On the horizon, a new crop of young country stars

Plus, unlike Top 40 radio, which routinely shuns anyone over 40, many core country artists, such as Reba McEntire, George Strait, Toby Keith and Keith Urban, are north of 40 and no one expects them to fade away anytime soon. In fact, McEntire recently had the longest-running No. 1 of her career with "Consider Me Gone."

A delicate procedure

It can be a delicate dance when it comes to taking a teen artist to country radio, says Lyric Street President Randy Goodman, who works with Dickerson. "I call this [threading] the camel through the eye of the needle," he says. "Country radio is programmed 90 percent by men predominantly in their 40s and 50s. The gatekeepers need to like [the song], then it has to research with women [35-54], but then I want to sell it to girls who are my [12-year-old] daughter's age."

Dickerson, who has performed professionally since he was 9, knows he can't sing exclusively about school and video games, even if he were so inclined. "I made this record so not only 10-to-16-year-old kids get it. . . . The older fan base can get it also," he says.

Perhaps that's why he's gotten the nod to open for Brooks & Dunn, who are in their 50s, on their farewell tour later this year.

If history is any indication, Dickerson may have a tougher row to hoe than his female teen counterparts. While there have certainly been charting female teens who developed long careers before Swift -- think LeAnn Rimes and Tanya Tucker, or even as far back as Brenda Lee -- teen males in country have not fared as well. As previously noted, 10 years ago Billy Gilman scored a Top 20 country hit with his first single, "One Voice." The album of the same title was certified double platinum, signifying sales of more than 2 million. Despite scoring three more Top 15 albums, Gilman never returned to the Top 20 in radio.

"I think it's more difficult for [teen males] to come out because there's a perception of what a country male artist needs to be," Goodman says, including not too pop or too soft. "[Tyler] didn't walk in with the attitude of a [then] 15-year-old," Goodman recalls. "He looked like what you would think a young Waylon Jennings would look like."

A networking advantage

One advantage this teen pack has that its predecessors did not is social networking. Like no other country artist before her, Swift connected with her fans on MySpace.com early on, chatting with them from her tour bus after shows and building a personal connection. Dickerson is Facebook friends with his 62-year-old grandmother and tweeted about his Washington Post interview.

While such activity provides a great connection with fans, it's no substitute for radio, no matter how old an artist is.

"At the end of the day, you can socially network with somebody; you can do all that stuff," Goodman says. "[But] you've got to achieve critical mass airplay at country radio, and you've got to do that over and over again if you're going to build an artist."

That means bringing material to radio that keeps listeners from turning the dial, regardless of whether the artist is old enough for his learner's permit. Ultimately, Stark says, "[Programmers] don't care if it's sung by a teen or a pre-teen or an old man or an alien if it's a hit."

Newman is a freelance writer.