The Politics Of Nasty

The “Today” show on January 21st showed screen shots of negative comments pointed toward Garth Brooks. The commenters didn’t like it that he agreed to appear at the swearing in ceremony for President Biden.

Politics and show business often create a toxic cocktail. The worst ever example was the Dixie Chick incident. More recently, a number of right-leaning artists were shunned for their pro-Trump stances. Now, the right is blasting Garth for his swearing in appearance and Tim McGraw for his duet with Tyler Hubbard on the “Celebrating America” inaugural night television special.

It can be Obama or it can be Trump, politics get people fired up. Social media is the sewer for most of this negative spew. The nasty reactions are just easier and more widely distributed these days with Facebook and the other outlets.

Stating the obvious, but from a management view, having NO political appearance is the smart play. You can say it is for unity or whatever, but to avoid unpleasantness stay out of the rain. You won’t get wet.

Stating the obvious there too, everyone from label to artist needs to agree from day one that they will do no political endorsements, real or imagined. They are bad for business.

The appearance of leaning one way or the other is very hard. In the past, REAL journalists were required to live that way. No bumper stickers on your personal car, etc. Display neutrality. Maybe in 2021 that’s impossible. But getting off the fence creates all kinds of safety and career issues. Sad, but true.

Does it hurt the box office/product sales? Will advertisers want to endorse your tour? Watch how fast blue chip advertisers run from politically motivated artists. It’s just not good business. Rush Limbaugh has a huge radio audience, and the FOX prime time audience stars do too, but you rarely see blue chip advertisers appear. They just don’t want to be in politically charged atmospheres.

Some artists are “damn the torpedoes” kind of people. They do what they feel is right, and God bless them. Those big-hearted acts can really get expensive.

There are plenty of big Country star appearances coming up. Valentines Day will be huge for Grand Ole Opry fans with a two-hour special on NBC, hosted by Brad Paisley and Blake Shelton. That same day, Luke Combs will play the pre race concert at Daytona --- the Super Bowl for NASCAR. And speaking of the Super Bowl, Eric Church is singing the national anthem there with R&B artist Jazmine Sullivan.

Can Morgan Wallen get any hotter? Look at the stats on his “Dangerous” album. Only Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande are out streaming him. That’s a wow. You wonder when he will be able to start getting all that good will and heat into ticket sales when touring resumes.