Country music is stupid”. “Country music is only about religion and trucks”. “Country music is the worst type of all music”. “Country music has no meaning”. These are just some of the few sayings I have heard multiple times throughout my life that have left me utterly stunned. This is a genre of music that I have listened to my whole life and found more relatable and beautiful than any other form of music. That being said, hearing these things come from other people has always made me wonder why. Why they feel this way and why are they not giving it more of a chance? How can someone listen to the classics like Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, etc. and not appreciate their music? Even today, how are artists like Luke Bryan, Sam Hunt, Kenney Chesney, and Carrie Underwood not more widely adored? A lot of people I have heard from believe country music is a dying genre now that it has transformed from the classic approach it used to have. The research I have done and the sources I have found will help to understand when the sudden change in country music occurred, why people did not agree with it, and how it is still happening today.

Country music is a genre that has been around for nearly 300 years and started near Bristol, Tennessee and the Appalachian Mountains where they sang folk music and fiddle tunes that came from the British Isles. Although the beginning of country music was not nearly what it is like now, it still had the same basic principles and form to it. The first recorded instance of country music can be traced back to around 1927 with a man named Ralph Peer. Peer worked for Victor Records at the time and traveled to Bristol in search of something different for the music industry. He ended up coming across two different acts and signing them with record deals. The first was The Carter family from Virginia who played this old-time mountain music and ended up forming many generations of country music artists. The second was Jimmie Rodgers, a former railroad worker from North Carolina. He was a yodeler who sang ballads. These artists laid the groundwork of country music and gave other artists like these the opportunity to present their skills (“Birthplace of Country Music”). As mentioned, the original forms of country music started off as more folk, fiddle, and mountain music. This being said, it was more generational and meaningful for certain people and not as universally relatable. Once this was recognized, the music started to transform into what we know as “classic country”. This type of music started to become more relatable and liked among those in the region where it was created and then to those across the country as well. But with changes does come problems. Even though the changes were for the better overall and made the genre more popular among more people, as they say “nobody likes change”. This started to cause issues with those who originally created the genre and type of sound that country had. With everything that goes through change, kinks have to be worked out and issues will have to be fixed before anything can be perfected. The music industry is one that is constantly changing and is never going to please everyone. 

As mentioned above, one of the main issues regarding country music is the changes that have occurred and how it is currently represented compared to what it was in the past. Many people are still big supporters of the genre and die-hard fans while others have no interest in the music at all. I personally am a fan but would like to look more into why this negativity occurs. Three of the points I have researched are the when, why, and how all the changes to country music happened and whether they were positive or not. 

Changes within this genre cannot be pin pointed to one single time. These changes have occurred ever since this type of music was formed. With that being said, the changes did come in many different forms. Some including the artists themselves, the lyrics, the sound, as well as the instruments used. The typical instrument that is still used in country is the acoustic guitar. This was one of the main instruments used when the genre was first created and stayed that way for a very long time. After a while though, the sound started to shift. Daniel Neill of the Memorial University of Newfoundland did research on how the steel guitar made its appearance into the country world and created this new sound around the mid 1900’s. In 1980, Stephan Holden of the New York Times said, “where disco’s characteristic instrument was the spacey synthesizer, and new waves an agitated bass guitar, country’s essential sound is the nostalgic sigh of the steel pedal guitar” (QUOTED WITHIN THE WEBSITE HELP FROM SINGIN), after he inferred that country music’s shift in focus was a result of the new form of patriotism as well as a reaction to disco, which was popular at the time (FROM SINGIN TO CRYIN). The phrase “Nashville sound” was created and used around this same time as a reaction to this finally noticeable shift in the genre. The term comes simply from the fact that these newer songs were being recorded in a set few studios in Nashville. The newer more commercial songs being created in the mid 1900’s relied, “heavily on a smoother lead vocal crooning style, background choir groups, and orchestrated strings” (TANDFONLINE). These newer more “pop” songs used more instruments and had a much larger production to them when being compared to the classic sounds of country. They originally had very few instruments associated with this genre and let the song be heard as raw as it could, but this new Nashville sound made the songs a story and an opportunity to make art not just a song. Jeremy Hill discusses this topic by saying, “the sonic change associated with the Nashville sound gave rise to heated debates about whether or not the new sound could still be called “true country,” and these debates often centered specifically on the geography of the fans and locations of where the new music was conceived and produced” (TANDFONLINE). He goes on to explain how these different regions began to create different forms of country music. The Nashville area was creating music with the new “Nashville sound”, which was beginning to be the sound of country, while the other prime recording areas like New York or California were sticking to the older more orchestrated music. While this was beneficial for those who wanted to get in to this new sound of country, those who related more to the old sound did not have a positive reaction. Some of the most prominent defenders of country music when it comes to this topic say that although the instrumental sounds of the music was changing, the storyline and lyrics in the songs still had the some dominating values and meaning behind them (TANDFONLINE). It is widely known that country is the music of the south. If you travel anywhere above the mason dixon line, country music is not nearly the most popular today. This is due to this new found sound that the music has and how it is more relatable to those in the south than those in the north. 

One of the most obvious questions to ask when researching this topic is why do certain people flat out not agree with the music. As previously mentioned, some has to do with the sound of the music itself but there are so many more reasons of why people express that they simply hate country music. One approach Eric Rasmussen and Rebessca L. Densley took when looking into the issues with this genre was the way that women are portrayed within the music. These authors did research with 750 different popular country songs between the years 1990-2014 and looked within the lyrics of how females are represented. They found that, “songs from 2010 to 2014 were less likely to portray women in traditional roles, non-traditional roles, family roles, and as empowered than songs that were popular in the first half of one or both prior decades” (RASMUSSEN). They also saw that these more modern songs talked about women in a more sexual fashion and as objects compared to the older more traditional lyrics. With feminism becoming a more and more known topic and issue within politics today, these facts alone could turn many people off towards the idea of country music and the all the songs within this genre (RASMUSSEN/DENSLEY).  Another assumption when it comes to country music is unfortunately race. Many assume that this genre is only for the white race and no one else is a fan or can relate to it. A black women went on Steve Harvey’s tv show, stood up and flat out asked, “why do white people love country music so much?”.  Her reasons for not liking it herself were first that the lyrics are too slow and depressing and second that she can’t “twerk, drop it down low and bring it back up”. Steve Harvey’s response was one that shocked her. He said that he himself was a big country fan because of the lyrics. He goes on to explain that he thinks people can learn something from country music lyrics and not everything has to be about “dropping it low” (STEVE HARVEY VIDEO). Historically speaking, there have been only a few black artists who have made their main genre on music country. To name a few, Ray Charles, DeFord Bailey, Charley Pride, Darius Rucker, and even Tina Turner. Sadly, this is a reason that some stir away from this genre since they believe they would not be able to relate to the words being sung or the artists themselves. Another group of people have decided that the changes within country music industry only were made to make money and that it really has no meaning behind it. For example, Christine Barker with the American Marketing Association had an interview with Tom Worcester, the head of music brand partnerships at Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles. She asked him about how he thinks the country artists from his agency have improved in their success with endorsements over the past 10 years. His response was, “Artists have become much more comfortable with brands, in general, because they see it as a way to market themselves” (WORCESTER< CHRISTINE). Just this response would spark some debate amongst those who believe that the country music industry is only out for profit and not for the music itself. Overall, the lyrics, sound, and meaning behind country songs are some of the main reasons why they are disliked by so many. 

This major changes within the country music industry however are still happening today. With the genres of Hip Hop and Rap steadily increasing in popularity, country had to step up and make sure they were still one of the most listened to genres. With that being said, if the people wanted rap, country music was going to give it to them. One of the first country songs that boomed with popularity because of the small portion of rap included was Blake Shelton’s, “Boy ‘Round Here”. This song got him No. 2 on Billboards Top 100 Country Chart, that being his highest ranked song at that point in his career. This was one of the most surprising changes within country music seeming as Blake Shelton was known as one of the biggest traditionalists in the industry. Since then, more and more artists have taken this same approach, as in incorporating rap with country songs. Some may include, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean, and Sam Hunt (NYTIMES). One artist that change her country music around so much that it basically became a new genre, was Taylor Swift. Swift came into the music scene as a young teenage girl on an acoustic guitar singing about high school love and her small town background. Being a part of the millennial generation, Taylor Swift grew up with changing times and changing opinions. She took this fame and popularity she had built from the country industry and tried to conform to what was becoming popular with the generation of her listeners. This being said, she created more “pop” style songs and slowly drifted from country music as a whole. This has happened to multiple different artists from multiple different genres where they start in one place and then transform into something completely different. One example of it happening with an artist transforming into country is with Darius Rucker, an original member of rock group Hootie and the Blowfish. After no longer being a member of this group, Rucker made his break out into country music with “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It”, a single that lead him to Number 1 on the hot country song charts (BILLBOARD). These changes are just a few that have been going on in the country music industry today. 

On the flip side, those who do love these changes and love the way the music sounds will defend it to no end. This genre has taken over as the most popular radio format. These fans are die hard and help the artists be so successful that they are selling out stadiums and arenas left and right. Everyone has different reasons for why they connect to a certain type of music. For country, most people love it because of the stories the songs tell. The more popular opinion does think that the lyrics used by these artists seem more real and whole than other forms of music. Another aspect that is loved is the sound of the music. This is one of the only genres that have such a broad range of sound to the songs. Country music can range from both slow, emotional, ballads to upbeat, fun, energetic songs. There is no one form that these artists have to stick to. Another major positive is that this is music made for all ages. There is never a negative aspect to country that would be unapproved for a younger generation to listen to or learn from. These artists try to keep their music about real life and real experiences.

Overall, there are both positive and negative sides to every genre of music. Country has been one of debate since it was formed. Many people disagree with this genre and disagree with the changes that it has gone through. Figuring out the when, why, and how helped me to better understand why some of these listeners are not bigger fans. Even with these changes and with the people who don’t support it, there is still a very large fan base that will always follow their favorite type of music. 