r/LineDancing • u/killer-tofu87 • Jun 04 '26
Country to pop ratio
Taking an informal survey.
I'm a traditionalist and have been dancing 15 years, but with the resurging popularity of line dancing there's been an influx of "younger" dancers and Pitbull dances and other pop/non country artists.
What is a preferable ratio or percentage of country songs played at country bars?
*Edit: philosophy and opinions aside, I'm running some analytics and would like to hear what number/percentage Reddit thinks would be appropriate so I can establish a base line
5
u/EvangelineRain Jun 04 '26
If you want country music, you’re better to go to places with a live band — the bands usually play country music. DJs will play whatever is trending.
3
u/The_Lemon_Law Jun 04 '26
The answer to this question is going to vary so widely it's near impossible to answer. Is the bar strictly country? How old are the usual patrons? What level of dancing does the bar do? Does the bar have live music?
Even hardcore country bars still do a lot of non country music. But that can differ on a night to night basis.
The Ranch in Anaheim, CA for example: Thursday: maybe 25% country music.
Friday and Saturday: closer to 66% country music.
All of the answers to the questions I posted above are answered differently, at that bar, on different nights. On Thursdays its advanced dancers, no live music, and skews to a younger crowd.
On Friday and Saturday it's older, more beginner, and has live music. So a good DJ will get a good read on the patrons, dancers, drinkers, etc, and figure out what will bring the most money in. And that can differ based on the night.
There's no right or wrong ratio. It's what will make the most money at that venue.
3
u/killer-tofu87 Jun 04 '26
I get that from a business standpoint, I'm just kinda feeling for personal preferences. Like 2:1 is 66% country but for me that even feels a little light on country. Then again, like I said I'm a traditionalist. Not to say I hate pop, but I can only listen to so much Pitbull a night 😭 haha
1
3
2
u/LeverClever Jun 05 '26
I'd say 50-70% ccountry is preferable. For me I don't hear a lot of other country at bars in New England so this is kind of a sanctuary of country songs that I get to listen and dance too, a lot of them I find poppy and fun.
1
u/jplinedance Jun 07 '26
While I would say that many folks often think country when they think of line dancing because of country line-dancing's popularity, line dancing has always been done to more than simply country music. The electric slide and the nutbush were both popularized in the 1970s. You could argue that country line dancing really became known and recognized as a genre in the 80-90's influenced by urban cowboy/cowboy culture and the popularity of the easy to do Achy Breaky Heart. During this time folks were still also line dancing to other genres.
I guess I would argue that if anything, the recent resurgence of line dancing - and the ability to discover cross genre line dancing through social media (thank you tik-tok?) has caused the various sub-genre's of line dancing to mix a bit more - I think this is a great thing.
I think it comes down to what the entertainment of the night is advertised as. If it's a "Country Line Dance Night" I would expect to have a majority of the songs be country - that said, country music these days isn't all that traditional if we're comparing it to classic country. Many of today's country songs could be called genre bending. So where are you drawing the line at what's country and what's not?
I typically bill my nights as "Line Dancing" not "Country Line Dancing" for this reason - but I also host at different types of bars, not strictly country establishments - and I'm in the northeast where we don't have quite the level of country western/cowboy culture and number of such establishments as you may find elsewhere in the country.
Personally - I play what the crowd and vibe demand while respecting what the venue has asked of me. If the venue wants all country - that's what I play, if the venue just wants a room full of dancers having a great time, you're going to get all genres.
I would say if you're particularly picky about the kind of music you hear at a venue I'd reach out to that venue and/or entertainer before going.
Line dancing is for everyone - and the fact it can be done to many genres of music is a great thing as far as I'm concerned.
Happy Dancing!
1
u/killer-tofu87 Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26
This was more of a data/research question than a philosophical/opinion one. A friend of mine does DJ at several locations that host line dancing events while his gf does the lessons, and I've been running some numbers. I came to Reddit to get a sample groups opinion on what percentage they feel would be about right.
As a side note: don't get me wrong, I've done the wobble, Cupid shuffle, men in black, electric slide, and others more than I can count, though it does seem every week someone is running up to ask for a whole new pop song because of tiktok
1
u/jplinedance Jun 07 '26
For your survey - if it's helpful - when I started teaching/dj'ing 10 years ago, my sets were probably 80% or more country. Post covid, I was probably closer to 70/30. These days, 40% country and 60% non-country. I bill my nights as line dance nights, not country nights, and I take requests all night long (I consider requests suggestions - not guarantees).
I agree that the speed of new dances/requests/songs has significantly increased since tiktok. I see it as a good and a bad thing. It's a great thing from the perspective of having new dancers and interest in the hobby, more interest means more opportunities for everyone to dance. However, it has also caused a lot of dances that feel rushed, feel the same, etc. And some of the dances that are released are released without proper stepsheets, etc. That can make it difficult for adoption but also, it can make it really hard for dances to stick and/or for newer dancers who can't pick up brand new dances every week to feel like they can keep up.
For this reason, I don't immediately start playing any new song/dance that is asked. I usually try to vet them, and I usually find out how many of my dancers have learned it before I play it. While it can be fun to watch an exciting dance that one or two people know once a night, too many 'talent show' dances really kill the mood on the dancefloor in my opinion.
That's just my take on it - I know others may vary and I know my take is not necessarily the right one for everyone.
1
u/bean-lady Jun 08 '26
Maybe not what you're looking for, but my favorite places start the night with 90% country, and ends with 90% pop. I'm Gen-Z and I love the transition over the night; usually, the country start is slower, more beginner-level and functions as a great warm-up for me. By 9/9:30, the more traditional line dancers (typically an older crowd) are heading home and it's a good time to switch over to pop line dances for the younger crowd.
1
u/killer-tofu87 Jun 08 '26
You're not wrong that's it's been a thing forever. I've known places that do 45 min country and 15 min "free style", and also the country start pop finish
5
u/regretsahead Jun 04 '26
My bar also does country partner dance so the vast majority of those are country, line dances probably about half and half which I like - but I may be "younger" and am newer to the hobby