When I was at Capitol - and this was not Capitol's fault - I was aiming, you know. I would listen to country radio and go, 'What version of me does radio want?'
I love radio, but it's a very limited thing today. Everything has to be edited down to 3:59, and too bad if I didn't make my statement in three minutes and 59 seconds. Everybody's song has to make its point so quickly.
I really like the old stuff that I cut my musical teeth on, and I loved it when the industry was just like that, without really a genre. Today, country radio's more aimed at a demographic than a genre. It just softens everything.
I've always sort of been at odds with radio programmers.
The radio has so many rules, and songs don't. You don't necessarily write to a rule book unless you're, like, just doing it professionally, which has never been my thing.
Once you reach a certain age with radio stations, you've got to be an oldie but a goodie. If you wanna do something new, you've got to find a new way to present it to people.
Cable would not translate into the public radio universe.
Radio is so heavily programmed; you have to fit into a certain box. So it's harder for anything different to get through.
Radio people can't entirely shake off radio habits when they start doing podcasts. They sometimes bring with them things we don't need, like producers and explanatory voiceovers.
I have a real issue with radio these days. I just am not into the current music.
You listen to the radio and all the songs sound the same, from 8 in the morning to 12.
Radio is a really strange business now, too. There's a very narrow door and a very few people control what gets played.
Radio is not a partner in the industry. I think that the music industry has continued to depend upon radio, but has ended up pandering to a medium that doesn't care.
The thing that interests me least about the radio business is the radio business. But I've had to learn a little bit about it. It's not rocket science: You get ratings, that's good.
Australia is a smaller country and the industry works differently over there. You get added to one radio station in Australia, and you pretty much get added across the board.
