Not that this will make up for CMT canceling Nashville—NO I AM NOT OVER IT I DO NOT CARE IF IT WENT DOWNHILL AFTER THE FIRST SEASON—but the channel says they’ll commit to playing an equal ratio of videos by men and women artists. I mean…….it is 2020, so no awards from me here, but country music has a serious gender gap problem, and progress is progress.
CMT announced the change on its website on Tuesday, noting that though the channel previously had a 40/60 ratio, they’ll be redistributing to 50/50, effective immediately.
Last year, a study found that women make up only 16 percent of country artists and 12 that only 16 percent of country artists and just 12 percent of country songwriters are women. Indeed, women country artists have a hard time breaking into the industry, in part because the gatekeepers seem to be keeping their music off the radio and television.
Entertainment Weekly notes that music by women made up only 11.3 percent of the music on country airwaves in 2018, and that bizarre archaic rules—like that two songs by women artists can’t be played back-to-back—is probably part of the problem. Kacey Musgraves hates it, rightfully.
So, good on CMT! Now please give me back Nashville.