music and politics on radio

[SteveOrdinetz]

Donna Halper wrote:

>  For some people, they really do wanna hear Christian music.  For others 
> (including some of my friends who are Christian), they don't like 
> anything that preaches or has a religious message. They come to 
> mainstream pop radio to get away from anything with a religious message, 
> even though some songs may have a spiritual side to them-- but as long as 
> the song doesn't preach, it's not a tuneout to my secular friends.


But wouldn' t the same thing apply to political songs?  Just because a 
person likes (for example) rock music doesn't necessarily make them 
anti-war/anti-Bush/anti-whatever the artist is against this week.  Were all 
rock music fans anti-war in 1971?  I doubt it.  But we still got a heavy 
dose of it anyway.  Could it be that the lack of protest songs on the radio 
today reflects the fact that these songs are polarizing rather than some 
Great Right Wing Conspiracy?  You don't hear the equivalent of "Ballad Of 
The Green Berets" either.

Why is it wrong for an artist to shove their religious beliefs down our 
throats, but perfectly acceptible to do the same with their 
politics?  While my own politics are slightly conservative, I'm just as 
annoyed by all the flag-waving mom-&-apple pie country songs as I am with 
those that have a leftist message (or a blatant religious one for that matter).

>Yeah, it's tempting to wanna be all things to all people, but I am not 
>sure you can do it.  As for religious music, I am not sure I'd wanna go 
>down that road, just because even in society today, it's a very polarizing 
>issue.  If I have a religious station, of course I play that stuff-- we 
>have many Christian stations that use our music software, for 
>example.  But to blend Christian with AC on a Lite FM-- I don't know if 
>it's a good idea, and not just because a couple of Jews might object.

But where do you draw the line?  Certainly Amy Grant had a number of 
legitimate hits in the early-mid 90s.  It's sad that we all have such thin 
skins today and don't want to hear/see anything that we don't agree with.