At CMT, A Voice for Change in a Genre That Stubbornly Resists Equal Representation

In country music, the more issues like parity for female artists and people of color get talked about, the more they stay the same, it often seems. But for the better part of a decade, Leslie Fram, CMT’s senior VP of music & talent, has been pretty much the first name you hear when you hear about execs who are making a difference. That’s been within the network, with the Next Women of Country initiative and an Equal Play pledge to program at least 50% female artists, and outside it, with some extracurricular diversity programs she’s co-founded. Fram joins us to talk about those issues and also discuss subjects like “The CMT Awards” moving upstairs to CBS, and Pluto TV and Paramount Plus allowing for more of the music programming that doesn’t always have a big place on CMT itself. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.