Why was Beyoncé skipped the Country Music Association Awards? Experts cite a few reasons

Beyoncé fans may be disappointed that her crossover album “Cowboy Carter” was left out of this year's Country Music Association Awards nominations, but that may not be a shock.

The pop icon has opened up about feeling unwanted in the genre. He dropped the country ode “Daddy Lessons” in 2016 and performed it with The Chicks at that year's CMA Awards. Their performance drew backlash from fans of the genre, who complained that Beyoncé was not a country artist.

Beyoncé as well as many black artists have expressed how difficult it is to break into the country music industry as executives often cater to white consumers. However, experts say there's more to Beyoncé's snub than the industry's long-standing erasure of black artists' contributions to country music.

Amanda Marie Martinez, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, points to the concentration of the industry in Nashville, Tennessee. Artists there are expected to “pay their dues” by playing honky-tonks, participating in writer's rounds, and exhibiting their work around town to build a successful career in the genre.

“There's a real culture of respect where you have to bow to the gatekeepers and get in their good graces,” said Martinez, who has researched anti-blackness in the country music industry.

In contrast, rapper Post Malone made his first foray into country music this year and opted for a more mainstream country music sound, tapping the Nashville giants to help with his project. His latest album, “F-1 Trillion,” features 15 tracks with artists such as Morgan Wallen, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs and more. Malone, who was featured in “Cowboy Carter,” was nominated for four CMA Awards.

“Beyonce didn't do it, she didn't have to,” Martinez said. As one of the biggest pop stars in the world, her career isn't dependent on Nashville or the Country Music Association, which administers the CMA Awards. While he produced a top country album and The rise of other emerging black artists Stylistically, he did not conform to the mainstream country music business.

“Country music as an industry continues to be dominated by radio airplay, and to even be considered for voting for a CMA award, you must get a certain amount of radio airplay,” Martinez said.

Neither Beyoncé nor the Country Music Association responded to requests for comment.

Country radio airplay is also dominated by white males, with 11% of 2022 airplay being female, 19th last year report. From 2002 to 2020, black female artists had almost zero airplay on country radio. The Tennessean reported in 2021.

“Texas Hold 'Em,” the lead single from “Cowboy Carter,” reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. However, some Country radio stations were slow to play the song and “16 Carries,” when they were released, which Martinez said was an important part of the CMA Awards nomination process.

A No. 1 song on the Hot Country Songs chart can qualify for Single of the Year at the CMA Awards, but voters also consider the top songs on Billboard's Country Airplay chart and Country Aircheck's chart, According to the award website.

Emmett Price III, dean of Africana studies at Berklee College of Music, said he wasn't surprised by the snub because Beyoncé is a “disruptor.”

“Cowboy Carter” has been considered a revival of country music because it highlights the contributions of black artists to the genre. Many hoped it would bring more visibility to black country musicians. Price said his album “questions not only the historical and cultural roots of country and western, but also how we normalize certain cultural aspects of country culture.”

Like many black artists who came before her, Beyoncé, Price said, created a discussion about who was allowed in the country genre. Despite his influence and his Texan roots, many people still believe he is not country.

Price added that the CMA Awards reflect what the industry “believes are great representatives of the culture, the place, the genre.”

Country music has long been considered a genre that attracts a predominantly white audience. Martinez said that, based on his research on country music marketing materials, the industry's target audience is “adults in their 20s to 40s who live in the suburbs, who are obviously white. [and] Socially conservative.”

As a result, country music executives and radio programmers aren't necessarily promoting albums like “Cowboy Carter” because they don't believe their audience will be interested.

The conversation surrounding “Cowboy Carter” highlights how much work still needs to be done to make the country music industry more inclusive. Martinez said the problem reaches beyond Beyoncé. There are many black artists in Nashville who have worked to be recognized in the industry, but continue to be overlooked, he said.

Shabuji, who was featured on two songs from “Cowboy Carter” and The War and Treaty, was the only black country act nominated for this year's CMA Awards. Shabuji was nominated for New Artist of the Year and Single of the Year with his smash hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”. The War and Treaty was nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year.

“With all the black artists out there now, I'm looking for more representation and more inclusion, and I'm not seeing it,” Price said.

The CMA Awards snub opened a dialogue about where the country music industry can go from here.

“Beyoncé will be fine,” Price said. “But what does that mean for other maybe black and brown or queer artists who are marginalized, who are pushed to the fringes because they can't see the country, or they don't run the country, or they don't have a voice? Country?”

“That's the question, and I think we need to wrestle with it,” Price said.

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