Photo credit: Amazon Music
According to a new study, 82% of national listeners are completely unaware that there is a Morgan Wallen ban.
Wallen was indefinitely suspended from his Big Loud / Republic label after a video surfaced online of him claiming there was a racial slur. His music was attracted by most of the radio stations nationwide, as well as Sirius XM, Pandora, and CMT. Beyond that, streaming giants like Spotify and Apple Music pulled their music off their country playlists.
The result: Many of Wallen’s songs have skyrocketed up the charts and remain popular with fans listening to them online. Spotify even created a deep dive on their album ‘Dangerous’ after removing Wallen from their playlists. But according to a new study, country radio listeners who don’t broadcast music have hardly heard of Morgan Wallen’s ban. P1 Media Group conducted an online survey just a week after the ban began.
The group sampled 200 listeners from countries ages 18 to 54 in the PPM markets. Participants had to be primarily country radio listeners and 100% of them were familiar with artist Morgan Wallen. Despite that familiarity, only 18% of country listeners were aware of Morgan Wallen’s ban on the industry of country radio stations and streaming services.
The study also provided an age breakdown of how the participants responded to the incident.
The age group 18-24 more aware of Morgan Wallen’s comments and negative publicity. They also find Morgan Wallen and his music less attractive that listeners in countries over the age of 18-24 much more likely say your opinion of Morgan Wallen has changed for the worse. Young people from 18 to 24 years old equally likely Like other groups, saying that the ban on their music is too severe a punishment. Listeners across countries are divided on whether the Morgan Wallen ban should be happening or not.
26% of the total sample size said they agreed with the ban on their music. Only 16% said the ban should continue indefinitely. 66% of those surveyed said Morgan Wallen should publicly apologize and take steps to change his behavior (just a few days ago, Wallen issued a lengthy apology to fans).
“It is remarkable how few country radio listeners were aware that Morgan Wallen’s music was removed from country radio a week after the ban began,” said a spokesman for P1 Media Group. «[This signifies] National radio has not communicated its position on Morgan Wallen to its listeners.
While country radio listeners may not be aware of the ban, those who broadcast their country music certainly are. Wallen’s last two albums are enjoying new success as the social media controversy began. Dangerous is at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart for the fifth week in a row, fueled by the rise of this controversy on social media.
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