A few weeks ago we sent out our First Annual Roughstock Fan Poll survey which asked fans to give us their choices for a string of categories. Hundreds of fans participated in the survey and now we’ve tallied the votes and have found the fans have largely followed the trends of what is ‘most popular’ in retail and with critics – with a few exceptions. For the purpose of this survey, we allowed 4th quarter 2009 releases like Carrie Underwood’s Play On to be included but didn’t include older albums like 2008’s The Foundation from Zac Brown Band or Fearless from Taylor Swift.
Top 10 Albums:
1. Need You Now – Lady Antebellum
2. My Best Days – Danny Gokey
3. Play On – Carrie Underwood
3. Revolution – Miranda Lambert
5. My Kinda Party – Jason Aldean
5. You Get What You Give – Zac Brown Band
6. Up On The Ridge – Dierks Bentley
7. The Guitar Song – Jamey Johnson
8. The Reason Why – Little Big Town
9. Easton Corbin – Easton Corbin
9. Get Closer – Keith Urban
9. Speak Now – Taylor Swift
9. Getting Dressed In The Dark – Jaron & The Long Road To Love.
As you can see from this list, the majority of popular and critically acclaimed albums from the past year are included here. The surprising ones to some would be the placement of Danny Gokey and Jaron & The Long Road To Love’s albums but both artists have active and engaged fans (or “Frans” as Jaron calls them). This list also speaks to the fantastic diversity that is in country music.
Top 10 singles:
1. “The House That Built Me” – Miranda Lambert
2.”Temporary Home” – Carrie Underwood
2. “I Will Not Say Goodbye” – Danny Gokey
2. “If I Die Young” – The Band Perry
5. “My Best Days Are Ahead of Me” – Danny Gokey
6. “As She’s Walking Away” – Zac Brown Band/Alan Jackson
7. “Undo It” – Carrie Underwood
8. “Mama’s Song” – Carrie Underwood
9. “Little White Church” – Little Big Town
10. “Pray For You” – Jaron & The Long Road To Love
10. “Need You Now” – Lady Antebellum
10. “Roll With It” – Easton Corbin
10. “That’s Beautiful To Me” – Jaron & The Long Road To Love
Like the album’s list, the singles list is represented by popular radio hits but it also featured three artists with multiple appearances thanks to the fanbases of Carrie Underwood, Danny Gokey and Jaron & The Long Road To Love. Along with these singles are the universally praised hits from Easton Corbin, Little Big Town, the Zac Brown Band and Alan Jackson duet and the obvious #1 single of the year, “The House That Built Me” by Miranda Lambert.
Top 5 Worst Singles:
1. “Mine” – Taylor Swift
2. “Undo It” – Carrie Underwood
3. “Stuck Like Glue” – Sugarland
4. “Trailerhood” – Toby Keith
5. “Only Prettier” – Miranda Lambert
These songs prove a couple things. First, female singers tend to have more ‘grating’ music to fans, two. Fans who love one artist may hate others. Still, it is nice to see that there are no repeat artists here. Perhaps the most interesting thing to note is that “Undo It” made both the Top 10 singles and Top 5 worst singles list.
Top 5 Male Artists
1. Brad Paisley
2. Keith Urban
3. Danny Gokey
4. Blake Shelton
5. Jason Aldean
You know, this is a pretty good collection of male artists and while some might balk at Gokey being on this list, he does have that loyal group of fans who were actively voting for him. So while Jamey Johnson, Tim McGraw and Easton Corbin didn’t make this list, they were close (Tim was tied for 6th with Josh Turner).
Top 5 Female Artists
1. Carrie Underwood
2. Miranda Lambert
3. Reba McEntire
4. Taylor Swift
5. Martina McBride
This category found voters choosing just like how ACM and CMA voting members have voted the last few years. It was pretty striking to see the results here mirror what the major awards voters do. This tells me those fans largely only know of 5-6 female artists (or feel they’re worthy of being voted for). Only 11 females even got multiple votes (including Sara Evans, Sunny Sweeney, Kellie Pickler and Mallary Hope).
Top 5 Duos or Groups
1. Lady Antebellum
2. The Band Perry
3. Sugarland
4. Zac Brown Band
5. Rascal Flatts
Like the female artists, this category is pretty much in line with major award show categories. Lady Antebellum took a commanding lead (like Paisley in the Male Artist and “House That Built Me” in the Song of the Year poll) and didn’t let down. The Band Perry tied Sugarland for second place while Zac Brown Band was comfortably in 4th place. Rascal Flatts outpaced Little Big Town by two votes.
Top 5 Favorite New Artists
1. The Band Perry
2. Easton Corbin
3. Jerrod Niemann
4. Danny Gokey
5. Steel Magnolia
Once again, it’s hard to argue with the results of the fan’s choices here. The top 3 artists are undoubtedly the top contenders for the ACM Best New Artist categories this year. The Band Perry was far ahead of everyone else with Easton beating Niemann and Gokey by a few votes each. Jaron & The Long Road To Love wound up in a distant 6th place.
Top 5 Favorite Live Show/Tour Package of 2010
1. Carrie Underwood – Play On Tour
2. Brad Paisley – H20 World Tour
3. Sugarland – The Incredible Machine Tour
4. Danny Gokey – My Best Days
4. Lady Antebellum – Need You Now Tour
Once again Danny Gokey manages to showcase the power of engaged fans because his tour was included on this list and he tied Lady Antebellum for fourth (thus no 5th place). Jaron & The Long Road To Love and Tim McGraw were just outside of the Top 5. Each of the top 3 tours were for artists who definitely deserved the praise. Carrie Underwood may have been very green and ‘wooden’ when she started out but if anyone saw the Play On Tour, they witnessed a women completely ready to win an CMA Entertainer of the Year Award (like Brad Paisley just did). Sugarland’s show is as entertaining as ever as well, even going so far to name the tour after an album that didn’t come out until near the end of the tour.
Top 10 Artists of 2010
1.Carrie Underwood
2. Lady Antebellum
3. Brad Paisley
4. Miranda Lambert
5. Zac Brown Band
5. Danny Gokey
5. Tim McGraw
5. Jaron & The Long Road To Love
9. Jamey Johnson
10. Keith Urban
The final category of our First Annual Roughstock Best of 2010 Fan Poll concludes with Carrie Underwood taking yet another category. She barely beat out 2010’s best-selling album holder, Lady Antebellum with Brad Paisley and Miranda Lambert sitting comfortably in 3rd and 4th. The four-way tie for fifth place found popular artist The Zac Brown Band and Tim McGraw joined by newcomers Danny Gokey and Jaron and the Long Road To Love. Critical favorite Jamey Johnson proved to be a fan favorite as well (even without radio airplay) while Keith Urban rounds out the Top 10, just outpacing Reba and Josh Turner and The Band Perry for the spot.
Well, folks, there you have it! Our first poll. What do you think of the results? What about the categories? Are you surprised with any of the choices?
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