country award shows, instead of using our singers, Im going to quit watching. The CMT video award show was awful, a Taylor Swift long running advertisement is what it was.

[Deb]

Guys you're all going overboard with this. Taylor is simply promoting her upcomming 'Fearless' re-release. That's it. Taylor is 'Country' and has NEVER pigeon holed her music.

Rock on Taylor. We love you.

[Sarah]

How she managed to get an Entertainer of the Year nomination is beyond me. There were much more deserving acts that should have gotten that nomination slot over her -- acts that truly do love country music.

Now, don't get me wrong. I like Taylor. I just wish she would pick a side. I can't stand it when she goes on pop shows and calls herself a "country artist". Sweetie, you haven't been a country artist since Fearless came out.

She's a pop artist, through and through, and I wish she'd just fess up to it. It'd make it a lot easier to like her. But I just can't respect the way she promotes herself.

[Gail]

I think she's young and naive. The record execs want as much money as they can get. They are pushing her around like a puppet. I think she thinks it's flattering. Who wouldn't at 19. Voted by the CMA for EOTY nominee still makes me scratch my head. hmmmm

[Courtney]

Taylor has done what so many artists are doing these days. She used country music as a sounding board so that she could jump headfirst into pop music. I loved Taylor's first song, Tim McGraw, because it was COUNTRY. I still like her CD's and her songs, but she should make a decision. Is she pop or is she country? if she feels like she should be in pop, she should leave country music. She should leave us all with nothing but a memory of what started off so promising, then changed. Don't get me wrong, I still like Taylor's country songs, but I think she should pick one or the other. I don't like pop music in general. Occasioally I'll hear a song I like. But I must say that Taylor's pop remixes are not the kind of thing I like. Leave them country, and get a new career and new songs if you want to do pop. Funny, the same kind of thing happened to LeAnn Rimes as she got older...and look how she turned out...

[cr]

It has always seemed to me that Taylor wanted to run with the Miley Cyrus/Jonas Brothers crowd. Her label, when promoting her abroad, said she wasn't really country but compared her to Avril Lavigne. There are alot of very talented country singers who can't catch a break on country radio, especially females. Maybe it's time for Taylor to make the break she has, imo, always wanted to make anyway.

[surely]

i call bs country music should be thankful to taylor bringing in new fans. her pop remixes are being played on POP radio! right, because those pop fans could hear Reba, B&D, George Strait, etc., on those POP stations?! who's watching her on the VMA's?! yeah, POP fans who couldn't care less what George's new single is! she's not bringing new fans to country music! she's just bringing new fans for HERSELF!!!!

you're going down taylor!

[K]

This is pretty crappy, but then again it's difficult to say that no other country artists would do the same thing if they were in her shoes. She's the biggest crossover artist since Shaina, and she using the fact that she had success in the format to gain new fans.

But then again, I also think it's crappy that Taylor is trying to play both sides of the fence by keeping her songs "country" for country radio and "pop" for pop radio.

Who can blame her though? Success and remixing gains her news fans who wouldn't dare listen to country radio to discover her; with remixes they don't have to. Remixes gain Taylor new fans AND more money as well.

As for the who Kanye interview? I'm on Team Taylor for this one. I listened to this interview, and the DJ was exteremly disrespectful and somewhat arrogant. Taylor asked him nicely to stop asking about Kanye bcause she had already discussed it earlier in the week. The DJ kept saying he "knew that" but then kept intterupting her, trying to wear her down and give in to his requests. Taylor DID disscuss the incident, and she was there to discuss her music; this is a radio station interview, not the Today Show or the Veiw.

Taylor did the right thing by walking away...kudos to her for avoiding another "foot in her mouth" comment, and remaining respectful to someone who was so incredibly righteous and rude.

[Jessica]

Bre - you don't bite the hand that feeds you...she had time before to do interviews to radio stations. Now she is turning her back to the ones that helped get her start in the business by not doing live interviews with country radio and focusing on pop radio.

How she got to be entertainer of the year nomination is beyond me. Oh yeah, that's right - the record companies buy memberships for their workers to vote for the awards. Award win = more records sold = more money for the company.

[Matt]

Anonymous equals gutless.
There is no artist in America that has dedicated more time, effort and attention to country radio than Taylor Swift. She calls us, visits us, set up the T-Room for country radio at her concerts and while other artists blow us off at CRS, she hits all the events and puts in more time than the new artists. She knows our names when we see her and she has hugged us all. Most radio MDs and PDs have heart felt thank you notes from Taylor Swift. Few other Country Artists do that. Her song is #2 at Pop and she is doing what any smart businesswoman would do, she is getting it to #1. Good for her, good for country radio and the country format. If all artists paid attention to country radio the way she does, we would all be in good shape. No one works harder. We appreciate that.

[Bre]

People need to grow up who cares what genre of music Taylor is? Country or Pop what's re big deal she's still an amazing singer and person... This freaking Kanye West thing is starting to get to big... I think we should all just forget about it and move on as Taylor is trying to do! And so what if you get a prerecorded interview atleast your getting one! So she's been really busy lately and can't do a live interview for everystation! Come on Taylors got a life and she a big star who has to make good choices, so she doesn't make herself look like an ass such as Kanye (Loser) West!

[Julia]

Yeah, this REALLY bothers me! I personally wish she would stay the heck away from country music, and live her happy little pop life. It's not that I don't like her, it's just all so FAKE! In my opinion, if an artist is country, he/she should stick to country! If a country song is popular on pop radio, great! but does she SERIOUSLY have to re-mix every song for pop radio attend the VMAs, and apparently pick pop station interviews over country stations, etc? Come on taylor, you're gonna have to choose country or pop soon, or lose fans.

[linda]

i hope so too she is suck anyway

[Jessica]

What is even funnier...Tuesday they prearranged a "radio interview tour" with POP stations. The very first interview, she got snippy when they asked about the whole Kanye incident. How many in here watched her on "The View"? Yeah, the viewing audience is not the same as the listening audience of a pop radio station. A station out of Tampa asked her about the incident and here is the playback (website where you then click it).

http://mj.933flz.com/pages/mainfeed.html?feed=204719&article=6029616

I remember when Taylor was singing in Wal-marts across the country begging for folks to hear her. Her shows became pop, she started flipping her hair around on the head that just got bigger with a little bit of extra cash in her pocket. Now she wants folks to not ask her about the incident with Kanye West. The girl honestly has no talent besides screaming and shrilling vocals that need constant protools. I bet if you asked her to sing a song by Lynn Anderson, Connie Smith, Brenda Lee, and other classic country women, she would say "who are those folks?"

If she didn't want the attention, then she shouldn't have signed the contract in ink to get in this business.

[Dawne]

I love Taylor Swift!

[Renae]

Okay let me first start by saying that I was a fan of Taylor at first when "Tim McGraw" came out and all that jazz. Went to see her when she was on tour with Brad Paisley and everything. She was "country". Then her people or maybe it was her started pushing towards "Pop" crap which really sucks! Either she should have started pop or stayed Country. She has all of these Country fans and it's kind of like a slap in our faces. I still had hope when I went to her concert this past summer, but she Popped up her songs even at her concert. It really bummed me out! At least I got to see Kellie and Gloriana. And this article makes me a whole lot angrier when I see this crap about her doing that to the Radio stations. I can't believe after the Academy had recognized her as possibly the next Entertainer of the Year she would do that to the Country community. Does she know that had the Country stations not played her music she would be nowhere. All pop stars fade away...Country stars stay for a very long time. I hope to god that she doesn't win...