Melinda Schneider: The importance of getting country music heard on radio

Melinda Schneider. Image supplied

Being one of Australia’s most successful country artists and getting your music heard on radio isn’t as straightforward as it used to be.

Chatting to me ahead of her national regional tour and the release of her new album TENDER, Melinda Schneider has given a shout out to the ABC and the community stations which continue to champion country music.

“Gone are the days when country music was played on mainstream radio, like it used to be in the eighties, where we had Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers and Anne Murray on mainstream pop radio,” she says.

“That just doesn’t happen anymore. I think the only exception was a little bit for Kasey Chambers for Not Pretty Enough, and certainly Shania Twain.”

Apart from those, Melinda says it’s very hard for country artists to get any mainstream radio airplay thesedays.

“So community radio is really important for us, and the ABC are fantastic too with featuring country music.”

TENDER is Melinda’s first original album in 10 years.

Featuring songs co-written with and alongside her hubby Mark Gable of Choirboys fame, it marks a powerful new creative chapter in Melinda’s life.

The album’s title track is a duet with Diesel, bringing together two iconic Australian artists.

Which makes radio exposure even more crucial.

“Radio airplay is really important,” Melinda says. “We’ve got so many great country music stations and announcers who are SO supportive and so loyal. They’re with you through your whole career, really, as are the fans.”

“You don’t have to be young and a certain age to have a career in country music. It can be a lifelong career, because of the support that we get, which is a wonderful thing.”

“It is important to get your songs out there.”

Having been involved in the industry for more than 40 years, the multi-Golden Guitar winner is all about making people feel things through her music.

Entrenched in honesty, Melinda’s songs genuinely come from the heart. But she feels a certain ‘sameness’ has crept into the genre over recent years.

“I just don’t think the songs touch your heart like they used to,” says Melinda, who feels a lot of the stuff coming out of Nashville of late sounds more like 80s rock than country music.

It’s hipper. Cooler. More ‘rocky.’ More ‘poppy.’  And quite possibly why its popularity continues to surge, particularly among younger generations.

Melinda Schneider’s new album TENDER is out February 6. She features in this week’s latest episode of the Food Bytes with Sarah Patterson podcast.