ACM CEO speaks out after Beyoncé receives no nominations

[Guest 142,376]

On Thursday, the nominations for the Academy of Country Music Awards(ACMs) were revealed and Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter was nowhere to be found, despite winning two country Grammys in February, including for country album of the year, just weeks before first-round ACM voting opened.

“Were we hoping she’d be nominated? Absolutely,”  Academy of Country Music CEO Damon Whiteside says. “We love that Beyoncé is in the country genre. That’s fantastic for all the country artists out there. It’s fantastic for the fans. The more successful she is, the more we’re bringing more mainstream people into the genre which we want.”

Unlike Grammy voters, who span all musical genres, the more than 5,000 ACM voters primarily make a living in country music and are mostly based in Nashville. “I think, more likely, they’re going to be voting for artists that they’ve got relationships with and work with on a regular basis and that are in the country music business 365,” Whiteside says, but adds, “We’d love to have Beyoncé on the show. She has an open invitation to be on the ACM stage anytime she ever wants to.” source

[bionic 47,648]

Nobody is entitled to nominations or wins

[Rahrahbitchson 17,840]

I think Beyoncé was clear when she and her husband bought that Grammy for Best Country Album, that she doesn't care if these country people exclude her because she won the biggest trophy ❤️

[Nagini 511]

Articles upon articles complaining how she didn't receive a nomination or win an award. Get over it already. This obsession with award-giving for Taylor and Beyonce is tiring... please make way for other strong(er) bodies of work.

[elegidadedios 1,214]

2 minutes ago, Rahrahbitchson said:

when she and her husband bought that Grammy for Best Country Album

[Pandauralife 832]

I think some of the people here are still missing the point of Cowboy Carter a year later. There are two main goals of the album. One is to shed light on country's roots from African-Americans. This history has been nearly completely rewritten to exclude the Black narratives from which it was born, which very clearly and scarily parallels the current social and political climate in America. The second goal was to reclaim Black spaces in country music. Obviously the backlash Beyoncé received from performing at the 2016 CMA's fueled her need to start this project and shed light on this issue. 

So saying that she bought the Grammy or that it's petty for people to complain about her not getting nominated in country categories for a COUNTRY album is just kinda not thought out. There's a bigger picture here that people aren't seeing. It's more than just being a part of a fandom. It's important social/political commentary she's making. 

The girls that get it, get it I guess...

[AsleepOnTheCeiling 6,124]

2 hours ago, Nagini said:

Articles upon articles complaining how she didn't receive a nomination or win an award. Get over it already. This obsession with award-giving for Taylor and Beyonce is tiring... please make way for other strong(er) bodies of work.

While I don't disagree, I think it's important to note that the ACM CEO openly stated, and pretty plainly, that nominations are contingent upon the relationships of the people in the industry and not upon merit. And that he would happily have her perform (because he knows she would draw viewers) but him and his voting body do not view her worthy of being awarded despite allowing her to take up very valuable air time.

[AsleepOnTheCeiling 6,124]

1 minute ago, Pandauralife said:

I think some of the people here are still missing the point of Cowboy Carter a year later. There are two main goals of the album. One is to shed light on country's roots from African-Americans. This history has been nearly completely rewritten to exclude the Black narratives from which it was born, which very clearly and scarily parallels the current social and political climate in America. The second goal was to reclaim Black spaces in country music. Obviously the backlash Beyoncé received from performing at the 2016 CMA's fueled her need to start this project and shed light on this issue. 

So saying that she bought the Grammy or that it's petty for people to complain about her not getting nominated in country categories for a COUNTRY album is just kinda not thought out. There's a bigger picture here that people aren't seeing. It's more than just being a part of a fandom. It's important social/political commentary she's making. 

The girls that get it, get it I guess...

Making valid points doesn't entitle you to an award though. If the work was that great, people wouldn't be confused and they wouldn't question her deserving the award. Because the work would demand the attention and understanding from the listener. A great work of art will do 1 of 2 things for people. They will relate or they will be captivated by its beauty. And Cowboy Carter fails to do that. 

[BUtterfield 8 41,238]

A year later and y’all in this thread still don’t get it… figures…  

[BUtterfield 8 41,238]

A year later and y’all in this thread still don’t get it… figures…  

[MACATL 1,192]

IT WAS NOT A COUNTRY ALBUM.  I’m so sick of people feeling like she’s entitled to country music awards because she put a few banjo’s in some songs.  

[Rat Boy 42,556]

I love the album but it was country-influenced, it was not a country album. Also my understanding is that country musicians write their songs and play instruments which Beyonce didn’t do. 

[Pandauralife 832]

18 minutes ago, AsleepOnTheCeiling said:

Making valid points doesn't entitle you to an award though. If the work was that great, people wouldn't be confused and they wouldn't question her deserving the award. Because the work would demand the attention and understanding from the listener. A great work of art will do 1 of 2 things for people. They will relate or they will be captivated by its beauty. And Cowboy Carter fails to do that. 

No one said she was entitled though. It's just further proving the point that this project and Black people in general are going to be shut out of mainstream country music. 

My post is mainly in response to tone deaf people who clearly aren't seeing the underlying issues to this being a problem in the first place. And it doesn't even have to be Beyoncé. In the past year since Cowboy Carter, I've seen a bunch of Black, independent country artists and it sucks to know that a lot of them are never going to get the spotlight Beyoncé is getting in the country world simply because they aren't Beyoncé.

And I'm not saying that she deserves to be nominates simply because she's making a commentary. What I'm saying is that people aren't getting the point of the project in the first place.

Also, who gets to define country music? Country music, like a lot of genres has had some evolutions, so why can't we consider Cowboy Carter country? Again, we're not having this conversation about Post Malone or even Chappell. Wonder why...

[Roughhouse Dandy 10,169]

1 hour ago, Pandauralife said:

I think some of the people here are still missing the point of Cowboy Carter a year later. There are two main goals of the album. One is to shed light on country's roots from African-Americans. This history has been nearly completely rewritten to exclude the Black narratives from which it was born, which very clearly and scarily parallels the current social and political climate in America. The second goal was to reclaim Black spaces in country music. Obviously the backlash Beyoncé received from performing at the 2016 CMA's fueled her need to start this project and shed light on this issue. 

So saying that she bought the Grammy or that it's petty for people to complain about her not getting nominated in country categories for a COUNTRY album is just kinda not thought out. There's a bigger picture here that people aren't seeing. It's more than just being a part of a fandom. It's important social/political commentary she's making. 

The girls that get it, get it I guess...

You're right and you should keep saying it, but your point is largely gonna fall on deaf ears here unfortunately. The girls are hellbent on "humbling" her for whatever reason. 🙄 

[lilboyblue 4,644]

44 minutes ago, Pandauralife said:

No one said she was entitled though. It's just further proving the point that this project and Black people in general are going to be shut out of mainstream country music. 

My post is mainly in response to tone deaf people who clearly aren't seeing the underlying issues to this being a problem in the first place. And it doesn't even have to be Beyoncé. In the past year since Cowboy Carter, I've seen a bunch of Black, independent country artists and it sucks to know that a lot of them are never going to get the spotlight Beyoncé is getting in the country world simply because they aren't Beyoncé.

And I'm not saying that she deserves to be nominates simply because she's making a commentary. What I'm saying is that people aren't getting the point of the project in the first place.

Also, who gets to define country music? Country music, like a lot of genres has had some evolutions, so why can't we consider Cowboy Carter country? Again, we're not having this conversation about Post Malone or even Chappell. Wonder why...

I like Beyonce but I never really follow Beyonce as closely as Gaga. Only when she releases music. You can't expect everybody to just "get the point" because most listeners don't really care about these things. And I don't believe she's done anything yet outside of releasing the album to really educate people about these issues.

You just have to take the wins with the losses, and this type of reaction and snark will be par for the course.

I personally believe the way she was able to start the conversation about black people's place in country music is brave, and just being able to spark that is already a win. However, she was never gonna change things in a snap. At this point, it's one country album by a heretofore Pop/R&B artist. It's not much compelling to move the needle even if it is one of the biggest superstars in the world.

Being snubbed out of the ACM is unfortunate, but should be expected. She will of course get pushback from the very people she's criticizing, especially in America's political climate. In the long run, it shouldn't matter. She may not get the accolades from inside the country genre now, and she may never be completely accepted by them, but when we see down the road black artists start to trickle in and become mainstreamed in the genre, we will know that is her impact doing that.

Shaboozey, by the way, is nominated for Single of the Year and New Male Artist of the Year.  

Edited Saturday at 03:42 AM by lilboyblue