I can sort of understand the Usher trend. He doesn't have a bad voice and the records are OK. I'll give him "Yeah", "Confessions 2" and "Burn" (which I think is a good song) but "My Boo" is shit and we all know that. Still, Clear Channel likes it. Well just have to wait and see if people buy a re-release of his album just for this new song.

Now another modern day R&B/Hip hop artists who Clear Channel will never sell me on is Nelly. Four, count them, four singles off two albums in about a month. Four singles? "My Place", Spread Your Wings" (which off them all, seems like the flop), "Tilt Your Head" (which is getting a lot of radio play...for a Curtis Mayfield song that I'm sure has him spinning in his grave). So what's the fourth? Well, I'm not against country on Top 40 radio. It needs some variety but I’d prefer dance music. Anyway, that forth single that I've been hearing over and over again is "Over and Over" with Tim McGraw. Oh, how fun, he is working with a country artist. Not fun for the ears. Both Nelly and McGraw lament....and McGraw laments in a vocorder. Cher McGraw? This is without a doubt, the saddest commentary on music ever. A country artist joins with a rap 'artist" but is unrecognizable while Nelly is doing his by the numbers ballad! And it's getting immense airplay as if it were original and good. Listen to this song and tell me it's a winner. It' called "Over and Over" and is on the "Suit" Cd. I'm sure you'll hear it on radio. It's the biggest joke ever. It seriously makes me want to cry it’s so bad. Its proof that Clear Channel will play anything by safe R&B/Hip hop artists (even if they offend women...as long as they don't offend the President!) and anything that is non-threatening and bland. It's nearly my last straw with radio. I'm sure it will be a huge hit!

When I die and go to Hell, Tim McGraw and Nelly will be waiting for me.

This is off-topic, but I wanted to ask for your opinions. I'm a huge Janet Jackson fan and was very disappointed regarding the Super Bowl incident and the apparent backlash against her current release, Damita Jo. I was just wondering, since it essentially monopolizes the radio markets, do you think the Clear Channel deliberately sabotaged the success of the cd in response to the controversy, resulting in Damita Jo's lack of airplay? Also, do you think that Clear Channel Entertainment is declining to sponsor Janet's tour to support DJ, and that is the reason that she postponed the dates ?

Isel said:

Yes. Clear Channel makes or breaks artists these days. Before February, All Nite (Don't Stop) would have been a huge #1 hit. It didn't even chart.

Isel said:

Absolutely. Same for Madonna. I did not hear AL much at all on radio and before that, the "pop" stations (which are barely pop anymore) used to play her all the time. And if something like "All Nite" can't get radioplay...Jackson, we have a problem! I don't know that Janet has to have her tour "promoted" through Clear CHannel the same way Madonna did but I'm nearly sure she will want to play Clear Channel venues, which are larger. That being said, they accepted Madonna...who couldn't sell records becuase of low to no radio play. They might take Janet, crawling on her knees. If Janet were smart, she'd go indie and change the music industry. She is popular enough to pull it off, I think.

VoicesCarry said:

Not only is it Clear Channel stations but I think they all are very similar. There are two Top 40 stations (one is Clear, the other possibly Disney, which as shown it's bais recently) here and they are nearly identical. I somtimes get to hear two stations in Toledo (one Clear, the other not)...Clear Channel stations set trends to the point where from one market to another, almost all radio sounds the same. If the people didn't say they were in Toledo, sometimes I wouldn't know the difference. It wasn't always this way.... As recently as a few years ago, the stations were slightly different. Clear Channel has us by the atenas now!

Tommy Mottola owns part of (clearchannel) Tommy Mottola is Ushers manager! Tommy Motolla will releasing "Lindsay Lohans" new hop/hop album via his new label! get ready to hear it all over the radio very very soon


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[Edited 10/5/04 20:26pm]

Clear Channel has killed R&B/funk but don't worry....it will never kill hip hop because it is too cheap to make and they are about money and not music. As long as there is Clear Channel, hip hop will be around for a LONG time.

DISNEY owns radio stations too!? No wonder today's music is strictly for teeny boppers! Hell, with companies like Disney with a hand in it...I can clearly see the problem now. Back in the day, it was TOTALLY uncool to be associated with Disney in ANY kind of way.

VinnyM27 said:

i got 2 correct u but the song is flap ur wings and it does sound like a flop but since i got both cds i like it a little bit.also that other song is pure sh**

vainandy said:

It didn't kill hip-hop? But Nelly is a star, maybe rap's biggest seller behind Eminem (and anyone hear that song, which sounds like all of his first singles)? Or does that still not mean the total death of hip hop.

And you're right about Disney. I didn't think about that. They not only are pushing right wingers like Rush but do own Top 40 station. NOw that I think about it, the other Top 40 station here Disney becuase they are always plugging ABC stuff. 93.1 used to play lots of dance music (in the eighies, they were almost legendary and then they came back in 1996) and in fact went back and forth with dance music and Top 40, with lots of rock but now is yet another Top 40 mostly R&B and crap rock station. They are Disney!

twink69 said:

Are you kidding me? Usher's manager? OH, that's not a conflict of interest. I've been really worried about radio for the past few years but now I'm just letting go and letting God. HOward Stern is going to satellite and while I'm not as thrilled with the show as I used to be, I'm following him. As for Lohan, I was thinking girl pop is dead (Hilary Duff doesn't have any real radio hits and it doesn't look like any are comign despite the fact that she sells albums to losers like me) HOWEVER with a Clear Channel connection and the fact that Hilary Duff-lite Ahsley Simpson (for a rocker, she sure sounds like a lesser Duff) had a huge hit and maybe will have another, the sky might be the limit. Well, I liked her in "Mean Girls" and the new "Parent Trap" wasn't bad. Maybe I'll rent "Confessios of a Teenage Drama Queen". That way I'll be ready for the invasion!
[Edited 10/6/04 19:14pm]

ABeautifulOne said:

I don't believe I called it "Spread Your Wings". At first I had no idea what you were talking about. I'm glad that you agree with me on the Tim McGraw thing even though you own both albums and are probably a fan.

I just want to thank eveyrone for the responses. Sorry it took me a while to respond. I think this is an important topic for those that can't stand what's going on with radio. Let it out!

Isel said:

perhaps. but then again, people saw the Super Bowl thing and were turned off by it. plus the album was shit. i'm sure that had more to do with it....

[quote]

VinnyM27 said:

I didn't say Clear Channel killed hip hop, I said Clear Channel killed R&B/funk. Hip hop is alive and going on strong. The last thing Clear Channel wants to do is kill hip hop.....that's their money maker and it's very cheap to make.

As far as Nelly goes, if Clear Channel has it in for him, they will break him by not playing him anymore. Nelly will be gone but they will just replace him with someone else just like him that won't cross them.

Tessa said:

Actually, I really liked Damita Jo. In fact, I would say that the decision is "split" on whether or not DJ is good because from the posts, messages, chats and consumer reviews that I've read, some people loved it while others hated it. But even if the cd were "shit," that wouldn't necessarily keep Janet from touring. I mean, a number of artists tour with a less than successful release. Madonna, for example, hasn't had a strong, commercially successful release in years, but her Re-invention tour was one of the top-grossing tours of the summer. And as much as I had to admit it, even Prince hasn't had a recent, commerically and critically successful cd until Musicology, but that never stopped him from touring. Come to think of it, when that name change hoopla and his fight with Warner Bros. Records created some negative buzz about him, Prince just kept touring away and doing his thing.

vainandy said:

Do you think hip-hop is still credible and good is the real question I'm getting at. I don't think Nelly is coursing Clear Channel. QUite the opposite. I think he is a poster boy. I think I misunderstood what you meant when you said that hip hop is alive and well, and cheap to make, etc.

Isel said:

TVR didn't excatly shake the sales world (although it had hits later on) but it also had a tour. We are going to have to wait and see what happens. I'm just kind of surprised that this album didn't have any big hits. It had singles all over it. I think maybe that the reasons DJs backed away was becuae of any possible backlash. Although those that threathen they won't listen anymore are often people that are paid to write letters for these "family friendly" organizations and may not be listeners in the first place. In other words, I doubt there was any real backlash.

Tessa said:

A lot of "shit" albums sell really well. That can't be the reason.

Clear Channel KILLED "Damita Jo". "All Night" should've gone top 5 easily.

Ok come on, you know this song rocks! haha!

dancerella said:

I'm reporting you to a moderator!

Isel said:

Yes. Janet is a Clear Channel artist. Her last tour was funded by Clear Channel. They d*cked her this time out because of the soccer mom outcry of the SB event.



Janet will tour in '05.



She postponed the daes because it's an election year and because of the drama in Feb. Distance will give the show a better shot.

JANFAN4L said:

I hope she breaks away from Clear Channel this time out. I mean, they all but refused to play one of the hottest songs of the summer ("All Nite"). Breakaway, Janet, breakaway!

VinnyM27 said:

Yeah he's Ushers manager (he started managing him before the release of his "confessions" album)

twink69 said:

You think that has anything to do with the strangly high amount of radio play that Usher's three singles...excuse four singles got over the summer when most "artists" have the same single out for six months at a time? Possibly?