Ke$ha’s Die Young: Were Radio Stations Right To Pull The Song?

Prior to Friday’s school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, Ke$ha’s song “Die Young” was generating a huge amount of radio airplay. On the actual day of the tragedy, her song reached an estimated 168 million radio listeners. Over the past few days, however, that figure has begun plummeting. It’s now down more than ten percent to 149 million radio listeners, and in the coming days, it’s expected to freefall even further.

This afternoon, Ke$ha took to Twitter to back the decision numerous radio stations have made. Here’s a look at her actual quote…

”I'm so so so sorry for anyone who has been effected by this tragedy.and I understand why my song is now inappropriate. words cannot express.”

It’s easy to see why people wouldn’t be excited about hearing a song like “Die Young” right now. It was never exactly the most conservative track of all-time, and in the wake of an unspeakable tragedy, it does seem a little inappropriate. That being said, there’s something that seems perverse and wrong about letting a massacre shape what music should and should not be played on the radio. The last time we did that was after 9/11, and people are still bothered by the fact that a list of songs to avoid was put together.

What do you think? Were radio stations right to stop playing “Die Young”, or should they have kept spinning it as if nothing happened? Let us know your thoughts by voting in the poll below…

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Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.