Classic Country - Dividing Line

Dividing Line

With a few exceptions, the classic country genre has struggled as a radio format (unlike mainstream country stations). While it has a fiercely loyal audience, classic country stations often struggle to find advertisers. While advertisers are primarily interested in the 18 to 49-year-old demographic age group, classic country usually attracts an older audience. For perhaps that reason, country music fans are often (stereotypically) divided into two camps:

• The younger country music fan, especially if he or she is younger than 30 years old, who is largely unfamiliar with the traditional country music sound, especially from the 1960s and earlier, and will find early-era "hillbilly" music (such as that by Hank Williams and Kitty Wells) and its unpolished, over-the-top Appalachian influences unlistenable.
• The classic country fan, frequently over the age of 50, who -- with a few exceptions -- often dislikes country music produced after 1990, when the genre began incorporating more rock influence. Such fans often bemoan the electrification of popular country music with the addition of heavier guitars and harder percussion (for example, the music of Brantley Gilbert and some of Jason Aldean's discography). Other complaints from this era include the increased cliché-driven songwriting and, although pop/country crossover complaints have occurred since even the 1950s (see, for instance, Elvis Presley), the blatant marketing of pop songs with little (or even no) country influence as "country" songs solely because the artists have previously performed country songs (modern examples of this include Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, the latter of whom entered the country music business by winning a pop music reality show).

Although this 1990-era dividing line, to a certain extent, exists, it is not necessarily universal. "Classic" era country artists such as Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton continued producing hits well into the 2000s that received mainstream country radio airplay (sometimes in collaborations). Other artists from the era that did not continue to receive wider radio airplay after their heyday maintained strong cult followings from fans of all ages; an example of this is Johnny Cash, who remains in high regard several years after his 2003 death. Artists that began their careers in the 1980s, near the dividing line of the classic/modern divide, enjoy followings among both audiences; examples include George Strait and Reba McEntire, both of whom (as of 2012) are still active and performing hit songs. A handful of modern artists that began their careers after 1990, including Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Jamey Johnson, Billy Currington, Josh Turner and the Zac Brown Band show extensive influence from traditional country music while still keeping a modern sound and can draw fans from both older and younger demographics.

In part due to demographic pressures, "classic country" radio programs have begun adding 1990s music into their playlists since the late 2000s and phasing out music from the 1960s and earlier.