A Bigger Concern for Country Than Some Festivals Going Belly Up

In 2013 and 2014, country music was where to put your chips. Bet it all on Florida Georgia Line baby! Bro-Country was king, and everyone in entertainment and media was looking to ride the country music gravy train to big corporate profits. The Dickey Brothers of Cumulus Media hatched an ambitious plan to create an entire “NASH” lifestyle brand with restaurants and food products, furniture and paint, and a clothing line to go along with their country music radio empire. Rolling Stone and People launched satellite properties completely devoted to covering country music. And anyone and everyone was launching country music festivals all across the country to cull as many dollars out of party hearty corporate country consumers who work hard and spend harder.

And then reality set in.

As Bro-Country was on the rise, think pieces all across media questioned the sustainability of such shallow music. And it turns out they were right. Florida Georgia Line and others brought throngs of new fans into the country fold, but they weren’t there to stay. Listeners moved on to the next craze, and even when country’s footprint was growing, it wasn’t growing at such a clip that it could sustain all the festivals, media, and lifestyle brands being set up to take advantage of its resurgence in popularity. Then the resurgence quickly turned into recession, and now all across the United States there’s promoters and companies left holding the bag.

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