So as you may have heard over the weekend, the new Lady Gaga single "Judas" was released ahead of schedule.  With Gaga's take on a controversial religious character, it was bound to cause a stir.   Here is an email that we recieved...and my response.  I'd love to hear your feedback on the song, the email below, or anything else that is WIXX-related:

(Scroll down to hear the song)

On Sun, Apr 17, 2011 at 1:01 AM, _____ _____ <____.____@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi ____,
Thank you for being a loyal WIXX listener.  We truly appreciate it and we're glad you've stuck with us over the years.

You are not alone in your disapproval of the new Lady Gaga single "Judas."   There have been multiple religious groups that have made statements that it is just an attempt to shock the public.  With Lady Gaga's history, I wouldn't disagree with that. 

We realize that Lady Gaga's music and "style" is not for everybody.  This latest controversy reminds me a lot of Madonna's "Like A Prayer" video that generated quite a stir in the late 1980's on MTV. 

With that said, Madonna is an artist that re-defined pop music in the 80's and 90's and has become one of the most-famous musical acts of all time.  Even in her height of popularity, there were many people who didn't think that she had talent and the only had a great marketing team that tried to "shock" people. 

There are many similarities between Madonna and Lady Gaga.  Some people think too many.   Regardless, we feel that as WIXX has been an authority on pop culture and new pop music for our listening audience in Northeast Wisconsin for the past 34+ years, it is our obligation to play Lady Gaga's new single. 

Just like parents of the young generation didn't approve of Elvis Presley's music and that he gyrated his hips on stage during his performances, there will be many people who think that Lady Gaga has crossed the line with her latest single. 

There will also be many people who appreciate Lady Gaga's persona of being edgy and controversial and that LOVE her music.  With continual research done on the WIXX listening audience, we feel that a majority of our audience enjoys Lady Gaga as many of her songs test very high on our music research survey.     Over the coming weeks, we'll see specifically if a majority enjoys this particular song ("Judas").  If they do, we will continue to play it.  If we don't, we will drop it from our playlist. 

If you're not already, we invite you to join the WIXX Listener Advisory Panel and let us know your opinions on the songs we play.  We truly do use this LOCAL research as a HUGE deciding factor when setting our playlist.  The final question of each survey is an "Open-Ended" question, which, thanks in-part to your email this week, will be "What are your thoughts on the new Lady Gaga single "Judas"?"    

To get signed up, follow THIS link:  http://www.srvy.net/x/1.p?315322580138

Thank you again for emailing and I hope that you can still be a listener of WIXX, even if you have to switch the station temporarily when Lady Gaga comes on :)

Sincerely,
Corey Carter
WIXX Brand Manager