Radio
From Webb Pierce to Tupac: Country’s Roots Are Showing
Many artists aren’t just singing in one style and hoping to make a career out it. The fences officially have been moved. When Sam Hunt slid “Hard to Forget” into country radio playlists, he expanded the playing field for the format. On one hand, he introduced modern listeners to Webb Pierce‘s “There Stands the Glass,” a 1953 single that demonstrates the whiny twang that once defined the genre. But he packaged it with start-and-stop, tech-based rhythms that pulled directly from hip-hop. It’s a stunning development: blending musical sounds that are separated by seven decades on the calendar and perhaps an even greater distance on a sonic map. But it’s also indicative of the increasingly elastic nature of the format. Jon Pardi‘s “Ain...
God, Family, Country: Vet Craig Morgan’s New Album Tackles All-American Issues
America is headed into the oddest Memorial Day in its history. The National Memorial Day concert will be broadcast from indoors instead of in front of a crowd outside the U.S. Capitol Building. Seats at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will remain empty. And in many states, citizens are being encouraged to avoid barbecues or, at the very least, to exercise social distancing when they attend. Despite the unusual nature of living through a pandemic-challenged era, Craig Morgan is moving forward with the release of a new album, God, Family, Country. Due May 22, the Friday of the holiday weekend, the project is practically made for Memorial Day: It focuses on meaning-of-life and meaning-of-death issues while exploring sometimes uncomfortable topics. Morgan, who served more than two decades in t...
Journalist suspended for requesting salary on social media
A journalist with the Imo State government has been suspended indefinitely from her job for taking to Facebook to request her three months unpaid salary and the wages of her co-workers. Officials said the Facebook post was an “embarrassment” to the Imo State government. The suspended journalist, Vivian Ottih, is a lawyer and a senior editor with the government-owned IBC Orient FM radio station. She is the chairperson of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), in Imo State. Mrs Ottih, on May 4, posted a message on Facebook, appealing to Governor Hope Uzodinma’s media aide, Modestus Nwamkpa, to make a case to the governor on behalf of the workers in the government-owned radio and television stations who were yet to get their February, March, and April salaries. Ottih described ...
SiriusXM CFO Says Satellite Radio Faces Uncertain Coronavirus Impact
Even if people aren’t commuting in their cars as much while they shelter in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic, satellite radio powerhouse and Pandora owner SiriusXM has yet to take a big hit to its bottom line judging by its recently released first-quarter earnings. But while listening of Pandora and SiriusXM offerings is up for stay-at-home consumers, David Frear, senior executive vp and CFO of SiriusXM, warned Tuesday that his industry faces an uncertain future. “I haven’t talked to anybody who has a good picture of what the recovery will look like,” he told the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference during a session that was webcast. Frear said the COVID-19 crisis has driven new- and used-car sales down sharply, relative to y...
