The anti-Spotify-cation of the country music genre continues this week as two more big names have opted to remove their wares from the music streaming site. Brantley Gilbert and Justin Moore both announced on Wednesday that they would be pulling their respective discographies from the service immediately. This follows in the wake of announcements over the last two weeks that Taylor Swift and Jason Aldean would be taking similar stands. Why, and why now?
First, let's address a major benefit to being a country musician: You've got the best fans in the world, from a financial perspective. No fan base is more loyal than those of country performers when it comes to actually purchasing the work of your favorite performers. Pop fans, hip-hop fans, rock fans and especially EDM fans are way behind when it comes to investing in the actual record. Swift may be double platinum for 1989 by next Wednesday, Aldean could be platinum by the end of the year with Old Boots, New Dirt, Gilbert has sold more than 600,000 copies of Just As I Am since May and Moore has sold nearly 300,000 copies of Off The Beaten Path since September. Sure, Swift may not be country per se, but the rest of her catalogue is, and she's kept much of her country fan base close.
So why now? No reasons aside from Swift. If you think that big men like Aldean and company aren't influenced by the biggest seller in the world, you're crazy. There's no doubt for Gilbert and Moore, who share a record label with Swift in Big Machine.
Is it sustainable? Not really. Swift has defied all trends, outdoing her sales a few years ago for Red The rest of the performers listed are less blessed. Aldean has had great numbers, relative to most performers but he debuted with nearly 130,000 less copies sold during week one from his last record, Night Train. Gilbert and Moore have seen increases but their relatively recent rises to stardom shouldn't be confused for bucking the trend.
Kudos to these performers for jumping off the streaming horse. We'll see how long it is before they saddle up again however.
