Can Hunter Hayes’ team please just decide on their favorite mix of ‘Light Me Up’? Generally this stuff is done before anything is released to the public.
I say this because recently the track, originally part of his self-titled debut album, has received its third marketed version in three years. The first version was perhaps cluttered, but simple in its goals; a pop polish on a stadium rock sound, a rousing live performance with a big belting chorus. The second version appeared on the ‘Encore’ (read: deluxe) version of the first album, featuring a slightly cleaner mix and an extended intro that amped up the dirty guitars but added a sweet ringing acoustic guitar/mandolin. That’s all fine and good. But then, as part of a bid to launch in the UK market, Hunter released a brand new rendition of ‘Light Me Up’ that sounds like an entirely different song. Yes, ‘Light Me Up’ version III (that also benefits from an official music video) has a club mix.
And not just the kind of club-influenced sound that Taylor Swift implemented on country-masquerading ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ back in 2012, either. I mean full on, remixed to the hilt, house, electronica and dubstep styles replacing all of the original instruments and Hunter’s voice basked in auto-tune. I mean, this is more club-orientated than half of the EDM in the UK Top 40!
As a result, this poses a number of issues. Hunter has previously claimed that he would never go “pop” like Taylor Swift has done, although that in itself is ironic as I have always felt his music hardly bore any resemblance to country anyway. He also prides himself on his mastery of several instruments and his ability to play every instrument on his record has been much played upon in promotional materials. Indeed, even the video for the club mix features Hunter playing guitar, drums and keyboard, even though none of them were used in the construction of the track he is quite happily singing along to. In addition, I always felt that out of the current crop of mainstream country artists he would be an ideal fit to transfer right over to the UK market with no editing, due to having such a pop-orientated sound and a Justin Bieber-like look that is popular with young girls. So when his team announced they would be pushing him this side of the water, I didn’t foresee there being any issue.
So what gives? Not only does this go against Hunter’s claim he would not go “pop”, it also negates his musical prowess and removes his uniqueness. He slips right into the pack unnoticed, which while perhaps useful for encouraging casual radio listeners to get on board, does nothing for his current fanbase or a future potential one who would actually enjoy his music for what it is (and I can assure you, his real sound would be extremely marketable over here). It bears distinct resemblance to Keith Urban’s UK launch several years ago, during which time he was marketed as a rock act, subsequently sinking like a stone. Yes, The Cadillac Three are doing pretty well in the rock and metal sphere, but that’s because much of their sound is rock rather than country anyway, and that’s not the case for Keith Urban, who just didn’t fit with the audience they were trying to target. UK rock is very different from US rock, and they got that entirely wrong.
They’ve also got the situation with Hunter very wrong. At a time where country music and country-related material (ie ‘Nashville’) is at its highest peak of popularity since Shania Twain and the line-dancing of the 1990s, it seems like a perfect time to introduce US country artists into the marketplace. In some respects American artists are doing better over here than they are in their home country, with examples ranging from Dolly Parton’s UK Platinum-certified ‘Blue Smoke’ (it only sold around 20,000 copies in the US), to Gretchen Peters’ #1 UK album ‘Blackbirds’ (when was the last time you heard her material on country radio?). BBC Radio 2 in particular are championing all kinds of artists that Music Row shies away from, and the UK’s long-time grassroots Americana and “country and western” scene could perhaps be why the Americana-influenced ‘Nashville’ and the legacy artists of yesteryear are enjoying such popularity here. So where does that leave Hunter? He applies to neither.
Well, the likes of Lady Antebellum and Carrie Underwood are well-loved acts here, as are Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, The Band Perry and Brad Paisley, all of whom draw much from the pop and rock genres. Too, the two biggest homegrown acts on the scene are The Shires and Ward Thomas, who both employ a rather mainstream approach to their music (particularly the former). Why did Hunter’s team assume he wouldn’t be just as successful as these acts by staying true to himself? Why did they think they had to fundamentally change how he sounds?
A lot of it comes down to stereotyping, lack of knowledge and miscommunication. Labels think that the UK will not be swayed by country music or anything related to it (despite the fact that Taylor Swift first launched here rather successfully under the guise of country), so they do their best to conform to what they think will be palatable to British consumers, rather than what market research actually dictates large numbers of the British public identify with. In fact, genre labelling has far less of an impact in the UK music industry, with mainstream radio playing a variety of sounds and styles, meaning that Hunter could have released a track off sophomore album ‘Storyline’ without editing it and just letting it fly at the BBC. It likely would have done a lot better than this, which is just insulting to his fanbase and the listeners they’re trying to win over.
Moral of the story? Don’t patronize or second guess British music fans, and we will buy your shit.
