On The Incredible Chart Cratering of Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter”
Story Highlights:
- Beyoncé’s album Cowboy Carter fell to #50 in the albums charts in just 13 weeks, and out of the Billboard 200 completely after 28 weeks—staggering numbers for Billboard‘s recently-named “Pop Star of the Century.”
- Comparing the performance of Cowboy Carter to other albums illustrates the dramatic cratering of the title in sales, streams, and chart performance.
- Despite the lack of consumption and chart performance, Cowboy Carter‘s is specifically being praised for its commercial and cultural impact in end-of-year lists.
Beyoncé’s 2024 album Cowboy Carter was supposed to be the biggest phenomenon in country music in 2024. But after taking a step back from all the bluster, all the conversations around genre and gatekeeping, and the agendas tied to politics and a strong Stan army dispensed through the media, it’s easy to conclude that Cowboy Carter‘s impact was marginal at best when simply boiling down the numbers.
Whether Cowboy Carter was ever supposed to even be considered a country album—or if it was just wishcasted to be so by the media and Beyoncé Stans—remains a very strong question all unto itself. Beyoncé sure didn’t think it was country, saying unequivocally on March 19th, “This ain’t a country album,” and later broadcasting this quote on the side of the Guggenheim Museum in New York as part of the marketing of the album.
Then there’s the matter of Cowboy Carter‘s consumption, or the severe lack thereof. Beyoncé’s own label—Parkland Entertainment—pulled any and all single support for the album just a few weeks after its release. Beyoncé made no public appearances behind the album, nor did any press for it. There were no videos produced for Cowboy Carter, nor any tour launched in support of it.
The lack of marketing push after the album’s release certainly helped lend to lackluster sales and streams, but that only tells a small part of the story. The implosion of support and consumption behind Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter after its initial release on March 29th can only accurately be described as “catastrophic,” especially when you consider Billboard recently named Beyoncé the “Greatest Pop Star of the 21st Century.”
Cowboy Carter did start off rather strong with sales of 407,061 combining physical sales, downloads, and streaming equivalents. But after this initial burst spurred in part by curiosity, the sales, downloads, and streams cratered, and in a way that is unprecedented for what is supposed to be a relevant superstar, if not the relevant superstar of our era.
Some have surmised that the amount of initial physical sales for Cowboy Carter helped create the subsequent lackluster streaming numbers as consumers listened on CD or vinyl as opposed to streaming services. This might have a small factor in the matter, but full version vinyl sales for Cowboy Carter did not happen until the 13th week of the release, and at that point, the album had already slipped to #50 in the Billboard charts.
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift’s 1st week physical sales and downloads for her album The Tortured Poet’s Department dwarfed Beyoncé’s (407,061 vs. 2,610,413), and Swift did not experience a similar precipitous drop off. Other albums with little or no promotional push behind them have fared much better.
In fact, there is a distinct possibility that Beyoncé and Parkland Entertainment knew they had a commercial dud on their hands, and throwing good marketing money behind a bad album would not be a smart return on investment. This is one theory behind why they pulled support.
But as can be expected, the media has their narrative about Cowboy Carter, and they’re sticking to it. This colossal cratering in consumption has gone virtually unreported. In fact, they continue to say that Cowboy Carter‘s sales and streams are one of the reasons it deserves to be considered one of the “best” albums released in 2024.
Cowboy Carter fell completely out of the Billboard 200 albums chart in mid October. Yet while naming the album it’s #2 album of the year, Billboard claimed, “’Perfection’ is far from the brand on an album like ‘Cowboy Carter’ — and that makes this sprawling masterpiece that much more fascinating to listen to again and again.”
But people aren’t listening again and again. They’re barely listening at all. Still, to show fealty to Queen Bey, she continues to be crowned at or near the top of 2024 end-of-year lists. Along with her consumption numbers (mostly the initial ones) being cited as part of the justification, Beyoncé is also praised for the evisceration of country music’s “gatekeepers” for an album that once again Beyoncé herself claimed was not country.
Sales and streams are not always accurate demarcations for quality or critical acclaim. Pegging what the “best” of something is to consumption numbers is not always a fair judgement. In fact, it rarely is as the fans of independent artists can attest. Many music performers would kill for the kind of numbers Cowboy Carter accrued. But this isn’t some independent artist struggling for attention. This is Beyoncé, who Billboard crowned the “Pop Star of the Century.”
From this throne, you would expect Beyoncé’s consumption numbers to be at least equivalent or even competitive with other artists on the supposed top tier of popularity. But Cowboy Carter not only falters upon that benchmark, independent albums from artists most Americans have never even heard of are far outpacing Cowboy Carter, and by staggering multipliers.
Modern-day albums either do one of two things on the albums charts: they stick in a top position for months and sometimes years, or they precipitously fall shortly after release. While most all the albums from performers such as Taylor Swift, Zach Bryan, Morgan Wallen, Jelly Roll, SZA, Post Malone, Noah Kahan, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, and others end up in this stuck position, Cowboy Carter did not.
Cowboy Carter fell to #50 in just 13 weeks, fell completely out of the Billboard 200 in 28 weeks, and only saw minor blips of support when the full vinyl version was released, and the controversy around the CMA Awards and Beyoncé’s lack of nominations. In fact, Beyoncé has zero albums currently in the Billboard 200. Taylor Swift has eleven of them, Zach Bryan has five, Billie Eilish has four, and Morgan Wallen has three, as does Kanye West.
When Cowboy Carter dropped out of the Billboard 200 in mid October, Purgatory by Tyler Childers was still at #188, and it was released seven years ago, and only has 10 tracks. Cowboy Carter has 27 tracks, which should have set it up to be a static near the top of the Billboard 200 for the entirety of 2024.
– – – – – – – – – – – –
To illustrate this catastrophic performance by Cowboy Carter, Saving Country Music took the consumption data of sales, downloads, and streaming equivalents for Cowboy Carter, as well chart placement on the Billboard 200, and compared it with other albums. The “control” albums for this study were the following:
1. Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poet’s Department – An album from another artist considered one of the top pop stars of our time that was released only a few weeks after Cowboy Carter. In fairness, Swift’s release benefited from strong promotion, a worldwide tour, and extra songs and editions.
2. Zach Bryan’s Self-Titled (2023) – This isn’t even Zach Bryan’s most recent album. The Great American Bar Scene was released a couple of months after Cowboy Carter. Bryan’s album also has less tracks (16 tracks compared to Beyoncé’s 27). But it’s a good comparison between an established, “sticky” album and an album that falls precipitously after its release like Cowboy Carter.
3. Shaboozey’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going – This album is similar to Cowboy Carter in how it’s from a Black artist being released to the country market, utilizing pop and hip-hop elements similar to Cowboy Carter. Shaboozey actually appears on Cowboy Carter as well. But similar to the Zach Bryan album, Where I’ve Been only has 12 tracks compared to Beyoncé’s 27, hypothetically putting at a severe disadvantage for racking up metadata.
When comparing Cowboy Carter with these three albums, it really helps illustrate that catastrophic lack of reception and resonance for Beyoncé’s album.
Again, sales and streaming numbers don’t tell the full story of an album. But with Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, they help expose an album that despite the overwhelming praise by the press, people just did not listen to in surprising numbers.
KEY: Week of release // Billboard chart week // Place on Billboard 200 // sales and streaming equivalents data // % of change
BOLD = Billboard 200 Chart Placement
– – – – – – – – – –
Beyonce – Cowboy Carter (released March 29th)
1 (14) – 1 – 407,061
2 (15) – 1 – 125,429 (-68.6%)
3 (16) – 2 – 97,662 (-23.7%)
4 (17) – 3 – 65,985 (-33.4%)
5 (18) – 4 – 51,961 (-23.7%)
6 (19) – 8 – 40,875 (-21.3%)
7 (20) – 10 – 35,121 (-14.1%)
8 (21) – 13 – 29,727 (-16.6%)
9 (22) – 18 – 26,223 (-11.8%)
10 (23) – 18 – 24,341 (-7.4%)
11 (24) – 30 – 21,112 (-13.3%)
12 (25) – 38 – 19,077 (-9.6%)
13 (26) – 50 – 16,649 (-12.7%)
14 (27) – 10 – 38,855 (+133.4%)*
15 (28) – 51 – 15,669 (-59.7%)
16 (29) – 67 – n/a (n/a)
17 (30) – 73 – 13,516
18 (31) – 78 – 13,286 (-1.7%)
19 (32) – 79 – 12,257 (-7.7%)
20 (33) – 88 – 11,873 (-3.1%)
21 (34) – 93 – 11,682 (-1.6%)
22 (35) – 121 – 10,631 (-9.4%)
23 (36) – 133 – 10,388 (-2.3%)
24 (37) – 138 – 10,063 (-0.1%)+
25 (38) – 139 – 9,661 (-4.0%)
26 (39) – 171 – 8,699 (-10.0%)
27 (40) – 182 – 8,209 (-5.6%)
28 (41) – 190 – 8,082 (-1.5%)
29 (42) – n/a – n/a #
* Vinyl release
+ CMA Nominations
# Falls out of Top 200
Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poet’s Department (released April 19th)
1 (17) – 1 – 2,610,413
2 (18) – 1 – 439,146
3 (19) – 1 – 289,550 (-35.9%)
4 (20) – 1 – 259,980 (-7.7%)
5 (21) – 1 – 378,043 (+37.0%)
6 (22) – 1 – 175,048 (-53.7%)
7 (23) – 1 – 147,770 (-16.9%)
8 (24) – 1 – 127,551 (-13.7%)
9 (25) – 1 – 126,114 (-1.0%)
10 (26) – 1 – 115,051 (-8.8%)
11 (27) – 1 – 113,934 (-1.0%)
12 (28) – 1 – 163,063 – (+43.1)
13 (29) – 4 – n/a – (n/a)
14 (30) – 4 – 73,940
15 (31) – 1 – 71,410 (-3.4%)
16 (32) – 1 – 141,558 (+98.2)
17 (33) – 1 – 85,119 (-39.9%)
18 (34) – 3 – 62,251 (-26.9%)
19 (35) – 6 – 57,171 (-8.5%)
20 (36) – 5 – 53,592 (-6.3%)
21 (37) – 5 – 51,494 (-2.9%)
22 (38) – 6 – 51,301 (-0.4%)
23 (39) – 7 – 46,465 (-9.4%)
24 (40) – 7 – 44,227 (-4.8%)
25 (41) – 6 – 44,765 (+1.2%)
26 (42) – 10 – 44,171 (-1.3%)
Beyonce – Cowboy Carter (released March 29th)
1 (14) – 1 – 407,061
2 (15) – 1 – 125,429 (-68.6%)
3 (16) – 2 – 97,662 (-23.7%)
4 (17) – 3 – 65,985 (-33.4%)
5 (18) – 4 – 51,961 (-23.7%)
6 (19) – 8 – 40,875 (-21.3%)
7 (20) – 10 – 35,121 (-14.1%)
8 (21) – 13 – 29,727 (-16.6%)
9 (22) – 18 – 26,223 (-11.8%)
10 (23) – 18 – 24,341 (-7.4%)
11 (24) – 30 – 21,112 (-13.3%)
12 (25) – 38 – 19,077 (-9.6%)
13 (26) – 50 – 16,649 (-12.7%)
14 (27) – 10 – 38,855 (+133.4%)*
15 (28) – 51 – 15,669 (-59.7%)
16 (29) – 67 – n/a (n/a)
17 (30) – 73 – 13,516
18 (31) – 78 – 13,286 (-1.7%)
19 (32) – 79 – 12,257 (-7.7%)
20 (33) – 88 – 11,873 (-3.1%)
21 (34) – 93 – 11,682 (-1.6%)
22 (35) – 121 – 10,631 (-9.4%)
23 (36) – 133 – 10,388 (-2.3%)
24 (37) – 138 – 10,063 (-0.1%)+
25 (38) – 139 – 9,661 (-4.0%)
26 (39) – 171 – 8,699 (-10.0%)
27 (40) – 182 – 8,209 (-5.6%)
28 (41) – 190 – 8,082 (-1.5%)
29 (42) – n/a – n/a #
Zach Bryan – Self-Titled (released August 25th, 2023)
33 (14) – 10 – 38,663 (-0.7%)
34 (15) – 15 – 36,465 (-5.7%)
35 (16) – 13 – 36,957 (+1.3%)
36 (17) – 13 – 35,013 (-5.3%)
37 (18) – 11 – 36,186 (+3.3%)
38 (19) – 12 – 35,839 (-1.0%)
39 (20) – 8 – 37,551 (+4.7)
40 (21) – 8 – 38,031 (+1.3%)
41 (22) – 10 – 37,443 (-1.6%)
42 (23) – 10 – 36,356 (-2.9%)
43 (24) – 12 – 35,478 (-2.4%)
44 (25) – 14 – 36,434 (+2.7)
45 (26) – 12 – 36,344 (-0.2%)
46 (27) – 12 – 36,062 (-0.8%)
47 (28) – 10 – 31,731 (-10.0%)
48 (29) – 15 – n/a (n/a)
49 (30) – 19 – 30,895
50 (31) – 14 – 31,082 (+0.6%)
51 (32) – 12 – 31,773 (+2.2%)
52 (33) – 10 – 33,521 (+5.5%)
53 (34) – 10 – 33,402 (-0.4%)
54 (35) – 13 – 31,986 (-4.3%)
55 (36) – 13 – 30,603 (-4.3%)
56 (37) – 12 – 29,114 (-3.3%)
57 (38) – 14 – 29,172 (+0.2)
58 (39) – 17 – 28,154 (-3.5%)
59 (40) – 14 – 26,677 (-5.2%)
60 (41) – 15 – 26,429 (-0.9%)
61 (42) – 20 – 25,973 (-1.7%)
Beyonce – Cowboy Carter (released March 29th)
1 (14) – 1 – 407,061
2 (15) – 1 – 125,429 (-68.6%)
3 (16) – 2 – 97,662 (-23.7%)
4 (17) – 3 – 65,985 (-33.4%)
5 (18) – 4 – 51,961 (-23.7%)
6 (19) – 8 – 40,875 (-21.3%)
7 (20) – 10 – 35,121 (-14.1%)
8 (21) – 13 – 29,727 (-16.6%)
9 (22) – 18 – 26,223 (-11.8%)
10 (23) – 18 – 24,341 (-7.4%)
11 (24) – 30 – 21,112 (-13.3%)
12 (25) – 38 – 19,077 (-9.6%)
13 (26) – 50 – 16,649 (-12.7%)
14 (27) – 10 – 38,855 (+133.4%)*
15 (28) – 51 – 15,669 (-59.7%)
16 (29) – 67 – n/a (n/a)
17 (30) – 73 – 13,516
18 (31) – 78 – 13,286 (-1.7%)
19 (32) – 79 – 12,257 (-7.7%)
20 (33) – 88 – 11,873 (-3.1%)
21 (34) – 93 – 11,682 (-1.6%)
22 (35) – 121 – 10,631 (-9.4%)
23 (36) – 133 – 10,388 (-2.3%)
24 (37) – 138 – 10,063 (-0.1%)+
25 (38) – 139 – 9,661 (-4.0%)
26 (39) – 171 – 8,699 (-10.0%)
27 (40) – 182 – 8,209 (-5.6%)
28 (41) – 190 – 8,082 (-1.5%)
29 (42) – n/a – n/a #
Shaboozey – Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going (Released May 31st)
1 (23) – 5 – 49,772
2 (24) – 9 – 41,270 (-17.0%)
3 (25) – 12 – 40,081 (-2.9%)
4 (26) – 10 – 40,667 (+1.5%)
5 (27) – 8 – 40,063 (-1.5%)
6 (28) – 8 – 36,068 (-10.0%)
7 (29) – 12 – n/a (n/a)
8 (30) – 18 – 32,289
9 (31) – 13 – 31,353 (-2.9%)
10 (32) – 14 – 30,382 (-3.1%)
11 (33) – 12 – 29,750 (-2.1%)
12 (34) – 16 – 29,030 (-2.4%)
13 (35) – 18 – 27,756 (-4.5%)
14 (36) – 18 – 26,309 (-5.2%)
15 (37) – 17 – 25,364 (-3.4%)
16 (38) – 19 – 25,212 (-0.6%)
17 (39) – 21 – 24,992 (-0.9%)
18 (40) – 16 – 25,878 (+3.5%)
19 (41) – 19 – 24,119 (-6.8%)
20 (42) – 25 – 21,601 (-10.4%)
December 9, 2024 @ 8:48 am
Glad to see you are being 100% normal all the time with these articles.
December 9, 2024 @ 8:54 am
her and her husband are gonna end up being on the Diddy list. it takes a lot of time to get the right kind of lawyers lined up.
December 9, 2024 @ 2:21 pm
I’m wondering if this is the reason this album was even released? To take some heat off of an already bad situation
December 10, 2024 @ 9:20 am
If the list even becomes public knowledge. Hopefully, with a new administration coming next month, things might actually happen. I’ll believe it when it actually becomes public knowledge, Until then, it’s hope and prayers from me.
December 12, 2024 @ 9:47 am
Like Trump on Epstein’s list?!
Oh the blindspot you people seem to have…
December 9, 2024 @ 9:24 am
The real reason this album fell off so hard is that Beyonce hasn’t had a real hit in over a decade and her popularity is a shadow of what it once was. She also cancelled tour dates due to lack of ticket sales. Her time has passed like it did for countless pop artists before her. Sabrina Carpenter is hot right now and will experience the same fall one day. This happens to country pop artists as well. Anyone who thinks Beyonce is still popular is trapped in 2013.
December 9, 2024 @ 10:41 am
I think this is probably correct. So much of the media praise is just muscle memory at this point. It’s what you do: you praise Beyonce as the greatest ever no matter what the situation is. And with a Stan Army that enforces this mindset, it’s difficult to impossible to sway from it.
December 12, 2024 @ 10:02 am
This is just idiotic.
Texas Hold ‘m was a huge hit both in the US as well as abroad and was her ninth nr 1. It was even number 1 on the global charts which was new for her as well.
On top of that the Renaissance Tour was her highest grossing tour yet. It brought in almost twice as mich as her previous tour.
I know you guys like to talk as if you are authorities but damn this is just stupid, and then Trigger chiming in “you might be right” after spending a record number of articles about her this year.
What a silly place this already downward spiraling page has become.
December 12, 2024 @ 12:07 pm
Every time there is one of these year-defining, era-defining issues that deserves to be reported on in-depth, you ALWAYS see these kinds of “Why are you obsessed?” comments. We saw it with Morgan Wallen, with Lil Nas X, Taylor Swift back in the day, Eric Church, Sturgill Simpson, and so on.
First off, I haven’t written a dedicated article about this Beyonce issue in four months. Similar to the previous sagas, the coverage of them is actually rather minimal, and only posted when deemed absolutely necessary. There is in no way a “record number” of articles about them. On the contrary, it speaks much more to the browsing habits of the reader that somehow they take the first article on a subject in four months, and twist it into an “obsession.” If you don’t want to read about a certain subject, just ignore it. New articles are being posted all the time about a wide range of topics.
That said, if every single corporate media outlet wasn’t currently lying about the commercial and cultural impact of “Cowboy Carter,” an article like this would not be necessary. Talk about obsession, the fact that you can’t find an end-of-year list that doesn’t have “Cowboy Carter” at or near the top when the numbers empirically prove the album is not resonating as they claim is an obsession. There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of article published over the last week talking about the unprecedented cultural impact of “Cowboy Carter.” God forbid someone, ANYONE step forward, hold up their feeble little hand, and offer a spirited, fact-based and data-based rebuttal that will go summarily ignored for the headlong obsequious obsession with all things Beyonce.
December 12, 2024 @ 3:15 pm
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
Also funny how quickly you agreed with someone make ludicrous claims because they aligned with the message you have been (trying) to sent the entire (safe for the last four months apparently) year eventhough a quick google would have should you how absolutely wrong he was.
Enjoy your new found misunderstood genius role. It is as unbecoming as all the other hats you tried to wear.
December 20, 2024 @ 10:34 pm
Sure, stan…anyplace where there is a forum critiquing Beyonce, there are her stans patroling to counter anything which may be contemrary to her. It really gets boring to slog through the offensive defensive childishness. But that in itself says alot.
The only thing almost as bad as that is Billboard calling her “Artist of the Century”. Fawning and cloying behaviors are disgusting.
December 21, 2024 @ 5:51 am
Get over yourself. I am not even a fan of the lady. In fact I am regular on these boards.
Nowhere did I make any statement on liking her music, I guess objectivity is lost on mouth breathing fools like you. I merely pointed out that this statement was objectively wrong a d uninformed. It was.
You’re pathetic.
December 9, 2024 @ 10:13 am
Perhaps she’s starting to be seen more of a legacy act vs someone people want to hear new music from.
I checked the Billboard 200 and didn’t even see her previous album Renaissance there. I saw Stapleton’s Traveller and Lana del Rey’s Born to Die, those really have staying power.
I doubt the journalists putting her album on the 2024 best of lists actually listened to it more than once!
December 9, 2024 @ 10:44 am
Yes, it’s not just that “Cowboy Carter” is non-existent in the Billboard 200. No albums from Beyonce are. The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Toby Keith who is dead, they all have albums in the Billboard 200 at the moment. No doubt that Beyonce has enjoyed an incredible career and legacy. But there is also a concerted effort to build a facade around this idea she was the greatest ever, and remains so to this day. But the numbers just don’t bear this out.
December 9, 2024 @ 10:23 am
Beyonce’s militant, & racist, Super Bowl 2016 halftime performance, i am sure, did not help this last album.
Although, i enjoyed a couple songs from her Cowboy Carter album.
December 20, 2024 @ 10:37 pm
True. She has certainly become weaponized since her marraige.
December 9, 2024 @ 10:26 am
It’s almost as if you can take almost any legacy media narrative and put your money on the exact opposite of whatever they say. How many of these journalists also thought or said someone else was going to win the election?
December 9, 2024 @ 10:46 am
I don’t want to make this about politics, but we are definitely seeing the hubristic nature of the media that still believes they can mislead the public about certain things as if there are no alternative information sources. The lack of reception for “Cowboy Carter” is unequivocal and indisputable. Anyone can check the charts and see this.
December 9, 2024 @ 11:23 am
For sure…it’s everywhere. Also don’t want to make it about politics (which is why I didn’t even name names), but I think there is a correlation. If I was a strategist for the side that the activists are on, I would try to convince them to stop with this kind of bullshit.
Changing the subject, i’m still kind of disappointed that Rhiannon had anything to do with this.
December 9, 2024 @ 10:54 am
No. One. Cares.
December 9, 2024 @ 11:44 am
I know one person who cares. Adam Americana. That’s why you navigated to this article as opposed to passing it over. That’s why you even took the effort to leave a comment. That’s a ton of caring compared to most.
https://youtu.be/pvNA2JkMfSI?feature=shared
December 10, 2024 @ 5:34 pm
Truth be told, Trigger, in all the articles you posted about Beyonce and her “is it or is it NOT” “country” album this year, I have had to at the very least shake my head in mock sorrow, and at the most laugh my head off, at the way people here respond.to both the album and Queen Bey herself. Some of their reactions are so over-the-top savage and vicious that they reveal a lot less about Beyonce than they do about the people who post them.
I’m no fan of Beyonce’s, and I damned sure have zero patience for her Beyhive of fans. At the same time, however, I’ve seen enough pop culture to know who are professional agent provocateurs and bomb throwers who like to get under people’s skins, and Beyonce is absolutely one of those, like her or hate her. It’s no accident, she knows what she’s doing; and the proof has been in the responses on every article related to her and COWBOY CARTER that has been posted here.
It’s as H.L. Mencken once said: “I don’t care what they say about me, so long as they spell my name right in the papers”.
December 20, 2024 @ 10:41 pm
Many listeners dont. But the gate keepers of “culture” do in order to dictate what “proper” and “correct” as to what our choices and attitudes are to be.
December 9, 2024 @ 11:01 am
The early 90’s starts sounding like a bar in Bakersfield, ca. 1960, compared to what we’re stuck with now.
The great vocals of Mark Chesnut, Clint Black, Danny Shirley (Confederate Railroad), Ronnie Dunn, Tracy Byrd, Clinton Gregory and a few more. Most of them sold out to Nashpop after the first or second album, but for a few years in the late 80’s and early 90’s we could enjoy heartfelt singing and good tunes owing more to Merle and George than to what they try to channel today.
Country it’s not anymore.
December 10, 2024 @ 6:54 pm
Check out Zach Top
December 14, 2024 @ 8:32 am
Nashville pop from the late 90’s, at best.
December 9, 2024 @ 11:10 am
Most of the music i listen too isnt in the top 40 anyway. Thats why I listen too it. I was never gonna be interested in this record anyway. In most cases the more it sells the crappier it is, of course theres exceptions tp that but…
December 9, 2024 @ 11:20 am
One thing that the “Beyonce didn’t get a CMA nomination” crowd had in their favor: “Cowboy Carter was the biggest selling country album of 2024!”
Is that still true? Yes, Morgan Wallen didn’t release an album this year, but if only Wallen is able to outsell Beyonce then that only helps the Beyonce (truthfuly the anti-country) argument. And if the person to (ultimately) outsell Beyonce is Post Malone, that only strengthens the position of the country haters.
Yes, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 were much better for individual album sales in country. Plus 2024 was a horrible year for album sales for everybody not named Kendrick Lamar, Sabrina Carpenter and (ugh) Chappel Roan. This includes heavyweights Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande, whose albums also didn’t sell as much as their previous efforts. But don’t expect that sort of nuance from Billboard and the rest of the country haters.
December 9, 2024 @ 1:59 pm
“Cowboy Carter” was the best selling album released in country music in 2024 at one point. But that’s no longer really a relevant stat. Even when they were saying that, it had been outsold by titles released by Zach Bryan and Morgan Wallen in 2023. That is one of the reasons I included Zach Bryan’s 2023 self-titled album in this analysis. Then Post Malone released a country album, and as Cowboy Carter trailed off, other albums with more sustainability surpassed it.
No doubt, Cowboy Carter saw a big debut. But once people heard it, they’d heard enough, and have not been listening subsequently.
December 9, 2024 @ 11:27 am
I don’t know how much this factored into other country fans’ decisions but part of the reason why I didn’t try all that hard to get into the album was that it completely f**ked up my near-perfect algorithms. The sheer amount of unwanted songs from unwanted genres I had to skip after listening to it was so annoying.
December 9, 2024 @ 12:38 pm
The Shaboozey comparison is really telling. Shaboozey has been much more successful at blending some country influence and some hip hop influence into pop music.
FWIW I preferred the Beyonce record, but the numbers don’t lie. With other genres popularity is less important, but for pop music (including pop country) its critical.
December 9, 2024 @ 4:12 pm
“Yet while naming the album it’s #2 album of the year, Billboard claimed, “’Perfection’ is far from the brand on an album like ‘Cowboy Carter’ — and that makes this sprawling masterpiece that much more fascinating to listen to again and again.”
But people aren’t listening again and again. They’re barely listening at all. Still, to show fealty to Queen Bey, she continues to be crowned at or near the top of 2024 end-of-year lists.”
What is this? It’s Billboard’s #2 album based on the *editorial opinion of their staff*, not chart performance. Their list is full of artists nobody has heard about. What do the album’s streaming numbers have to do with their opinion that the album lends itself well to repeat listens?
You don’t have to like Beyoncé, but this impulse you have to cut her down to size is beneath you.
December 10, 2024 @ 3:59 pm
I think Trigger’s point is not about Beyoncé but about a certain kind of collectively enforced DEI agenda or whatever you wanna call it that tries to magically will her album into being something it just isn’t.
December 10, 2024 @ 7:30 am
I wonder how much of the early success of the album was due to people just giving the album a spin to see what Beyonce doing country sounded like? Then decided it sounded like shit and never listened again. Not to mention the Beyonce fans that hounded stations into playing it, and the huge push by streaming platforms to highlight it in the country genre. After the initial curiosity it just fizzled.
Cowboy Carter was neither country, or good.
December 10, 2024 @ 8:43 am
I feel like ol’ Bey went downhill when she started dating Jay-Z. BEY only hopes a Destiny’s Child album/tour.
December 10, 2024 @ 1:43 pm
I wonder if in 1983 or so Waylon said “This aint a coutnry album, this is a Waylon album.” You’d be pounding the table insisting it wasn’t country,
December 11, 2024 @ 10:53 am
Let’s be real: The Beyonce album just isn’t country music. It has 2-5 country inspired tracks. The rest is drawing from a bunch of other genres.
December 13, 2024 @ 9:35 am
This is exactly right – Trigger took her comment as literally as possible, even though it was obviously tongue-in-cheek. Linda Martell’s riff on genre in the intro to “Spaghettii” gives the game away. The obsession with gatekeeping and discrediting this album is beyond parody of course.
December 13, 2024 @ 9:47 am
Beyonce released those comments in March. This is the very first time I have ever seen someone attempt to claim her comments were “tongue-in-cheek.” I don’t think that’s a viable argument.
And yes, I have addressed Waylon Jennings being country or not many, many times over the years. Here’s one glaring example:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/they-said-waylon-jennings-wasnt-country-too-outlaw-history/
December 13, 2024 @ 10:16 am
Why is it not a viable argument? Why ignore what Linda Martell says on the very album about genre (surely more of an important statement than a throwaway comment)? Beyonce was – pretty clearly – extending a middle finger to the country gatekeepers (which, unfortunately, seems to include you) with her comment. Hence the tongue-in-cheek nature of it. You gleefully took her literally, taking the bait.
As for Waylon, it’s curious that you wholly embrace his music as country then, wouldn’t you say? It’s not consistent with your above logic. Uncompromising artists, in my view, are to be celebrated, not bashed, especially when they push the boundaries of genre and make joyless gatekeepers squirm a bit. Of course, as the years pass, revisionists will claim they were there all along!
December 13, 2024 @ 12:30 pm
Bryan,
You’re trying to fit the facts to fit your preconceived notion. The Linda Martell quotes from “Cowboy Carter” verify that it’s not a country album, and that calling it a country album insults its artistic intent to “bend and blend genres” (Beyonce’s words).
Linda Martell says, “Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they? Yes they are. In theory, they have a simple definition that’s easy to understand. But in practice, well, some may feel confined.”
By calling “Cowboy Carter” country, you are “confining” the album in the country genre, which is against Beyonce’s wishes.
Linda Martell later says, “Ladies and gentlemen, this particular tune stretches across a range of genres, and that’s what makes it a unique listening experience.”
In other words, it’s not one genre (country), it stretches across genres (pop).
So the Linda Martell quotes validate my argument, not refute it. Also appreciate that these quotes did not originally appear on the album, just like it wasn’t originally named “Cowboy Carter.” It Was named “Beyince.” All of this was added later for marketing.
As for the Waylon Jennings argument, you are making some wild assumptions about his music, my opinions on it, and country’s history with it. As I illustrated with the previous link I posted, Waylon Jennings was directly criticized for not being country by the press and his fellow performers. So the idea that Beyonce is unique for people claiming she’s not country and citing Waylon as in any way being relevant to that conversation is unfounded.
December 10, 2024 @ 3:44 pm
I listened to the album hoping to like it but it was crass, too long and not very entertaining. She sure looked awesome though.
Crazy thought: Maybe if it didn’t suck it would sell better.
December 10, 2024 @ 5:13 pm
Yeah, I think Bajamazoo or Bazoomajow or whatever made a bigger impact.
On a slightly more serious note, when Beyoncé got country music Grammy nominations she alluded to Linda Martell who never came close. When she could have mentioned the Pointer Sisters who did actually win awards for a country song.
December 10, 2024 @ 6:58 pm
Thank you for the paranoia
December 10, 2024 @ 7:13 pm
That would be “Slow Hand,” later (much more successfully;wonder why?) covered by Conway Twitty.
December 11, 2024 @ 12:44 pm
I, for one, welcome our new rap overlords. All hail Conway Fiddy!
December 12, 2024 @ 8:40 pm
RollingStone named this the 2nd best album of 2024.
December 18, 2024 @ 7:44 am
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when you became such an incredibly strange individual, but – even by the now well established bottom of the barrel standards of this formerly great site – this is possibly your most inane drivel yet. Imagine sincerely writing that people are “barely listening” about an album with a billion streams. Come on lad.
December 18, 2024 @ 8:07 am
The great thing about data and facts is unlike opinions, they’re inarguable. They don’t care what your opinions or feelings are. The facts presented here tell a dramatically different story compared to many in the press. It’s not that people aren’t listening at all. It’s that they’re listening is much staggering fewer numbers than is being portrayed in the media, with a data-driven approach to back up that assertion.