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MUSIC
Sunny Sweeney

Female country singers get extra spins on radio

Brian Mansfield
Special for USA TODAY
Clare Dunn
  • SiriusXM%27s The Highway introduces %27Fresh Female Voices%27
  • New programming is similar to the push that popularized bro-country
  • Adult women still prefer records by male singers

Three times an hour, from Monday through Sunday, SiriusXM's The Highway channel will introduce what it calls Fresh Female Voices, little-known records by women with and without record deals. It's part of a platform-wide music-discovery initiative taking place on the subscription-based broadcast service this week.

"We're pulling in a wide swath of female talent to gather up what the listeners will respond to," says John Marks, SiriusXM's senior director of music programming.

The women include major-label acts Leah Turner and Kelleigh Bannen, as well as singers who've achieved some industry renown, such as Pistol Annies member Angaleena Presley and Brandy Clark, who has penned hits for Miranda Lambert and the Band Perry. Small-label or independent acts such as Sunny Sweeney, Risa Binder and Allison Veltz will be played. Marks also has picked records by outside-the-box acts, namely former The Voice runner-up Dia Frampton and Swedish folk band First Aid Kit, who he feels fit the format.

The Fresh Female Voices programming will add approximately 200 spins for women beyond what singers like Lambert and Carrie Underwood might usually get. Marks will monitor sales data, social-media activity and music-streaming statistics for signs of potential breakout records.

"For me, it's turning into a quest to find the one that finally rings the bell for the country consumer," Marks says.

Marks did something similar for Florida Georgia Line. His early push on Cruise helped break that record, which eventually became the most downloaded track in country music history. The Highway also played Cole Swindell and Chase Rice before either had record deals. Their success helped make Marks one of country radio's most influential programmers.

"All the record companies know John very well," says Norbert Nix, Columbia Records Nashville's vice president of promotion. "He's got great ears."

Country music artist Leah Turner.

Last week, no female act had a solo record in the top 30 of USA TODAY's Country airplay chart. None ranks among the 10 most-played acts at country radio this year. Other than Lambert, Underwood and Taylor Swift, none has topped the format's airplay chart since Reba McEntire's Turn on the Radio in 2010.

While popular male singers from the '90s, such as Tim McGraw, Toby Keith and Kenny Chesney, continue to record and tour regularly, female counterparts like Shania Twain, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks do so less frequently.

Also, radio research consistently shows that adult women, the format's core demographic, generally prefer records by male singers.

"The females typically lead in not liking female talent," Marks says. "The trick is going to be how you get the females to like the females."

However, says Dot Records general manager Chris Stacey, "when females do break through, they become huge. They become Carries, Mirandas, Shanias and Taylors. But getting them to break through has been very difficult in the past few years."

Clare Dunn says she noticed sales jumps and increased attendance when The Highway played her independently released single Get Out. "It's been huge to have John Marks as a supporter," says the singer and guitarist, who sang backing vocals on Luke Bryan's Country Girl (Shake It for Me).

Dunn's new single, Cowboy Side of You, will be part of SiriusXM's Fresh Female Voices programming,

The Highway's early adoption of duo Maddie & Tae's Girl in a Country Song, which playfully pokes fun at the depiction of women in bro-country songs, helped it break into the top 40 of the USA TODAY country chart last week. The bro-country sound is testosterone-heavy songs about good times fueled by free-flowing alcohol and willing women.

"If they were to do that for a second record next week, it would probably be a great head start for any record," says radio industry analyst Sean Ross.

The duo's Maddie Marlow would be thrilled for the company. "We grew up on '90s country," she says. "That was when it was even, when there were all these guys and all these girls. We would love to see it go back there, where we have everything."

Sunny Sweeney.
Risa Binder
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