Country Music Listings confusion.....?!?

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ljweber70
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Country Music Listings confusion.....?!?

Post by ljweber70 » Sun Sep 09, 2007 4:55 pm

I've been a country music fan all of my life but am running into a bit of confusion on the industries' country music "categories".... In July, I joined TAXI and immediately submitted 5 or 6 of my demos to ALL of the country listings at that time. (I'm learning!) As I am getting my critiques back, its obvious that those songs do not belong in the "country pop" genre and shouldn't have been submitted in the first place. However, I've had multiple screener's review the same song (for different listings) and have contradictory remarks regarding "genre." IE: the same song has been labeled "right on" for a "contemporary" country listing, "too traditional" for another "contemporary" listing and "not close enough to listing" for a "neo traditional listing". I'm a bit confused with the terminology and frustrated in determining what "category" my songs fall in and accordingly, what listings to submit to. What specifically makes a song "contemporary country" vs. "neo traditional" vs. "traditional"? For example, some listings want "neo" traditional country -- "think Brad Paisley..." What makes Brad Paisley's music "neo" ?? In my opinion, Brad Paisley is a traditional country artists with a "neo" production on his CD's. Providing the screener loves everything else about the song, can my production be the deciding factor whether or not I get the forward? Surely I don't need a regular and "club mix" of a song for submissions..?? Any guidance in this area would be greatly appreciated!Thank you,Larry Weber

squidlips
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Re: Country Music Listings confusion.....?!?

Post by squidlips » Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:21 pm

I know. It is confusing. And I don't even write for country! To me, 'neo' would be Rascal Flatts or some of the new ones that are crossing over into pop or crossing over FROM pop (like Jewel, etc). Brad could never make that crossover. It's really tough to work out how to choose songs wisely when it comes to listings. I've chosen the same type of listings and the same songs to go with them with forwards and rejections both, telling me I'm a perfect fit or I'm WAY off base. It's a quandary. I wish I had a reasonable explanation for you but I bet someone here does. Good luck and congrats on the forwards, that's really an excellent percentage you've got going there!

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Re: Country Music Listings confusion.....?!?

Post by nknjmes » Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:18 pm

I submit for pop, contemporary, and neo country listings too. You're right, its tough to decipher. I've had songs considered on target and sometimes not on target for similar listings. The way you produce the song will help a lot. The melody and lyrics are key, so you might have to adjust your production to match the style of the "ala" artist in the listing. Sometimes going simple is your best bet. Good luck.

ljweber70
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Re: Country Music Listings confusion.....?!?

Post by ljweber70 » Mon Sep 10, 2007 3:14 am

I'm sorry, I posted this thread to the wrong forum. It's been moved to the listings forum.Larry

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