One in which the story is almost always about the personality and the money but almost never about the music itself.
There's a lot to say about Beyoncé. Her marriage, her children, her brand extensions, but except for the tenure and breakup of Destiny's Child, deep in the rearview mirror, none of it has been salacious, or political. In a world where many have children sans marriage and divorce remains rampant, Beyoncé appears to be old-fashioned, an American role model, not that those outside the Black community give her her proper due.
But none of this is the story, the story is the music. Starting with "Texas Hold 'Em" and now the release of the album "Cowboy Carter," which even has a cover of a Beatles song?
This has been fascinating to watch. The conversation has been about the music, and solely the music. Other than the question of whether Beyoncé will be embraced by the country community. Usually everybody's talking about the penumbra as opposed to the nougat, the essence, the music itself.
And as far as making a revolutionary, political act... We hear all this hogwash about voter registrations... Even "Billboard" did a story how artists are so far reluctant to make political endorsements. Turns out political endorsements by musicians don't move the needle that much. It's been a long time since the Eagles dictated to Jerry Brown as opposed to the opposite. But what Beyoncé has done here is make a direct move into a community that is seen to be a walled garden with distinct rules that can't be broken. Women on country radio? People are still saying there are not enough of them, despite there being a plethora of stars.
What qualifies as country music? Is it a big tent? Does it really represent America's heartland? Never mind that Beyoncé hails from red state Texas.
There have been a lot of stories asking these questions. All because a superstar made a record. Garth Brooks went rock and changed his name to do it. Believing he wouldn't be accepted by the rock community, despite loving and basing some of his stage show on the antics of KISS. And when he was unsuccessful, he went back to his original moniker and retreated to Nashville. But Beyoncé seems to have changed nothing about herself, there's no compromise, no selling out, no whiff of money whatsoever.
That's the only story that really penetrates anymore. America is thrilled with grosses, how much money you make, in the same way it is fascinated by billionaires. Make money good, not rich bad. Didn't used to be this way, but that was back in the sixties and seventies and most of the people who lived through that era are off playing shuffleboard.
Now if you look at the Spotify numbers for "Cowboy Carter"...
When Morgan Wallen puts out a new album, tracks dominate the Spotify Top 50. Ditto Taylor Swift. That is not happening with "Cowboy Carter." As a matter of fact, the streams for the album's tracks are positively anemic. None of the twenty seven tracks breaks 100,000 streams other than the two previously released singles and "II Most Wanted," the duet with Miley Cyrus, which has 106,156. Now numbers are fluid so soon after release, but one thing is for certain, "Cowboy Carter" is confounding listeners, even if it's not confounding critics, who have raved.
You see Beyoncé has thrown the long ball. For most of the twenty first century everybody has stayed in their lane and delivered music that is close to what they've already had success with, or what else is having success. Which is why the hoi polloi, the casual listener who used to represent the wide embrace of music, making acts household names, is paying attention to "Cowboy Carter." The music is the story and they're intrigued by it. My inbox has e-mail from white boys checking out the album and loving it. Who else will be tempted to listen?
That's a heavy lift. To get someone to make an effort, to actually click and listen to something. That is the game. However, it is not the only game. We can all name the ultimate in clicks, Mr. Beast, people like that. But they're stunting, what is driving attention is not worthy of attention, never mind discussion. To go against type, expectations, to take risk, is anathema in our clicks-driven culture. They with the most clicks wins, right? Well, I'm not so sure. Instead of complaining that you don't have what the superstar has, try creating your own lane, doing it differently.
And sure, Beyoncé doesn't need the money. But at what point do you get sick and tired of doing the same thing over and over again?
Listen to the music or not, one thing is for sure, you know that Beyoncé has gone country. Just as many as know Travis Kelce is Taylor Swift's boyfriend, if not more. "Cowboy Carter" is not gossip, it's a Trojan Horse not only into the country world, but America itself, which has devolved into a sports contest between deeply rooted teams, the red and the blue.
And then you have the old rockers who hate country, calling it redneck dreck. But country is the new rock. And Beyoncé found a way to enter the marketplace without selling out, an incredible feat if you think about it. You can see the wheels turning. Someone had an idea, they were excited about it, rubbed their hands together saying this will be good. And had fun executing. This is far different from calling the usual suspect writers, producers and mixers to create a hit... You know, the opportunity cost is so high, you want to pick your investments and do your best to buy insurance.
Furthermore, what has Lucian Grainge's protest against TikTok achieved?
It has hurt Universal artists. Clearing the lane for Beyoncé to clean up on the social media service of choice, the one that breaks records.
The acts always suffer. And so far TikTok is not backing down. So, the Universal artists are taking one for the team. So, they should be sure to ask Lucian for health insurance and cash for groceries when they're down and out.
Now the game of consumption has completely changed. To employ the overused aphorism, it's a marathon, not a sprint. These records exist online, waiting to be discovered, to be clicked on, to be embraced. When you break the mold it takes a while for people to catch on, for word to spread. But the music remains available. The story continues. Which is why it takes years for tracks to become hits.
I'm not saying therefore "Cowboy Carter" will end up being a monolith. No one has their finger on popular culture these days. You make a stand and do what feels right and laugh at the pollsters and prognosticators.
But one thing is for sure, despite all the hoopla, we live in a niche society. K-pop is huge. But either you listen or you don't, you know the songs or don't care. Other than BTS, I'm not sure the average citizen can even name another K-pop act, never mind a song.
But we keep on reading how big K-pop is.
I get it, it's a business story.
But "Cowboy Carter" is a music story, and we haven't had that spirit here since...
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