The Big 615

[Barry]

The high-profile Country station from superstar Garth Brooks just launched on the TuneIn platform. It is voiced by Storme Warren, the former longtime morning host at SiriusXM’s contemporary Country channel, The Highway. He apparently left his satellite radio job for this venture.
The channel is playing mostly recent Country hits. They are also promising to air brand new artists. It is being promoted as a “Global Country Station.” Apparently Country radio hosts from other countries will be checking in regularly.
Garth is planning several more Country channels on TuneIn, in the coming months.
If this sort of programming is successful, perhaps there will be a trend toward more major artists getting involved in national radio broadcasting. Garth has been a successflu businessman, so I think this effort has a good chance of succeeding.

One of Many Articles

 

[davideduardo]

The channel is playing mostly recent Country hits. They are also promising to air brand new artists. It is being promoted as a “Global Country Station.” Apparently Country radio hosts from other countries will be checking in regularly.

Other than Canada and Australia and, to a tiny extent, the UK, where else in the world is there interest in Country music?

 

[Barry]

Other than Canada and Australia and, to a tiny extent, the UK, where else in the world is there interest in Country music?

There may be other countries, but I know there are lots of fans in Ireland and Germany.
Classic Country is popular in Jamaica.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

We have friends in Sweden who are country music fans.

 

[b-turner]

I can tell you the Pacific Islanders (all of them) tend to like Country and Reggae.

 

[davideduardo]

I can tell you the Pacific Islanders (all of them) tend to like Country and Reggae.

And what percentage of world population is that?

 

[davideduardo]

There may be other countries, but I know there are lots of fans in Ireland and Germany.
Classic Country is popular in Jamaica.

You realize that Jamaica is as close to 100% Black or related folks? If you listen to any of the FMs in Kingston or Montego Bay you won’t be hearing country.

Yes, there is a bit of country interest in a lot of countries, but that is sort of like the interest in World Music in the US.

 

[speer360]

This makes sense for him I guess, he had a SXM channel for years.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Yes, there is a bit of country interest in a lot of countries, but that is sort of like the interest in World Music in the US.

The nice thing about a streaming station like this is that it can reach those people who aren't served by their local broadcasters.

 

[davideduardo]

This discussion of international interest in country reminds me of a recent post that claimed alternative rock was really popular in Latin America. I pointed out that an alt band can play Buenos Aires and fill a 15,000 seat venue a couple of times or even a stadium once. But that is in a metro area of twenty million, so the attendance is a small fraction of one percent of the population and is barely a statistical ground clutter data.

While country may have fans in Ghana or Suriname, there is no large and significant following.

 

[TheBigA]

If this sort of programming is successful, perhaps there will be a trend toward more major artists getting involved in national radio broadcasting.

They already are. Most of it happens on SiriusXM. But there have been numerous nationally syndicated shows hosted by artists, including American Country Countdown hosted by Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn. Premiere has several artist hosted rock shows, including Alice Copper.

Other than Canada and Australia and, to a tiny extent, the UK, where else in the world is there interest in Country music?

The language barrier can be an issue, so those two countries tend to be the biggest. But one doesn't have to be a superstar to be able to sell out venues throughout Europe (Germany, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands). Not much local country radio there. What artists say is that the internet has made access to American country music easier. What they don't get is the curated radio. So European fans know album cuts, not just singles. This channel would offer curated & hosted music on a global platform.

The other side of this is that Garth is hoping to bring international artists who don't have a US record deal to a broader audience. So this channel might play a country artist from Sweden that no one's heard of.

The nice thing about a streaming station like this is that it can reach those people who aren't served by their local broadcasters.

I agree, and Garth specifically said he's not competing with local radio, but augmenting it. Providing music that might not be heard. He explained that local radio plays music in collaboration with record labels. Garth's channel will go beyond that.

What he didn't say is that this will be a subscriber-based channel. Listeners will sign up for a 6 month free trial, and then pay a monthly fee. It won't be ad-based. As a result, they won't have to appeal to typical radio demos.

 

[Barry]

You realize that Jamaica is as close to 100% Black or related folks? If you listen to any of the FMs in Kingston or Montego Bay you won’t be hearing country.

Yes, there is a bit of country interest in a lot of countries, but that is sort of like the interest in World Music in the US.

We’ve had this discussion before


Jamaica ❤️ Classic Country
Some Country Reggae

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Other than Canada and Australia and, to a tiny extent, the UK, where else in the world is there interest in Country music?

in the south pacific ocean countries and BIOT countries

 

[Huff]

Other than Canada and Australia and, to a tiny extent, the UK, where else in the world is there interest in Country music?

The only commercial terrestrial country stations outside of the US and Canada are two in the Cayman Islands and one in Prague, Czech Republic (though that station is more Czech-folk/polka and Classic Country than true country.)
There was a country station in Dublin but it evolved into a soft AC station several years ago.
Country outlets are limited to DAB only in the UK and DAB and non-commercial community stations in Australia.

 

[davideduardo]

We’ve had this discussion before

I know. And I love the links and songs listed on your sites. I'm a steelband-and-rum fan myself and love to hear songs from another genre adapted to Caribbean styles.

But a song taken from country and done as salsa or ragga or dancehall versions is not country any longer.

 

[b-turner]

The Pacific Islanders is a relatively small number in total...maybe a couple of million. I got to know quite a few people throughout the Pacific when I was editor of Tropical Frontiers, a newsletter about the islands the guidebooks miss. I was a top 40 jock then and they wanted country and reggae although a good friend really took to bossa nova and introduced it to lots of folks. He said they're still running my IDs in did n the 1980s on ZK2ZN on Niue.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

The only commercial terrestrial country stations outside of the US and Canada are two in the Cayman Islands and one in Prague, Czech Republic (though that station is more Czech-folk/polka and Classic Country than true country.)
There was a country station in Dublin but it evolved into a soft AC station several years ago.
Country outlets are limited to DAB only in the UK and DAB and non-commercial community stations in Australia.

Ive been a listening to "Country Radio" in Prague for over a decade.. love the station!

I love their czech language resings of english tunes.. theyre a hoot to hear!!

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

The only commercial terrestrial country stations outside of the US and Canada are two in the Cayman Islands and one in Prague, Czech Republic (though that station is more Czech-folk/polka and Classic Country than true country.)
There was a country station in Dublin but it evolved into a soft AC station several years ago.
Country outlets are limited to DAB only in the UK and DAB and non-commercial community stations in Australia.

There is a commercial FM running country in Australia.. 88.7 KIK FM owned by NQ Radio in Northern Queensland

 

[Huff]

There is a commercial FM running country in Australia.. 88.7 KIK FM owned by NQ Radio in Northern Queensland

Technically KIK FM is a "narrowcast" service, and is not considered a "commercial" station by the ACMA. While I am not certain of the exact guidelines on how Australia's narrowcast stations can operate regarding advertising, by definition they are only to serve a limited area with a niche or special interest format, and do not participate in ratings surveys.

 

[Barry]

What he didn't say is that this will be a subscriber-based channel. Listeners will sign up for a 6 month free trial, and then pay a monthly fee. It won't be ad-based. As a result, they won't have to appeal to typical radio demos.

i doubt Garth is expecting people to pay for just one station. It seems more likely The Big 615 will be available to those who subscribe to TuneIn Premium. One of the main perks of Premium is a growing number of commercial-free music channels.