How Country Can Save the Future of the Music Industry

Before I delve into my spiel about Country and how I feel it can change the industry in coming years, I first want you to re-evaluate what music means to you. Not what it means to your friends, or your family, or whomever else might impact your disposition when it comes to the music you pump through your shiny new Air Pods – but you, the reader. So much of how we view things is impacted by others, and rather than consulting our own position on such topics, we often join the mob – pointing and yelling with torches in hands– never realizing why we actually do so. Hell, I’m guilty of this. I hate One Direction and I have absolutely no idea why. So, with what I’m about to talk about, in all of its cultural volatility, please attempt to read forth with an open mind.

Back in 2017, Post Malone came under fire for certain comments that some felt undermined the sentimental depth of hip-hop as a wider genre. “If you’re looking for lyrics, if you’re looking to cry, if you’re looking to think about life, don’t listen to hip-hop.” Obviously, some people felt that these comments were absolutely ridiculous, considering Post has garnered his fame solely from the same genre he so easily criticized – but I can’t help but feel these comments were taken out of context. From reading further, it seemed that he was trying to say that today, much of what falls under the category of ‘hip-hop’ isn’t nearly as lyrical, or emotional as it used to be. And in that regard, I very much agree with him.

Now this doesn’t just apply to hip-hop, it applies to virtually everything in the music industry these days – even Country. Right now, literally anyone can post something on Soundcloud and become a musical superstar. Post Malone did. Isn’t that a beautiful thing? Yes, there are obvious benefits, but the takeaways follow close behind. The biggest of which being an obvious lack of such musical elements that made old(er) music characteristically more advanced than most of what is produced today. Which brings us to Country. If I’m being completely honest, I don’t even like country music that much. My argument is that so much music in the mainstream has gotten substantially worse in recent years, and for it to get better, it needs to look in places other than just the past. I think country music

is that place. Yes, it too has its space among genres that have taken a qualitative nosedive in certain areas. However, even within songs that talk about dirt roads, Ford trucks, and Bud Light, there lies a deep and damning emotional honesty that other genres should be wise enough to learn from. So, who knows? Maybe the next time you open Spotify, you’ll try listening to Tim McGraw’s greatest hits instead of bumping Tekashi 6ix9nine’s new album. If not though, please use your Air Pods. Nobody wants to hear that stuff out loud.

by Angus Merry