For many, the horrific murders of school teachers and their infant students in Connecticut last week marked one of this generation’s greatest tragedies.
Now, in a responsible bid to honor those who lost their lives, US radio outlets have made a controversial move by ‘pulling’ Ke$ha‘s upbeat dance single ‘Die Young‘ from their playlists.
Not sure why?
Their reasons below…
The first single to be pulled from her latest LP ‘Warrior‘, ‘Young’ has found itself dropped from stations across the country because of its title and hook, both of which place emphasis on ‘dying young‘.
This, though unfortunate because of what it will mean for her already lack luster sales for the album, understandable- because of its potentially insensitive nature considering the ages of many of last week’s victims. Some of them, as young as six years old.
Billboard Biz explains:
“Along with many other stations, WDAQ sees how Ke$ha’s “Die Young” could be construed as insensitive at the moment. “We’ve been playing it before Friday but not since and I think we’re now done with it. Even though it’s a fun pop/dance record about seizing the moment, all people are going to hear right now is those two words in the title,” he says.
Adhering to an old PD axiom, “You’re never hurt by what you don’t play, ” he says.
It’s a bit hard to gauge how the song is trending nationally due specifically to the events of Friday because it was already beginning its airplay descent. “Young” Is down from No. 1 to 2 on the Pop Songs chart this week (which measures airplay during the Dec. 10-16 Nielsen BDS tracking week), down 11% in plays. But, the drop seems in line with its natural chart arc. And it is still No. 2, after all, with approximately 13,000 plays at pop radio in that span.
In the Northeast, though, where airplay for ‘Young’ is now noticeably lower than in other regions (just one station in the Northeast is among the 25 that played it the most yesterday, according to BDS), it seems that stations are being careful about such lyrics.”
So, you tell us…