Music
Jann Arden is very mad that a Calgary radio station is cutting songs in half
by Mark Teo
August 8, 2014
Yesterday, Calgary’s AMP Radio shocked the world when news spread that they were cutting songs in half so that listeners don’t get bored. Music fans, naturally, were appalled, but anyone following AMP knows that it’s likely another publicity stunt by Calgary’s thirstiest station: They, after all, once burned $15,000 and ran a breast augmentation contest called “Breast Summer Ever.” Stay classy, guys.
Nonetheless, their decision to cut their songs in half brought up some interesting questions: Is that data correct, and are we losing our collective attention spans? How much artistic license—or intent—can be shaved from a song before it’s unrecognizable? Should we be carving up an artist’s creations at all? Is the four-minute song an antiquated relic from radio’s past? How different is a two-minute, carved-up song from a standard radio edit?
Here to answer our questions is singer-songwriter Jann Arden, one of Calgary’s most outspoken musical voices (like, remember when she took heat for standing up for Paula Deen?). Her verdict on AMP? It’s complete horseshit.
She spent much of yesterday taking on AMP on Twitter and retweeting the backlash. Here’s some of the choice cuts.
And so on. Arden also spoke to the Calgary Herald to drive the point home—as if it wasn’t clear enough already. She was especially biting when it came to the suggestion that artists are receptive to having their songs shortened.
“That’s why my claws went up because it’s just insulting,” she told the Herald. “They’re saying, ‘Hey, artists are receptive to it.’ Well, you know what? If an artist is receptive to it then they’ve completely sold out. And they’re not my brothers and sisters in this kind of work. They’re people that will do anything to get on radio and I’m not interested in those people.”
We’re with you, Jann.
Tags: Music, Cancon, News, AMP radio, Jann Arden
