When you are one of the biggest recording artists of all time, not just one of the biggest country artists of all time, you can bend the industry to your will, rather than be brought to heel by it.
Garth Brooks released his first album in 1989 and by 1991 he was a huge global star. He has been in the fortunate position of not having to do things just for the money and he has still not licensed his music to a wider range of other digital services. In 2014, he created GhostTunes, selling his own music as well as music by others. By 2017, it was absorbed into Amazon Music. His albums are still not available on Spotify or Apple Music, making him probably the biggest remaining pan-service digital holdout.
He is not, however, a Luddite, obsessed with trying to break the digital machines. He had his own channel on SiriusXM, although that ended in October 2022. Perhaps that was to clear the way for his announcement in May this year that he was launching Sevens Radio, a network of new stations, on TuneIn this summer.
Sevens will “include multiple stations dedicated to country music and more, all curated and conceived by Garth Brooks”, according to the press release about its launch. “The thought of a global network of stations uniting all music fans is something I want to be a part of,” said Brooks. “The possibilities are bigger than I can dream.”
Details are still thin on the ground about what exactly these stations will be like, but Brooks and TuneIn see huge commercial potential here. “Through this new partnership, brands will gain access to unique advertising opportunities to expand their reach to new audiences,” teased TuneIn.
There are several stations listed on TuneIn as playing Garth Brooks, but the fact he is going to be involved in creating a range of stations suggests this will get a huge media blitz when it goes live.
As with heavy metal, another genre that is all too often overlooked, country music has an incredibly loyal and dedicated audience. The fact Brooks is, over three decades on, still able to play multiple nights at many of the biggest venues in the world suggests that where he goes, his audience dutifully follows.
Country does not always get the kudos it deserves on a musical level, but there is an equal lack of kudos on an industry level. It is no coincidence that two of the smartest and savviest artists, who tightly run every part of their business empires, are Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks – both country music giants.
