Dixie Chicks: Still Relevant, Apparently.

Hottie-Bo-Botties.

Ah, the Grammy's. The record industry's most unworthy award show that still somehow manages to make itself self-important every year. This year's award show was no exception, with Blair Witch-style cameras all up in Justin Timberlake's face, the Black Eyed Peas winning a little phonograph for a song created by a computer algorithm, and the weirdly synergized Police reunion. Not to mention that high note that Christina tried to hit during the James Brown tribute (hint: scroll to 1:51). Hilarity. But the real stars of the night were the Dixie Chicks, whose success even I was shocked at, considering I thought they were as irrelevant as the award show itself. Winning the album, record, and song of the year awards is a huge feat in the world of music - since no one ever wins them all - and even more shocking if you seem less relevant than Shawn Colvin was at the 1998 awards or Shelby Lynne in 2001 (don't remember her, I take it). So the main question here is if the Dixie Chicks are good enough to win all three of those hotshot awards, and are apparently still important, then why haven't I ever heard them on the radio this year?

The main concern that arose from the big Grammy night win was that country radio was not willing to spin the record. In the flurry of news stories that followed, country radio was made out to be the enemy, as they were still harboring bad feelings about the anti-Bush comments made way back in 2003. As a result of the lead singer (Natalie Maines) badmouthing the political administration for their decisions in the Iraq war, country radio declared a no-play policy on the three ladies. Sure, that sounds reasonable for a genre that is based on Republican ideology and geared towards Bush-loving Middle America, and why should radio stations be obliged to play the group if it will reflect negatively on the station? But as the story goes, the Chicks were just as unforgiving in the matter, upholding their anti-Bush beliefs and acting in defiance. The title of their winning album, "Not Ready To Make Nice," is even a completely unshaded and obvious namesake, and the Dixie Chicks further made themselves the pariah in the industry by doing so.

But after the Grammy's, journalists started to realize that there was a problem that could be on two sides of the equation: either the Grammy's are completely out of touch with the record industry and award the top honors to groups that have no commercial appeal, or the radio is immaculately corrupt for blacklisting the best country band in the world. While I would like to believe that the Grammy's are out of touch with reality and what constitutes good music (once again, "My Humps" = computer-generated), it seems that radio is the culprit in the situation. I am not precisely positive that the Dixie Chicks are the greatest country band in the world, and I have no interest in listening to their music, but I assume that they must have some aspect of greatness to get hordes of sparkling reviews and highly lauded honors, in addition to massive sales. The radio is simply unwilling to back down, and as they stick with artists like Toby Keith and Keith Urban (any other Keith's I'm forgetting?), it's becoming clear that not only is country radio conservative, but part of the problem of why radio is and has been losing its listeners.

In the radio industry, listenership has considerably deflated since the advent of YouTube and satellite radio, as listeners are becoming bored and tired with loads of commercials and repeated playlists. Country music surely falls into the same category, and by ignoring the better music in the genre, they are sure to lose listeners in the process, not gain. But that's how radio has always been, I suppose. Mainstream radio, or "pay-for-play" as I like to describe it, is based on the repetition of songs that become popular because record companies dish out dollars to get spins. That is how the industry has always been and probably will be run, but the future looks grim in the on-demand world of technology and entertainment. Consumers are no longer interested in listening to programming that does not play the best music in the genre. Sure, little teenage girls will tune into Z100 to hear the hot new Fergie jam, but that demographic is even digressing from that type of music. Listeners are no longer faceless entities; radio has to be able to account for every single one, and find music that is both good and appealing.

That sure puts country radio in a quandary. The stations are completely unwilling to play the most successful band in the genre, and all because of political beliefs. Since Bush's approval ratings have declined significantly from the time that Maines made her biting comments, there must be some chunk of America that has hopped off the pro-Bush wagon and hopped on the anti-Bush one. Listeners on the coastal areas were mostly anti-Bush to begin with, so it suggests that some portion of middle America has switched their attitude, which suggests that they no longer have hatred towards the Dixie Chicks' stance, even if they do not like their music. This is a great indicator of the hypocrisy in mainstream stations, in that they are simply unwilling to give listeners what they want to and/or should hear. How is radio to survive if they cannot appeal to their demographic?

The Dixie Chicks may be doing alright for themselves, but they sure are not going to find a home on mainstream radio stations. Call the girls boring, talent-less, even ugly: that does not stop the fact that their music is of the highest quality. I am in no way promoting the music of the group, but I do take their awards and reviews seriously, and even if I don't like the genre, I'm sure that they have some sort of quality product. Radio needs to stop taking moral stances against or ignoring the best music in the genre; listeners have seen it happen with independent rock bands and hip-hop musicians since the genres gained underground popularity. In order for radio to survive in a world that is constantly growing around them, they need to cut their attitudes and get down to what radio is meant for: the promotion of good music and entertainment. If they can't shape up, then they're going to fail, and if that means that I never have to hear "My Humps" again, then I guess it's not such a bad thing after all.