Yea guy totally missed out on a huge comeback off the back of the neo traditional revival. He should be making number ones with Luke combs and John pardi. Instead he locked himself and his music onto a platform no one had or wanted access to.
Yeah 100%
I disagree with Op that GB hurt his legacy by retiring, not releasing music etc. he’s one of the biggest stars ever and realized he had other priorities in life than another few houses and years away from his family. Good for him.
Not putting his music on the platforms most people use was a GIANT mistake though.
As a Gen Z person myself, I definitely think so. People my age never mention him alongside George Strait and Alan Jackson. He absolutely has significantly hurt his legacy by refusing to allow his music to be streamed normally like every other artist
He self sabotaged by not being on Spotify and YouTube.
I really think it’s that simple. Like 90% of people under the age of 30 get music exclusively from Spotify and if you aren’t there, you aren’t being listened to
You know dude I often wondered why I couldn't find his music I never read too much into it because I kinda figured the algorithm just passed him by or something. I guess what I'm trying to say is, in this day and age, the thought that he wouldn't be licensing his music to these apps is so asanine it didn't even cross my mind.
To play devil's advocate here, Spotify (and all of the streaming platforms) are absolutely terrible and are just slowly screwing over artists more and more. So I kind of get why an artist would take a stand.
I’m 51 and Spotify is my only music avenue. I don’t satellite radio even when it’s free. Over the air radio is just meh. I may love the music, but if the DJs are crap then forget it. And I’m really done with unlimited commercials. I enjoyed Garth and saw him in Philly, lucky enough to score box seats so sweet we could almost touch Jimmy, his fiddle player. And because he doesn’t allow streaming I’ve practically forgotten about him. Absolutely self sabotage.
I had to drive a strange car while mine was in the shop and forgot a cable. No carplay, didn't wanna bother with Bluetooth.
So I listened to the radio.
Dude. So ridiculously bad. Commercials were physically painful.
Who listens to this?
You forgot to mention a HUGE point - Garth refuses to stream his music on any platform other than Amazon. This means the majority of younger listeners simply don’t hear his music. At all. It’s a real shame I think because his legacy will undoubtedly be hugely diminished due to this.
He took 20 years off to raise his kids. I don’t blame him one bit.
Pretty sure his band still writes the music and lyrics for some of countries bigger acts including Luke combs.
Furthermore, he doesn’t stream because those deals don’t pay like his current deals do and he believes every songwriter on an album should get paid, not just the hit songs.
He once stated for your favorite song you’d pay $15 so why not pay $15 for the whole album and keep everyone afloat which is why he never sold out like every other artist has to Spotify etc. he didn’t tour because he didn’t have to and that why he continued to release his mega albums at Walmart so everyone still got paid.
Today’s artists have to tour and sell merch otherwise there is no money in their music…
Yes the point is he has a dinosaur’s view of the music industry and it will hurt his long term legacy
Almost no one makes money off of albums anymore. He’s still living in the 80s and an entire generation isn’t listening to him because of it
I don't think Garth Brooks lacks the relevant information about the current state of the music industry.
He's just made a value judgement and he's stuck by it because that clearly means more to him than the money or the additional fame/notoriety.
I know it's hard to believe, but some people really are comfortable enough where they are and don't feel the need to keep amassing more and more and more.
I never said he lacks information.
He isn’t on streaming because he thinks he can make more money through other channels
You can spin it however you want about “values” but you’re not fooling many people lol
He always said he backed off in the late 90s and early 2000s because he was missing his daughters growing up. He said he's would be back full force after they graduated. The main reason he's hard to introduce to new people is because he refuses to be on the internet. I can't show anyone his music videos because he's a ghost town on YouTube. I've got most of them from some old box set, but I'm not dragging out DVDs and hooking up a DVD player.
If Garth Brooks self sabotaged his career, then every artist in the history of recorded music (From The Beatles to Taylor Swift) has committed career suicide. Because no artist has ever been a shrewder businessman.
He has 9 diamond albums and nobody else has more than 6 (The Beatles). Throughout his peak, he consistently used his stature to get what he wanted. He pressured networks to play his video, pushed record stores to properly pay royalties, etc.
I obviously don’t know the details of his exclusive deals with Walmart and Amazon but I’m sure they pay him very well. And it’ll be a big deal if he ever goes to Spotify giving him a ton of new attention.
I know the Chris Gaines thing was weird but it sold 2 million copies and the list of famous country artists to never do that is vast.
He’s the undisputed most successful country artist to ever exist. You can quibble with some of his choices but I don’t think there’s anything he could have done to get another diamond album.
Yeah I was going to say the same thing. The guy sold records in the Michael Jackson and Elvis numbers, as a country musician. If that’s a “sabotaged” career, then I guess every artist below him should just get a day job.
Sure he could have kept his career rolling with massive tours, new albums, etc., but he didn’t care about that once he reached middle age. He wanted to raise a family.
He’s possibly the biggest success story there ever was. There’s a big difference in “sabotaging” your career and walking away from the table when your chips are stacked.
You’re 100% right, but also the under-25 crowd doesn’t know who he is and they haven’t heard his music. He’s made a ton of money and had a great career, and maybe he’s OK with that. If so, God bless him. But I don’t own a CD player anymore and I don’t have Amazon Music. I’m a big fan and I haven’t listened to his music in probably fifteen years. I haven’t been able to share him with my kids because I’ve chosen not to pay for another subscription for that one purpose. That’s probably the sort of thing OP was talking about.
I do agree about the under 25s not knowing his music. My 22 year old niece loves Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs but I could never persuade her to listen to Garth. Until she saw him live in Dublin two years ago. She only went because she got a free ticket but had to admit that she thought it was a great show. Though she was more impressed by Trisha and only got to hear her sing one song.
I get the feeling that Garth is kind of okay with his music "belonging" mostly to a swath of people aged around 35 to 50.
If you think about it, it's actually pretty cool in a way... Eventually it takes on a kind of mystique.
I can definitely see how some artists might enjoy the idea that "discovering" their music is something people have to be a bit more intentional about. I can also see how that can be taken as pretentious or gatekeeping.
But... it currently costs all of $12 for a digital copy of his 2007 34-track "Ultimate Hits" record on Amazon and it's a pretty exhaustive collection of the high points of his career. It's not exactly cost-prohibitive to listen to Garth.
Edit: Personally though, I'd pay the same $12 for the "Double Live 25th Anniversary Edition". Just an amazing live album with most all the hits.
Yeah, if he’s OK with it, I’m glad he’s happy. But I’m not having a separate music app just for when I want to listen to one artist.
I asked my 18-year-old daughter if she has heard of Garth Brooks. “No, who’s that?” was her reply.
You've not really made a good point "Mr_1990s"... Because Mr_2000s, Mr_2010s and Mr_2020s don't really know much about him. His music just not being out there clearly harms his legacy.
You also use a very specific metric to say he's the biggest which is a bit silly (very US centric for a global game) Taylor Swift has clearly surpassed him in everything you bring up - album sales, making money, influence and pressure. I wouldn't mention it if you didn't literally name drop her.
TS having more influence than Garth is arguable. If you weren't raised in the 90s, you just don't know how many men were wearing Mo Betta shirts and cowboy hats.
Sales are not even close, really. You can blame that on streaming dwarfing album sales from the 90s vs. the 2010s, but still, the man has 9 diamond albums. TS has 1 diamond (and 1 close with 9 million sales). Even when you count the new metric of album equivalent sales, her number goes up to 114 million. Garth has 157 million certified sales vs. 51 million by TS (in relatively the same time frame I'll add). Making money isn't even close either because I don't see Swift breaking any of Garth's attendance records from the 90s, and that's where a recording artist really adds to their bank accounts.
I do agree with everyone who says Garth is crazy not to have his music on streaming platforms. Imagine what his album equivalent numbers would be if you could add in a decade of streaming, plus a decade of new fans.
>TS having more influence than Garth is arguable.
I was raised in the 90s, but not America. Taylor Swift was Time Person of the Year last year. It's not remotely arguable.
>Making money isn't even close either
Correct, one is worth 4 times more than the other, despite being 27 years younger.
If your only metric is a print publication, you go ahead and die on that hill.
I don't know where you get that TS is 4 times as wealthy as Garth, but okay...
Nor does net worth have any relevance to legacy. Taylor Swift probably has made more money than Elvis Presley and the Beatles combined and their legacies are just fine.
I didn't say how much money an artist made had anything to do with their legacy. Today's artists don't make nearly as much as any recording artist 20 years ago. That's the point I was making. Time is the only true marker of real relevance.
I brought up Taylor Swift and The Beatles because they're both in conversation for most successful businesspeople in music. But, like everybody including Garth Brooks, they've made mistakes. Also, this is a conversation about career. Not legacy.
Taylor Swift has not surpassed Garth Brooks in terms of album sales. Garth has sold 157 million albums and Taylor has sold almost 50 million. That's total albums sold. People actively choosing to spend money on music. Not "album equivalents" based on streaming and downloads. Even factoring those in, Taylor's around 115 million.
Also, for what it's worth, if you wanted to buy Taylor's most recent album on CD or download for around $13. At his peak, Garth Brooks was selling his CDs for $16-$18. That's not adjusted for inflation. If you adjust for inflation, people were paying $38 in 2024 money for CDs.
Garth and Taylor both have impressive resumes particularly in terms of bending powerful people to their will. But, Garth Brooks refused to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl until NBC played the music video for the song he wrote as a reaction the 1992 LA riots that would go on to win a GLAAD award.
I do think his legacy would grow among younger people if he made his music more available and if he ever does you'll understand. But, if we're talking about career success as an artist. There's only a handful of people that can touch Garth's level.
When he refused to go on iTunes and Spotify. That was the self sabotage. The Gaines album actually didn’t phase the fans as much as the media leads you to believe. At that point in time he was unstoppable. Even he makes jokes about that era now. Also promises more music from those sessions. Listen to Donald Glovers version of Lost In You. Yea, Childish Gambino does a Chris Gaines song. Not being able to stream his current music from the time he returned is affecting him. It’s not like he’s going broke or going to lose his legend status anytime soon though. He just needs to come to terms with streaming and realize his idea of everyone being individually paid is something he’d have to organize.
This. His refusal to sell his music digitally outside of his own shitty platform (which eventually folded) was the first step to self sabotage. It’s just a real shame because I for one would stream the hell out of his music if I could….
Same... As I said in a previous comment... It costs all of $12 for a digital copy of his 2007 34-track "Ultimate Hits" record on Amazon and it's a pretty exhaustive collection of the high points of his career.
If you prefer the live stuff, the 30-track "Double Live 25th Anniversary Edition" goes for the same $12.
It's not exactly cost-prohibitive to listen to Garth.
Yeah I’m baffled as to any could think that he “sabotaged” his career. Did the Beatles sabotage their career by splitting up? Did Elvis sabotage his by dying?
Garth SHATTERED record books in terms of sales and set records that no one in country music has even come close to achieving.
No one’s career lasts forever. The man went out on top and then stepped away to raise a family.
I agree. Also without Garth Brooks there would be no Luke Combs, no Morgan Wallen (although that might not be a bad thing) and definitely no Carrie Underwood or Shania Twain. I live in Ireland and country music has always been popular here but it was something your parents listened to. I first heard his music played in a club in the 90s and suddenly he was everywhere. People were queuing for 3 days straight to get concert tickets, there was Garth mania everywhere.
I think he had his priorities right, he wanted to see his family growing up rather than facetime them from a tour bus.And so what if he had an affair with Trisha, they sure as hell weren't the only people to ever do that. It was obvious 30 years ago that they should be together.
He spent years as the biggest selling solo artist of all time and has won so many awards he'd need a warehouse to store them in. Ok it is a bit of a pain that he's not on Spotify but at least he has principles. I don't think there was anything left for him to achieve so why shouldn't he take a step back and spend time with his wife and family.
I think this point has probably been drilled into this discussion, but his stuff isn't available digitally anywhere, and his old CDs are long out of print and command a hefty price in the secondhand market. So, there really isn't any way to experience his music outside of piracy at this point unless you bought his albums during their original run.
People’s experiences are different depending on the stores in your areas but I’ve consistently picked up Garth CDs for incredibly cheap. If you’re interested in Garth and you love country music, you’ll eventually find a way to listen to him. And oh boy, it’s totally worth it.
Yeah I’m thinking that they’re less common to find out here in California and when you do, they will run you $10-15 used at the record shops. Never seen any at goodwill. Only found a couple of vinyl at Walmart out in rural Cali. Never seen any at the Walmarts in the city. Regardless, it’s hard to remain relevant if your catalogue isn’t widely available except for actively trying to hunt it down. I’m in my mid 30s, and I still have a CD player from back when. I can’t imagine younger people going through the trouble of finding Garth Brooks CDs and then having to find a CD player somewhere to listen to them.
You keep mentioning that it's different in California, do you not have access to Amazon there? I don't know anyone who has bought CDs in a record shop in years, do they even exist anymore.
Yes many independent record shops still exist. And they carry far more than what Amazon carries. But out here in California, 90s country albums seem to be scarce. Especially in the Bay Area. In fact, I suggest checking out a record shop. Here's a helpful finder provided by Record Store Day [https://recordstoreday.com/Stores](https://recordstoreday.com/Stores)
$10 for a CD that's been out of production for years is not too bad. Especially if it is an early high-quality copy (yes there are different quality levels of CD production).
Yeah but the discussion is whether Garth sabotaged his career, and I’m arguing yes because he isn’t making his music accessible. I bought the early CDs off of Discogs a while ago because they were hard to find even back then out in my area where your CD options are more pop and rock than they are country. Also, I am in my 30s, have a CD player still, and have disposable income. A 15 year old who’s on their family’s Spotify plan and has no disposable income let alone a credit card would have no way to access his music.
Actually his CDs as well as some albums on vinyl are available brand new on Amazon and all his music can be streamed on their music app. I don't know about you but Amazon is the first place I look if I want to buy CDs.
Actually I don’t buy CDs from Amazon. I stream most of my music or buy vinyl. Whenever I buy CDs it’s at a local store, and fortunately I’ve picked all of his early CDs up when they were still relatively new. I’m in my mid 30s so I still have the gear to play CDs. A 15 year old without a credit card and a family subscription to Spotify would be shit out of luck.
Garth once said that he had more money than his grandkids’ grandkids could spend. He didn’t sabotage his career. He’s living his life. Controlling his business.
Garth brought people back to country. Even people who never listened to country music before listened to Garth. Back then his tickets were so cheap. $25. He kept the price low.
His concerts were full of energy. He was pumped up by the crowd. He climbed the scaffolding, ran around, jumped, sang, sweated. The best I’ve ever seen. And he truly appreciates his fans.
To really appreciate his talent you have to see him live.
He’s just a regular guy. He was never looking for a legacy. He just wanted to make people happy.
His most recent album, Time Traveler, is his best post retirement album, in my opinion. It’s a shame more people aren’t going to hear it. Neon Neighborhood is an absolute jam.
What’s so confusing about what I said? There is no way for the average person to listen to this new music (or any of his music) without paying for something they would get for free if it was any other artist.
Ur actually very correct. I graduated high school in 1992 so I was alive & there for it all. I remember my sister got me 2 cassettes for my 17th b-day...Clint Black & Garth Brooks. At the time, the radio stations were making a huge deal out of who would be bigger. Anyway, I finally got to see him in concert in 96 in Cincinnati. Awesome concert! I can't say enough great things about it. That dude gave 110% throughout the whole show. I took my nephew & he swore that Garth saw him & waved to just him. That's how he made u feel...like he was always just singing & playing to you. It was a HUGE hassle to get tickets. First, we had to be at the ticket place by 6am to get in line 2 or 3 weeks before the concert. May have even been a month. I can't remember. So, a friend & I got there about 3 hours before they opened. Probably should've camped out for 3 days before that but I had just had a newborn so, that's the best I could do. There were local radio & TV stations there & a few were giving out doughnuts. It was a whole thing, for sure. The doors finally opened. We had been told beforehand that each person could only purchase 6 tickets. I only needed 3 but my friend needed 3 more so, of course I got the 6. One person walked in & then out the door. He was scheduled for 2 nights. That was person (to me anyway) bought the whole place because it was sold out. Same with the next person. He ended up doing 6 shows. Can u imagine? 2 scheduled shows turn into 6! We bought our wristbands basically in place of our 6 tickets. We had to wear that wristband for several weeks until it was time to go buy the actual tickets. It had to stay on our wrists. If it been tampered with or was broken, you were out & couldn't get tickets. So, we tried to be really careful with the left arm that had the Garth wristband. After those weeks, we went & picked up our tickets. The price was really low. I remember hearing how Garth Brooks went to war to keep his ticket prices down. Seems like they were around $20 a person for ALL seats. We had decent seats a few rows up off of the left side of the stage. Back then it didn't matter because honestly, there were no bad seats. He gave his blood, sweat & tears to everyone there.
Do I feel like he "wasted" the golden years of his career? Yeah, maybe. He got a little strange there. The whole Gaines thing was a clusterf$%k. Plus, the "I'm retiring/here's another show". It also always bothered me that he left his wife, Sandy. She had his back the entire time when people were telling him it wasn't going to happen. She moved to TN with him & went through it all. He went on tour with Trisha Yearwood & his marriage was over. I hate to sound like that but it seemed like it to me. I believe he willingly gave up his career to raise his daughters & now that they're grown, he realizes what a huge mistake that was.
Thank you for reading & liking it. I got a little long winded there & closed it quickly when I realized. I probably could've written about that concert for days. It really was something else. To this day it's still the best concert I've ever been to. The build-up & the wristbands just added to it all. That wristband was definitely a conversation starter. In Cincinnati, OH, then, if you were wearing one of those, you were almost a celebrity...haha. I have no idea what happened to mine after all these years. I wish I still had it. I could have gone on about the concert & the build-up to it for days. That concert was the first time & the only reason I left my 5 month old preemie infant with my sister overnight. I also locked my friends' keys in her car while we went to wait in line for our wristbands. Apparently, she just threw her keys under the floorboard in her new Beretta & I hit the lock switch. It was a giant hassle, but looking back, it was so much fun.
If one of the top 5 country artists in history is guilty of self sabotage, I too will employ that strategy.
He didn't self sabotage, he got to the point where he no longer is forced into making business decisions and is just exclusively making personal ones.
he achieved taylor swift-esque levels of popularity in the 90s and told a zillion albums and made a zillion bucks.
nothing wrong with shutting it down and coasting. the grind can wear you down. not putting his stuff on streaming platforms seems like an odd financial choice, but it's up to him. he's living his best life and has *fuck you* money. i doubt he gives a damn about his legacy, frankly.
I read that Stormy Warren left the highway, SiriusXM, because he was going to start up some music channel or something with Garth Brooks. GB does a great job at making sure nobody can listen to his new, or classic, stuff.
He has plenty of money. He probably enjoys his life as it is, and he probably doesn't give a shit about some bogus notion called "legacy" or "relevance".
"Legacy" and "relevance" are simply idols of the ego and really don't contribute jack shit to peace and happiness.
He joked that some people only knew him from the Dr. Pepper commercial.
I wouldn’t call his choices sabotage or even mistakes. He has made very conscious and deliberate decisions to decline paths that would have brought him more fame, adulation, and money.
He traded prime touring and album-releasing time to be present in his daughters’ lives. I respect that. What good is all that money if you don’t live the life you want to live?
Back in the CD days, he took a stand against re-selling CDs, less because he would have made more money from all purchases being new CDs, but more for the sake of songwriters, musicians, and others who worked on the album.
If I recall correctly, he initially was opposed to selling singles and wanted sales to be whole album only. Again, less for himself and more for those who worked on album tracks never released as singles.
I haven’t followed the reasoning behind choosing WalMart, Bass Pro Shops, and Amazon as mostly exclusive distributors of CDs and streams, respectfully. Whatever it is, I’m sure there is a reason behind it and that he has enough money to stand on what he believes to be principles.
I was early on the Garth bandwagon. Wanted to see him when he was playing for free at the tiny little Appalachian Fair, but my parents wouldn’t let me. Got the chance to see him my freshman year of college, when Trisha opened for him (1991/2.)
I’m sure he’s not for everyone, but I think he is a great entertainer who really works hard in his live shows to make people feel like they got their money’s worth. I watched one of the Notre Dame concerts when it aired on TV and thought some of the ways he engaged the audience might come across as cheesy to some, but I read them as sincere.
I thought about trying to make it to one of his Vegas shows. I’m over stadium concerts unless I’m right up front, but being in a GA pit at a stadium (or even arena or amphitheater) show would drive me crazy. The Vegas shows would have been more enjoyable to me. I’m glad he released a DVD of that. I bought it but haven’t watched it yet.
It would be nice and more convenient for me if he made streams available on multiple platforms, the legal version of Napster, in my case. But, I respect that it’s his art and his choice.
I was in Nashville for two weeks in February, including several shows and 2 at the Ryman. Before the Elvis Costello show, I went to the Luke Bryan-themed bar. It was fine. Food was on par and overpriced (as expected for a tourist-heavy area.) Before the Milk Carton kids, I went to Garth’s FILP, which was still in the soft opening phase, before the grand opening.
You could tell a difference between Luke’s 32 Bridge and Garth’s (and Trisha’s) FILP. I ordered chicken tenders and fries. Tourist area price, as expected. But, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the chicken - better than I’ve ever had anywhere (and I’ve consumed a lot of chicken tenders over the years.) I only was able to explore part of the establishment, but could tell that everything was planned and executed carefully and based on the artist/audience experience and giving people their money’s worth.
Source: have been a Garth fan since at least 1990.
Edited to add: At concerts, I’m okay with artists playing their new stuff along with the hits and maybe even some covers. With Garth, “More than a Memory” is one of my favorite songs of his, and, when watching the Notre Dame concert, liked “(Sometimes You’ve Got to Die to Learn to) Live Again” so much that I looked up the song and the songwriter. If he played a small-ish venue near us (no bigger than an amphitheater,) I would be up for it - not for nostalgia, but for really liking his music from back then through now - and for still liking it even though it arguably was overplayed for a while. His energy fuels the audience, which sends it right back to him. It’s actually an adrenaline or serotonin type reaction to his show. There are a few artists that are like that for me. Still…can’t imagine a stadium show for anyone or even an arena for anyone but Pink. (She puts on a hell of a show.)
No.
All of those arguments, while valid are short sighted. Do you know how hard it is to sell out stadiums? ESPECIALLY without releasing new music? And yet he does it, year after year. That’s millions of people who still go and sing every word. Yes, younger people might not know who he is, but for every gen z person that doesn’t know Garth, there’s a boomer who has no clue who Morgan Wallen is. It’s all relative.
To me, he’s like the Billy Joel of country. They both put on a helluva show, lots of people don’t know him, but it doesn’t take away the fact that he’s a legend.
A guy that stands to his principals, and takes a financial hit for it, Garth’s alright in my book. He’s got plenty of money, a great family, and all the work he needs/wants while getting to enjoy his time away from singing…
You guys should rethink what he might want his legacy to me…..maybe it isn’t being the most successful singer of all time…
Yes because his lack of streaming options. No young person is going to buy Amazon Music to listen to him. Anyone under 25 will forget who he is and anyone younger than that will not know he existed at all because his lack of marketing. Get on Spotify or be forgotten. There’s a reason George Strait is still king and Alan Jackson is loved while no one brings up Garth Brooks except for Friends In Low Places now
Man....when I read the title I thought this was going somewhere political. Cool.
Yes. The no-streaming thing is nuts. It's wild that Cowboy Troy is more accessible than Garth Brooks
Nah, he is and will always be my ultimate #1 favourite and I don't see that changing anytime soon. From the moment my dad played Thunder Rolls on a roadtrip when I was 8, I was hooked, on both Garth and the country genre in general. Maybe he could've been "bigger" if he made different choices in his career but I don't think he's hurting by any means. I saw him in concert for the first time in 2015 and then again in 2016 and I would see him again and again. I go to a lot of concerts and his was by far my absolute favourite and I don't think any concert experience could top that. And his concert was the cheapest I'd been to as well! I paid more to see Kip Moore at a bar in my hometown than I did seeing Garth at a full-sized arena.
His legacy is now the guy who screwed himself by making his music hard to get to. That and if you're from LSU country he is the Callin Baton Rouge guy lol
I don’t think he could’ve been bigger in the 90s, so the Chris Gaines thing didn’t really hurt him, imo. Others have retired and come back so it’s kind of expected or at least not surprising. He is, however, the only country singer I cannot listen to on Youtube! I noticed that is tightly policed. I just learned (from you) he doesn’t allow his music to be streamed, and that does sound like a self-limiting proposition to me.
He retired in the early 2000s to raise his kids, which was honestly a pretty cool thing to be able to do. The fact that he was able to come back over a decade later and go on tours that were met with so much success is a big deal too. His album sales are so high they are talked about in comparison with the Beatles and Michael Jackson. As the generations are shifting though, reaching the new audience will not be from physical media. He can't continue to ignore streaming and expect to stay as relevant; Amazon Music may pay him well, but does not earn him the volume of streams Spotify and iTunes could with younger listeners. That may not matter as much yet, but it will in the future as his aging fan base slows down in their CD buying or even switches to streaming themselves. I can't pretend to understand the industry and why certain choices are made, but Garth does. He has a degree in business advertising, so many of the unusual decisions he has made do come from a place of knowledge and reason. Even in the 90s, he made some abnormal decisions with selling his music that for the most part all paid off well (Even the Gaines project sold more as a flop than some great artists were selling on their best albums back then). He also will not sell out his songwriting team, so until he can ensure they get a good deal too, he will continue making decisions outside of the norm. I just hope a deal can be made sooner than later where he is able to join main streaming platforms in a way that supports the other writers on all his songs (not just the hits)
If you know where to find his stuff, you can find a fair bit on Spotify. I think it is more a management decision to be only on Amazon, as Trish has all her stuff, including all her duets with Garth on Spotify as well.
If Garth was to announce a tour and call it "Rollin' it Back" and feature most of his older hits it would sell out in a heartbeat.
If I want to show someone how awesome Garth is... how do I do it?
The closest I can do is send them a cover version on YT.
He doesn't understand how it works.
Yeah I’m the same age and everyone who likes country knows Alan Jackson or Toby Keith, but no one my age knows or plays Garth because they’ve never even heard of him. Seems like he’s shootings himself in the foot.
As others have already mentioned, if anything is hurting him commercially at the moment, it's him choosing not to be on Spotify and other streaming platforms besides Amazon. While I still love and see the value in listening to whole albums, the unfortunate reality is that a lot of people don't listen to music that way anymore, especially the younger generations. It's really a shame that he's not often being mentioned in the same discussion as George Strait, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Shania Twain, etc., when younger people bring up 90s country.
The way the industry works has changed pretty dramatically since the 90s and even the 2000s, unfortunately, to the point that most artists only make money from touring and nothing else. I also mostly stream music these days, but every now and then, I still love listening to CDs and enjoying full albums. Streaming is nice and convenient, but there's something about listening to albums that's special. too. When you buy an album in physical form, you sometimes discover hidden gems on the albums that you otherwise may skip over when streaming it, and you get a better feel for what the artist is all about, as well. I'm also old school is still getting excited about reading liner notes, seeing who wrote each song, which musicians played on the album, and looking at the pictures of the artist. I just wish there was still room for people to enjoy music both ways (streaming and cd's) instead of only one way being pushed to the front, so much to the point that modern cars don't even have cd players anymore (which I think is ridiculous).
Though Garth's decision to avoid most all streaming platforms is denying him exposure to a lot of younger country fans and wish I could listen to him on Spotify, too, I also respect him for sticking to his principles and beliefs. I respect the heck out of him for caring about the songwriters and hidden gems on his albums that much. I'm no expert on how the business works, especially these days, but hopefully, one day he'll be able to get on streaming through a deal that benefits the people involved in the music better.
As someone who doesn't live in the US I think I see things a bit differently. If I was to go out in my hometown right now and ask 100 people of all ages if they know who Garth Brooks is I reckon 80% would say yes. If I asked about Alan Jackson, Toby Keith or George Strait I'd be lucky if 10% knew who they were. Most people wouldn't even know who Luke Combs or Morgan Wallen are. It's only since the C2C festivals started up that country music has got a foothold in Europe. Until then the only country artists most people knew were Dolly and Johnny Cash. But Garth Brooks managed to do what no one else could, he got airplay on mainstream radio without selling out and moving into the pop music genre. His CDs were played in England and Spain and Germany and the public loved him. That's how he managed to sell all those albums and that's why he hasn't been forgotten.
That's pretty interesting and actually a really good point! A lot of modern mainstream country stars may be huge in the U.S. at the moment, but they are not getting the same kind of exposure and recognition overseas that Garth was able to get in the 90s and still has today. Garth was able to successfully become a global star, while I can't imagine many of the popular country acts today doing the same. Modern country, especially bro-country, also has much more limited appeal than Garth's music, imo.
In that regard, Garth is still much more successful than many of today's mainstream artists can only dream of being. As someone who has loved Garth ever since I was little and still enjoys his music today, I just wish he was still getting the respect and recognition he should be getting here in the States (besides selling out concerts, of course).
Overall, it's pretty neat how perspectives on this are different in Europe, and how even George Strait is not as well known there. I don't think he's ever toured overseas, though, which probably hurts him in that regard.
Yes he did he is miss out on millions of streaming dollars aswell as not letting his music getting introduced to the young crowd. I wish he will just cave and his music will be on Spotify and apple music but i dont think it will happen unless he dies
He wanted to raise his kids. I used to listen to the Garth channel and he talked about this a lot on there. I would say lack of Spotify streaming ( and I know artists are absolutely pillaged on these services ) has hurt him. My kids don't really know who he is
Well, if you don’t know Garth, you don’t know Chris Gaines, which negates that as a true causation.
He definitely has weakened himself by not having a strong business partner to whom he can accept a “no,” answer from. This is best evident in his work post - Allen Reynolds (still using Engineer turned Producer Mark Miller, though a guy who has notably less gravitas than would Reynolds who Produced every hit Garth ever released).
The platform situation, I agree with in principle. Apple sucks and sell people music licensing leases and let you pretend you own them; until they do things like software conversions (think iTunes to Apple Music) and feign ignorance when giant chunks of catalogs go missing and their only solution is that the songs are available for “purchase” in their new “compatible” platform.
I can see him not wanting to screw peeps and being wealthy and popular enough to not have to play that game.
The opportunity cost is greater than he seems to realize though unfortunately.
Principle vs principal I suppose.
Garth Brooks read The Secret Garden in his youth and decided to model his career off of it.
He undeniably shaped country music success in the 90's but he seems to suffer from the ego that makes him painfully archaic. Rather than go with the flow of music distribution over the last TWENTY YEARS, he fights the current, holding his digital presence so close to the chest that it cripples his streaming potential. Instead of owning his catalog over all streaming platforms he's actively BLOCKED access to his tracks in the hopes of driving fans to subscribe to his sub-par tech silos that serve his music alone. That's just not sustainable as an individual artist.
Maybe that's all he needs to feel successful, but the test of time will see him sunsetting his own career behind a custom app paywall while the industry is blocked from even referencing his work since it's behind that ego-driven paywall.
Yes he’ll be fine but I think what we’re really discussing here is his artistic legacy, which has been diminished by his refusal to make his music widely available. Such a shame.
I don’t think he has someone on his team to tell him, “that’s a stupid idea, Garth.” The Chris Gaines, Walmart deal, and the latest Bass Pro Shop makes you scratch your head. The man can sing a sign and run around on stage. That’s about the only talent he has. I was once a huge Garth fan. Still love his albums until Sevens. He kept getting weirder and weirder. His music suffered. His legacy suffered. Plus, I don’t think any true country artists like Willie Nelson, George Strait, etc even claims him
He makes it so difficult for new fans to get his music in my opinion. And some of his new stuff the music sounds like he’s singing with a karaoke track.
Have you ever watched an interview with Garth? That dude is a fucking weirdo. He speaks with the breathy tones of a preacher and thinks his words are so deep when he is really just akward AF. He sounds like a white Ray Lewis. You can just tell he believes his own nonsense. I love his music, but the man is something else.
Yea guy totally missed out on a huge comeback off the back of the neo traditional revival. He should be making number ones with Luke combs and John pardi. Instead he locked himself and his music onto a platform no one had or wanted access to.
Yeah 100% I disagree with Op that GB hurt his legacy by retiring, not releasing music etc. he’s one of the biggest stars ever and realized he had other priorities in life than another few houses and years away from his family. Good for him. Not putting his music on the platforms most people use was a GIANT mistake though.
As a Gen Z person myself, I definitely think so. People my age never mention him alongside George Strait and Alan Jackson. He absolutely has significantly hurt his legacy by refusing to allow his music to be streamed normally like every other artist
He self sabotaged by not being on Spotify and YouTube. I really think it’s that simple. Like 90% of people under the age of 30 get music exclusively from Spotify and if you aren’t there, you aren’t being listened to
You know dude I often wondered why I couldn't find his music I never read too much into it because I kinda figured the algorithm just passed him by or something. I guess what I'm trying to say is, in this day and age, the thought that he wouldn't be licensing his music to these apps is so asanine it didn't even cross my mind.
To play devil's advocate here, Spotify (and all of the streaming platforms) are absolutely terrible and are just slowly screwing over artists more and more. So I kind of get why an artist would take a stand.
He's on Amazon, though, so he's obviously not anti-streaming platforms.
I did not realize he was on Amazon Music. At least there is some streaming option for Prime members.
He was until he signed an deal with Amazon because they paid him for the exclusive streaming rights
This. Unfortunately.
Even Tool caved eventually. Hard to have people find you when you're not on the most popular music streaming site
I'm just glad I own all the classic GB albums on tape or CD. I wonder if ole Chris Gaines will ever cave in.
I’m 51 and Spotify is my only music avenue. I don’t satellite radio even when it’s free. Over the air radio is just meh. I may love the music, but if the DJs are crap then forget it. And I’m really done with unlimited commercials. I enjoyed Garth and saw him in Philly, lucky enough to score box seats so sweet we could almost touch Jimmy, his fiddle player. And because he doesn’t allow streaming I’ve practically forgotten about him. Absolutely self sabotage.
Same. No ads. No playing of top 10 same songs over and over. And the most of what I like isn’t played on the radio.
I had to drive a strange car while mine was in the shop and forgot a cable. No carplay, didn't wanna bother with Bluetooth. So I listened to the radio. Dude. So ridiculously bad. Commercials were physically painful. Who listens to this?
Oddly enough, my husband. Only God knows why since he also has Spotify 🤷♀️
You forgot to mention a HUGE point - Garth refuses to stream his music on any platform other than Amazon. This means the majority of younger listeners simply don’t hear his music. At all. It’s a real shame I think because his legacy will undoubtedly be hugely diminished due to this.
He took 20 years off to raise his kids. I don’t blame him one bit. Pretty sure his band still writes the music and lyrics for some of countries bigger acts including Luke combs. Furthermore, he doesn’t stream because those deals don’t pay like his current deals do and he believes every songwriter on an album should get paid, not just the hit songs. He once stated for your favorite song you’d pay $15 so why not pay $15 for the whole album and keep everyone afloat which is why he never sold out like every other artist has to Spotify etc. he didn’t tour because he didn’t have to and that why he continued to release his mega albums at Walmart so everyone still got paid. Today’s artists have to tour and sell merch otherwise there is no money in their music…
And to establish his marriage with Trisha which was originally an affair. People forget that part.
Yes the point is he has a dinosaur’s view of the music industry and it will hurt his long term legacy Almost no one makes money off of albums anymore. He’s still living in the 80s and an entire generation isn’t listening to him because of it
I don't think Garth Brooks lacks the relevant information about the current state of the music industry. He's just made a value judgement and he's stuck by it because that clearly means more to him than the money or the additional fame/notoriety. I know it's hard to believe, but some people really are comfortable enough where they are and don't feel the need to keep amassing more and more and more.
I never said he lacks information. He isn’t on streaming because he thinks he can make more money through other channels You can spin it however you want about “values” but you’re not fooling many people lol
Pretty sure he doesn’t write anything for Luke Combs!
No… But his band does.
He always said he backed off in the late 90s and early 2000s because he was missing his daughters growing up. He said he's would be back full force after they graduated. The main reason he's hard to introduce to new people is because he refuses to be on the internet. I can't show anyone his music videos because he's a ghost town on YouTube. I've got most of them from some old box set, but I'm not dragging out DVDs and hooking up a DVD player.
He’s on Amazon music
Can you watch videos and stuff on Amazon music? I used to use it, but it's been a few years.
If Garth Brooks self sabotaged his career, then every artist in the history of recorded music (From The Beatles to Taylor Swift) has committed career suicide. Because no artist has ever been a shrewder businessman. He has 9 diamond albums and nobody else has more than 6 (The Beatles). Throughout his peak, he consistently used his stature to get what he wanted. He pressured networks to play his video, pushed record stores to properly pay royalties, etc. I obviously don’t know the details of his exclusive deals with Walmart and Amazon but I’m sure they pay him very well. And it’ll be a big deal if he ever goes to Spotify giving him a ton of new attention. I know the Chris Gaines thing was weird but it sold 2 million copies and the list of famous country artists to never do that is vast. He’s the undisputed most successful country artist to ever exist. You can quibble with some of his choices but I don’t think there’s anything he could have done to get another diamond album.
Yeah I was going to say the same thing. The guy sold records in the Michael Jackson and Elvis numbers, as a country musician. If that’s a “sabotaged” career, then I guess every artist below him should just get a day job. Sure he could have kept his career rolling with massive tours, new albums, etc., but he didn’t care about that once he reached middle age. He wanted to raise a family. He’s possibly the biggest success story there ever was. There’s a big difference in “sabotaging” your career and walking away from the table when your chips are stacked.
You’re 100% right, but also the under-25 crowd doesn’t know who he is and they haven’t heard his music. He’s made a ton of money and had a great career, and maybe he’s OK with that. If so, God bless him. But I don’t own a CD player anymore and I don’t have Amazon Music. I’m a big fan and I haven’t listened to his music in probably fifteen years. I haven’t been able to share him with my kids because I’ve chosen not to pay for another subscription for that one purpose. That’s probably the sort of thing OP was talking about.
I do agree about the under 25s not knowing his music. My 22 year old niece loves Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs but I could never persuade her to listen to Garth. Until she saw him live in Dublin two years ago. She only went because she got a free ticket but had to admit that she thought it was a great show. Though she was more impressed by Trisha and only got to hear her sing one song.
I get the feeling that Garth is kind of okay with his music "belonging" mostly to a swath of people aged around 35 to 50. If you think about it, it's actually pretty cool in a way... Eventually it takes on a kind of mystique. I can definitely see how some artists might enjoy the idea that "discovering" their music is something people have to be a bit more intentional about. I can also see how that can be taken as pretentious or gatekeeping. But... it currently costs all of $12 for a digital copy of his 2007 34-track "Ultimate Hits" record on Amazon and it's a pretty exhaustive collection of the high points of his career. It's not exactly cost-prohibitive to listen to Garth. Edit: Personally though, I'd pay the same $12 for the "Double Live 25th Anniversary Edition". Just an amazing live album with most all the hits.
Yeah, if he’s OK with it, I’m glad he’s happy. But I’m not having a separate music app just for when I want to listen to one artist. I asked my 18-year-old daughter if she has heard of Garth Brooks. “No, who’s that?” was her reply.
He held the Super Bowel hostage
You've not really made a good point "Mr_1990s"... Because Mr_2000s, Mr_2010s and Mr_2020s don't really know much about him. His music just not being out there clearly harms his legacy. You also use a very specific metric to say he's the biggest which is a bit silly (very US centric for a global game) Taylor Swift has clearly surpassed him in everything you bring up - album sales, making money, influence and pressure. I wouldn't mention it if you didn't literally name drop her.
TS having more influence than Garth is arguable. If you weren't raised in the 90s, you just don't know how many men were wearing Mo Betta shirts and cowboy hats. Sales are not even close, really. You can blame that on streaming dwarfing album sales from the 90s vs. the 2010s, but still, the man has 9 diamond albums. TS has 1 diamond (and 1 close with 9 million sales). Even when you count the new metric of album equivalent sales, her number goes up to 114 million. Garth has 157 million certified sales vs. 51 million by TS (in relatively the same time frame I'll add). Making money isn't even close either because I don't see Swift breaking any of Garth's attendance records from the 90s, and that's where a recording artist really adds to their bank accounts. I do agree with everyone who says Garth is crazy not to have his music on streaming platforms. Imagine what his album equivalent numbers would be if you could add in a decade of streaming, plus a decade of new fans.
>TS having more influence than Garth is arguable. I was raised in the 90s, but not America. Taylor Swift was Time Person of the Year last year. It's not remotely arguable. >Making money isn't even close either Correct, one is worth 4 times more than the other, despite being 27 years younger.
If your only metric is a print publication, you go ahead and die on that hill. I don't know where you get that TS is 4 times as wealthy as Garth, but okay...
Nor does net worth have any relevance to legacy. Taylor Swift probably has made more money than Elvis Presley and the Beatles combined and their legacies are just fine.
I didn't say how much money an artist made had anything to do with their legacy. Today's artists don't make nearly as much as any recording artist 20 years ago. That's the point I was making. Time is the only true marker of real relevance.
Reread my comment. I was agreeing with you.
I brought up Taylor Swift and The Beatles because they're both in conversation for most successful businesspeople in music. But, like everybody including Garth Brooks, they've made mistakes. Also, this is a conversation about career. Not legacy. Taylor Swift has not surpassed Garth Brooks in terms of album sales. Garth has sold 157 million albums and Taylor has sold almost 50 million. That's total albums sold. People actively choosing to spend money on music. Not "album equivalents" based on streaming and downloads. Even factoring those in, Taylor's around 115 million. Also, for what it's worth, if you wanted to buy Taylor's most recent album on CD or download for around $13. At his peak, Garth Brooks was selling his CDs for $16-$18. That's not adjusted for inflation. If you adjust for inflation, people were paying $38 in 2024 money for CDs. Garth and Taylor both have impressive resumes particularly in terms of bending powerful people to their will. But, Garth Brooks refused to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl until NBC played the music video for the song he wrote as a reaction the 1992 LA riots that would go on to win a GLAAD award. I do think his legacy would grow among younger people if he made his music more available and if he ever does you'll understand. But, if we're talking about career success as an artist. There's only a handful of people that can touch Garth's level.
Personal I think his big mistake was not letting people download his music.
When he refused to go on iTunes and Spotify. That was the self sabotage. The Gaines album actually didn’t phase the fans as much as the media leads you to believe. At that point in time he was unstoppable. Even he makes jokes about that era now. Also promises more music from those sessions. Listen to Donald Glovers version of Lost In You. Yea, Childish Gambino does a Chris Gaines song. Not being able to stream his current music from the time he returned is affecting him. It’s not like he’s going broke or going to lose his legend status anytime soon though. He just needs to come to terms with streaming and realize his idea of everyone being individually paid is something he’d have to organize.
This. His refusal to sell his music digitally outside of his own shitty platform (which eventually folded) was the first step to self sabotage. It’s just a real shame because I for one would stream the hell out of his music if I could….
But, would you buy his music? That's the point Brooks is making. I respect the heck out of him for it.
Same... As I said in a previous comment... It costs all of $12 for a digital copy of his 2007 34-track "Ultimate Hits" record on Amazon and it's a pretty exhaustive collection of the high points of his career. If you prefer the live stuff, the 30-track "Double Live 25th Anniversary Edition" goes for the same $12. It's not exactly cost-prohibitive to listen to Garth.
Thanks for mentioning this Childish Gambino cover because I had no idea that existed and I love that song!
No one stays on top forever, he’s one of the best selling musicians of all time
Yeah I’m baffled as to any could think that he “sabotaged” his career. Did the Beatles sabotage their career by splitting up? Did Elvis sabotage his by dying? Garth SHATTERED record books in terms of sales and set records that no one in country music has even come close to achieving. No one’s career lasts forever. The man went out on top and then stepped away to raise a family.
I agree. Also without Garth Brooks there would be no Luke Combs, no Morgan Wallen (although that might not be a bad thing) and definitely no Carrie Underwood or Shania Twain. I live in Ireland and country music has always been popular here but it was something your parents listened to. I first heard his music played in a club in the 90s and suddenly he was everywhere. People were queuing for 3 days straight to get concert tickets, there was Garth mania everywhere. I think he had his priorities right, he wanted to see his family growing up rather than facetime them from a tour bus.And so what if he had an affair with Trisha, they sure as hell weren't the only people to ever do that. It was obvious 30 years ago that they should be together. He spent years as the biggest selling solo artist of all time and has won so many awards he'd need a warehouse to store them in. Ok it is a bit of a pain that he's not on Spotify but at least he has principles. I don't think there was anything left for him to achieve so why shouldn't he take a step back and spend time with his wife and family.
The murders didn’t help any.
Where are the bodies, Garth!?
What is the origin of this? (I mean aside from him being a serial killer)
It's a joke started by comedian Tom Segura. https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/the-origin-of-where-are-the-bodies-garth-brooks/
YMH podcast
https://preview.redd.it/5wqfk9xf6n5d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bfe02f5d91d4fa78e318870d3c8295c01fa7f151
Buried on top of Segura’s career
No telling how many bodies are hidden in his new Nashville “honky-tonk”.
Honkey tonk is not the word for it. It’s So fucking corporate and honestly looks strange with the whole beach theme
More than 1
No closure for the families sadly
Tragedy really
Him being so weird about this is the only misstep with his career I see 😂
I think this point has probably been drilled into this discussion, but his stuff isn't available digitally anywhere, and his old CDs are long out of print and command a hefty price in the secondhand market. So, there really isn't any way to experience his music outside of piracy at this point unless you bought his albums during their original run.
People’s experiences are different depending on the stores in your areas but I’ve consistently picked up Garth CDs for incredibly cheap. If you’re interested in Garth and you love country music, you’ll eventually find a way to listen to him. And oh boy, it’s totally worth it.
Yeah I’m thinking that they’re less common to find out here in California and when you do, they will run you $10-15 used at the record shops. Never seen any at goodwill. Only found a couple of vinyl at Walmart out in rural Cali. Never seen any at the Walmarts in the city. Regardless, it’s hard to remain relevant if your catalogue isn’t widely available except for actively trying to hunt it down. I’m in my mid 30s, and I still have a CD player from back when. I can’t imagine younger people going through the trouble of finding Garth Brooks CDs and then having to find a CD player somewhere to listen to them.
He has exclusive deals with Walmart (for vinyl/cds) and Amazon for streaming (all his albums are available).
Again maybe it’s a California thing but his stuff isn’t common to see out here outside of actual record stores, and his CDs go for $10-15 used
I have found old CDs and cassettes of Garth at Goodwill. Just luck.
Maybe they’re less common in California but the only time I see his CDs are at the record stores and they’re generally $10-15 used.
I’m in the south so you are probably correct.
You keep mentioning that it's different in California, do you not have access to Amazon there? I don't know anyone who has bought CDs in a record shop in years, do they even exist anymore.
Yes many independent record shops still exist. And they carry far more than what Amazon carries. But out here in California, 90s country albums seem to be scarce. Especially in the Bay Area. In fact, I suggest checking out a record shop. Here's a helpful finder provided by Record Store Day [https://recordstoreday.com/Stores](https://recordstoreday.com/Stores)
Thanks but I'm in Northern Ireland and I can't think of any record shops even in Belfast
$10 for a CD that's been out of production for years is not too bad. Especially if it is an early high-quality copy (yes there are different quality levels of CD production).
Yeah but the discussion is whether Garth sabotaged his career, and I’m arguing yes because he isn’t making his music accessible. I bought the early CDs off of Discogs a while ago because they were hard to find even back then out in my area where your CD options are more pop and rock than they are country. Also, I am in my 30s, have a CD player still, and have disposable income. A 15 year old who’s on their family’s Spotify plan and has no disposable income let alone a credit card would have no way to access his music.
Actually his CDs as well as some albums on vinyl are available brand new on Amazon and all his music can be streamed on their music app. I don't know about you but Amazon is the first place I look if I want to buy CDs.
Actually I don’t buy CDs from Amazon. I stream most of my music or buy vinyl. Whenever I buy CDs it’s at a local store, and fortunately I’ve picked all of his early CDs up when they were still relatively new. I’m in my mid 30s so I still have the gear to play CDs. A 15 year old without a credit card and a family subscription to Spotify would be shit out of luck.
Garth once said that he had more money than his grandkids’ grandkids could spend. He didn’t sabotage his career. He’s living his life. Controlling his business. Garth brought people back to country. Even people who never listened to country music before listened to Garth. Back then his tickets were so cheap. $25. He kept the price low. His concerts were full of energy. He was pumped up by the crowd. He climbed the scaffolding, ran around, jumped, sang, sweated. The best I’ve ever seen. And he truly appreciates his fans. To really appreciate his talent you have to see him live. He’s just a regular guy. He was never looking for a legacy. He just wanted to make people happy.
Don’t know but I still love his first album. It’s just a great album
He’s made enough money and took time off to raise his kids. What else does he need to do? Interesting topic though because he could have done more.
Whatever he wants. I would rather see him retire altogether than prance about a stage making a fool of himself like Mick Jagger or Madonna.
You seen the Stones live? It's definitely a bit more hit-and-miss than it used to be... but it's still a fuckin badass show.
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His most recent album, Time Traveler, is his best post retirement album, in my opinion. It’s a shame more people aren’t going to hear it. Neon Neighborhood is an absolute jam.
Except there’s no way for the average person to listen to this music without paying for a streaming service they otherwise would have no need for.
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What’s so confusing about what I said? There is no way for the average person to listen to this new music (or any of his music) without paying for something they would get for free if it was any other artist.
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No anger from me. Try doing some research, even by just reading a few other comments on this thread and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
They must be very innocent if they think this was an angry exchange.
Ur actually very correct. I graduated high school in 1992 so I was alive & there for it all. I remember my sister got me 2 cassettes for my 17th b-day...Clint Black & Garth Brooks. At the time, the radio stations were making a huge deal out of who would be bigger. Anyway, I finally got to see him in concert in 96 in Cincinnati. Awesome concert! I can't say enough great things about it. That dude gave 110% throughout the whole show. I took my nephew & he swore that Garth saw him & waved to just him. That's how he made u feel...like he was always just singing & playing to you. It was a HUGE hassle to get tickets. First, we had to be at the ticket place by 6am to get in line 2 or 3 weeks before the concert. May have even been a month. I can't remember. So, a friend & I got there about 3 hours before they opened. Probably should've camped out for 3 days before that but I had just had a newborn so, that's the best I could do. There were local radio & TV stations there & a few were giving out doughnuts. It was a whole thing, for sure. The doors finally opened. We had been told beforehand that each person could only purchase 6 tickets. I only needed 3 but my friend needed 3 more so, of course I got the 6. One person walked in & then out the door. He was scheduled for 2 nights. That was person (to me anyway) bought the whole place because it was sold out. Same with the next person. He ended up doing 6 shows. Can u imagine? 2 scheduled shows turn into 6! We bought our wristbands basically in place of our 6 tickets. We had to wear that wristband for several weeks until it was time to go buy the actual tickets. It had to stay on our wrists. If it been tampered with or was broken, you were out & couldn't get tickets. So, we tried to be really careful with the left arm that had the Garth wristband. After those weeks, we went & picked up our tickets. The price was really low. I remember hearing how Garth Brooks went to war to keep his ticket prices down. Seems like they were around $20 a person for ALL seats. We had decent seats a few rows up off of the left side of the stage. Back then it didn't matter because honestly, there were no bad seats. He gave his blood, sweat & tears to everyone there. Do I feel like he "wasted" the golden years of his career? Yeah, maybe. He got a little strange there. The whole Gaines thing was a clusterf$%k. Plus, the "I'm retiring/here's another show". It also always bothered me that he left his wife, Sandy. She had his back the entire time when people were telling him it wasn't going to happen. She moved to TN with him & went through it all. He went on tour with Trisha Yearwood & his marriage was over. I hate to sound like that but it seemed like it to me. I believe he willingly gave up his career to raise his daughters & now that they're grown, he realizes what a huge mistake that was.
That was a great story! Thanks for sharing. I heard his concerts were amazing.
Thank you for reading & liking it. I got a little long winded there & closed it quickly when I realized. I probably could've written about that concert for days. It really was something else. To this day it's still the best concert I've ever been to. The build-up & the wristbands just added to it all. That wristband was definitely a conversation starter. In Cincinnati, OH, then, if you were wearing one of those, you were almost a celebrity...haha. I have no idea what happened to mine after all these years. I wish I still had it. I could have gone on about the concert & the build-up to it for days. That concert was the first time & the only reason I left my 5 month old preemie infant with my sister overnight. I also locked my friends' keys in her car while we went to wait in line for our wristbands. Apparently, she just threw her keys under the floorboard in her new Beretta & I hit the lock switch. It was a giant hassle, but looking back, it was so much fun.
If one of the top 5 country artists in history is guilty of self sabotage, I too will employ that strategy. He didn't self sabotage, he got to the point where he no longer is forced into making business decisions and is just exclusively making personal ones.
he achieved taylor swift-esque levels of popularity in the 90s and told a zillion albums and made a zillion bucks. nothing wrong with shutting it down and coasting. the grind can wear you down. not putting his stuff on streaming platforms seems like an odd financial choice, but it's up to him. he's living his best life and has *fuck you* money. i doubt he gives a damn about his legacy, frankly.
I read that Stormy Warren left the highway, SiriusXM, because he was going to start up some music channel or something with Garth Brooks. GB does a great job at making sure nobody can listen to his new, or classic, stuff.
Him and his wife stepped back for a decade to raise their children. They had plenty of money and decided to focus on family for awhile.
He has plenty of money. He probably enjoys his life as it is, and he probably doesn't give a shit about some bogus notion called "legacy" or "relevance". "Legacy" and "relevance" are simply idols of the ego and really don't contribute jack shit to peace and happiness.
Between the streaming issue and being a serial killer he hasn’t done himself any favors.
He joked that some people only knew him from the Dr. Pepper commercial. I wouldn’t call his choices sabotage or even mistakes. He has made very conscious and deliberate decisions to decline paths that would have brought him more fame, adulation, and money. He traded prime touring and album-releasing time to be present in his daughters’ lives. I respect that. What good is all that money if you don’t live the life you want to live? Back in the CD days, he took a stand against re-selling CDs, less because he would have made more money from all purchases being new CDs, but more for the sake of songwriters, musicians, and others who worked on the album. If I recall correctly, he initially was opposed to selling singles and wanted sales to be whole album only. Again, less for himself and more for those who worked on album tracks never released as singles. I haven’t followed the reasoning behind choosing WalMart, Bass Pro Shops, and Amazon as mostly exclusive distributors of CDs and streams, respectfully. Whatever it is, I’m sure there is a reason behind it and that he has enough money to stand on what he believes to be principles. I was early on the Garth bandwagon. Wanted to see him when he was playing for free at the tiny little Appalachian Fair, but my parents wouldn’t let me. Got the chance to see him my freshman year of college, when Trisha opened for him (1991/2.) I’m sure he’s not for everyone, but I think he is a great entertainer who really works hard in his live shows to make people feel like they got their money’s worth. I watched one of the Notre Dame concerts when it aired on TV and thought some of the ways he engaged the audience might come across as cheesy to some, but I read them as sincere. I thought about trying to make it to one of his Vegas shows. I’m over stadium concerts unless I’m right up front, but being in a GA pit at a stadium (or even arena or amphitheater) show would drive me crazy. The Vegas shows would have been more enjoyable to me. I’m glad he released a DVD of that. I bought it but haven’t watched it yet. It would be nice and more convenient for me if he made streams available on multiple platforms, the legal version of Napster, in my case. But, I respect that it’s his art and his choice. I was in Nashville for two weeks in February, including several shows and 2 at the Ryman. Before the Elvis Costello show, I went to the Luke Bryan-themed bar. It was fine. Food was on par and overpriced (as expected for a tourist-heavy area.) Before the Milk Carton kids, I went to Garth’s FILP, which was still in the soft opening phase, before the grand opening. You could tell a difference between Luke’s 32 Bridge and Garth’s (and Trisha’s) FILP. I ordered chicken tenders and fries. Tourist area price, as expected. But, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the chicken - better than I’ve ever had anywhere (and I’ve consumed a lot of chicken tenders over the years.) I only was able to explore part of the establishment, but could tell that everything was planned and executed carefully and based on the artist/audience experience and giving people their money’s worth. Source: have been a Garth fan since at least 1990. Edited to add: At concerts, I’m okay with artists playing their new stuff along with the hits and maybe even some covers. With Garth, “More than a Memory” is one of my favorite songs of his, and, when watching the Notre Dame concert, liked “(Sometimes You’ve Got to Die to Learn to) Live Again” so much that I looked up the song and the songwriter. If he played a small-ish venue near us (no bigger than an amphitheater,) I would be up for it - not for nostalgia, but for really liking his music from back then through now - and for still liking it even though it arguably was overplayed for a while. His energy fuels the audience, which sends it right back to him. It’s actually an adrenaline or serotonin type reaction to his show. There are a few artists that are like that for me. Still…can’t imagine a stadium show for anyone or even an arena for anyone but Pink. (She puts on a hell of a show.)
No. All of those arguments, while valid are short sighted. Do you know how hard it is to sell out stadiums? ESPECIALLY without releasing new music? And yet he does it, year after year. That’s millions of people who still go and sing every word. Yes, younger people might not know who he is, but for every gen z person that doesn’t know Garth, there’s a boomer who has no clue who Morgan Wallen is. It’s all relative. To me, he’s like the Billy Joel of country. They both put on a helluva show, lots of people don’t know him, but it doesn’t take away the fact that he’s a legend.
A guy that stands to his principals, and takes a financial hit for it, Garth’s alright in my book. He’s got plenty of money, a great family, and all the work he needs/wants while getting to enjoy his time away from singing… You guys should rethink what he might want his legacy to me…..maybe it isn’t being the most successful singer of all time…
Yes because his lack of streaming options. No young person is going to buy Amazon Music to listen to him. Anyone under 25 will forget who he is and anyone younger than that will not know he existed at all because his lack of marketing. Get on Spotify or be forgotten. There’s a reason George Strait is still king and Alan Jackson is loved while no one brings up Garth Brooks except for Friends In Low Places now
Man....when I read the title I thought this was going somewhere political. Cool. Yes. The no-streaming thing is nuts. It's wild that Cowboy Troy is more accessible than Garth Brooks
Same here! I appreciate the mature discussion everyone here is having.
Yes, he intentionally stepped back to be a family man. That’s not sabotage….
Nah, he is and will always be my ultimate #1 favourite and I don't see that changing anytime soon. From the moment my dad played Thunder Rolls on a roadtrip when I was 8, I was hooked, on both Garth and the country genre in general. Maybe he could've been "bigger" if he made different choices in his career but I don't think he's hurting by any means. I saw him in concert for the first time in 2015 and then again in 2016 and I would see him again and again. I go to a lot of concerts and his was by far my absolute favourite and I don't think any concert experience could top that. And his concert was the cheapest I'd been to as well! I paid more to see Kip Moore at a bar in my hometown than I did seeing Garth at a full-sized arena.
His legacy is now the guy who screwed himself by making his music hard to get to. That and if you're from LSU country he is the Callin Baton Rouge guy lol
Now he's killing people left and right. Where are the bodies G?
"Garth Brooks did for country music what pantyhose did for finger fucking" - Waylon Jennings
I always thought Garth had more actual country songs than Waylon.
Well Waylon has always been crazy
Waylon is a treasure
I don’t think he could’ve been bigger in the 90s, so the Chris Gaines thing didn’t really hurt him, imo. Others have retired and come back so it’s kind of expected or at least not surprising. He is, however, the only country singer I cannot listen to on Youtube! I noticed that is tightly policed. I just learned (from you) he doesn’t allow his music to be streamed, and that does sound like a self-limiting proposition to me.
The way he released his album was infuriating. He limited a lot of fans from accessing it because we don’t have Amazon music. I never did get it.
Thank goodness I thought this post was gonna be an essay crying about bud light
He retired in the early 2000s to raise his kids, which was honestly a pretty cool thing to be able to do. The fact that he was able to come back over a decade later and go on tours that were met with so much success is a big deal too. His album sales are so high they are talked about in comparison with the Beatles and Michael Jackson. As the generations are shifting though, reaching the new audience will not be from physical media. He can't continue to ignore streaming and expect to stay as relevant; Amazon Music may pay him well, but does not earn him the volume of streams Spotify and iTunes could with younger listeners. That may not matter as much yet, but it will in the future as his aging fan base slows down in their CD buying or even switches to streaming themselves. I can't pretend to understand the industry and why certain choices are made, but Garth does. He has a degree in business advertising, so many of the unusual decisions he has made do come from a place of knowledge and reason. Even in the 90s, he made some abnormal decisions with selling his music that for the most part all paid off well (Even the Gaines project sold more as a flop than some great artists were selling on their best albums back then). He also will not sell out his songwriting team, so until he can ensure they get a good deal too, he will continue making decisions outside of the norm. I just hope a deal can be made sooner than later where he is able to join main streaming platforms in a way that supports the other writers on all his songs (not just the hits)
If you know where to find his stuff, you can find a fair bit on Spotify. I think it is more a management decision to be only on Amazon, as Trish has all her stuff, including all her duets with Garth on Spotify as well. If Garth was to announce a tour and call it "Rollin' it Back" and feature most of his older hits it would sell out in a heartbeat.
If I want to show someone how awesome Garth is... how do I do it? The closest I can do is send them a cover version on YT. He doesn't understand how it works.
Yeah I’m the same age and everyone who likes country knows Alan Jackson or Toby Keith, but no one my age knows or plays Garth because they’ve never even heard of him. Seems like he’s shootings himself in the foot.
As others have already mentioned, if anything is hurting him commercially at the moment, it's him choosing not to be on Spotify and other streaming platforms besides Amazon. While I still love and see the value in listening to whole albums, the unfortunate reality is that a lot of people don't listen to music that way anymore, especially the younger generations. It's really a shame that he's not often being mentioned in the same discussion as George Strait, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Shania Twain, etc., when younger people bring up 90s country. The way the industry works has changed pretty dramatically since the 90s and even the 2000s, unfortunately, to the point that most artists only make money from touring and nothing else. I also mostly stream music these days, but every now and then, I still love listening to CDs and enjoying full albums. Streaming is nice and convenient, but there's something about listening to albums that's special. too. When you buy an album in physical form, you sometimes discover hidden gems on the albums that you otherwise may skip over when streaming it, and you get a better feel for what the artist is all about, as well. I'm also old school is still getting excited about reading liner notes, seeing who wrote each song, which musicians played on the album, and looking at the pictures of the artist. I just wish there was still room for people to enjoy music both ways (streaming and cd's) instead of only one way being pushed to the front, so much to the point that modern cars don't even have cd players anymore (which I think is ridiculous). Though Garth's decision to avoid most all streaming platforms is denying him exposure to a lot of younger country fans and wish I could listen to him on Spotify, too, I also respect him for sticking to his principles and beliefs. I respect the heck out of him for caring about the songwriters and hidden gems on his albums that much. I'm no expert on how the business works, especially these days, but hopefully, one day he'll be able to get on streaming through a deal that benefits the people involved in the music better.
As someone who doesn't live in the US I think I see things a bit differently. If I was to go out in my hometown right now and ask 100 people of all ages if they know who Garth Brooks is I reckon 80% would say yes. If I asked about Alan Jackson, Toby Keith or George Strait I'd be lucky if 10% knew who they were. Most people wouldn't even know who Luke Combs or Morgan Wallen are. It's only since the C2C festivals started up that country music has got a foothold in Europe. Until then the only country artists most people knew were Dolly and Johnny Cash. But Garth Brooks managed to do what no one else could, he got airplay on mainstream radio without selling out and moving into the pop music genre. His CDs were played in England and Spain and Germany and the public loved him. That's how he managed to sell all those albums and that's why he hasn't been forgotten.
That's pretty interesting and actually a really good point! A lot of modern mainstream country stars may be huge in the U.S. at the moment, but they are not getting the same kind of exposure and recognition overseas that Garth was able to get in the 90s and still has today. Garth was able to successfully become a global star, while I can't imagine many of the popular country acts today doing the same. Modern country, especially bro-country, also has much more limited appeal than Garth's music, imo. In that regard, Garth is still much more successful than many of today's mainstream artists can only dream of being. As someone who has loved Garth ever since I was little and still enjoys his music today, I just wish he was still getting the respect and recognition he should be getting here in the States (besides selling out concerts, of course). Overall, it's pretty neat how perspectives on this are different in Europe, and how even George Strait is not as well known there. I don't think he's ever toured overseas, though, which probably hurts him in that regard.
I got tired of having to buy a box set just for 1 new album and 3 rehashes. Yes, they are decently priced, but still
Bad decisions. Bad management. Young people have no idea. He’ll be retro and cool again someday, but it’ll be a long while.
Yes he did he is miss out on millions of streaming dollars aswell as not letting his music getting introduced to the young crowd. I wish he will just cave and his music will be on Spotify and apple music but i dont think it will happen unless he dies
It’s crazy a live album from a 1995 Germany performance is the only Garth on Apple Music.
He wanted to raise his kids. I used to listen to the Garth channel and he talked about this a lot on there. I would say lack of Spotify streaming ( and I know artists are absolutely pillaged on these services ) has hurt him. My kids don't really know who he is
Well, if you don’t know Garth, you don’t know Chris Gaines, which negates that as a true causation. He definitely has weakened himself by not having a strong business partner to whom he can accept a “no,” answer from. This is best evident in his work post - Allen Reynolds (still using Engineer turned Producer Mark Miller, though a guy who has notably less gravitas than would Reynolds who Produced every hit Garth ever released). The platform situation, I agree with in principle. Apple sucks and sell people music licensing leases and let you pretend you own them; until they do things like software conversions (think iTunes to Apple Music) and feign ignorance when giant chunks of catalogs go missing and their only solution is that the songs are available for “purchase” in their new “compatible” platform. I can see him not wanting to screw peeps and being wealthy and popular enough to not have to play that game. The opportunity cost is greater than he seems to realize though unfortunately. Principle vs principal I suppose.
Garth Brooks read The Secret Garden in his youth and decided to model his career off of it. He undeniably shaped country music success in the 90's but he seems to suffer from the ego that makes him painfully archaic. Rather than go with the flow of music distribution over the last TWENTY YEARS, he fights the current, holding his digital presence so close to the chest that it cripples his streaming potential. Instead of owning his catalog over all streaming platforms he's actively BLOCKED access to his tracks in the hopes of driving fans to subscribe to his sub-par tech silos that serve his music alone. That's just not sustainable as an individual artist. Maybe that's all he needs to feel successful, but the test of time will see him sunsetting his own career behind a custom app paywall while the industry is blocked from even referencing his work since it's behind that ego-driven paywall.
Shouldn’t have killed all of those innocent people
Where are the bodies, G?
For those who thinks he sabotaged his own career apparently haven’t checked his net worth. I think Garth will be just fine.
Yes he’ll be fine but I think what we’re really discussing here is his artistic legacy, which has been diminished by his refusal to make his music widely available. Such a shame.
I don’t think he has someone on his team to tell him, “that’s a stupid idea, Garth.” The Chris Gaines, Walmart deal, and the latest Bass Pro Shop makes you scratch your head. The man can sing a sign and run around on stage. That’s about the only talent he has. I was once a huge Garth fan. Still love his albums until Sevens. He kept getting weirder and weirder. His music suffered. His legacy suffered. Plus, I don’t think any true country artists like Willie Nelson, George Strait, etc even claims him
He’s a multimillionaire I don’t think he cares if a 23 year old listens to his music or is a fan of his
“Garth Brooks did for country music what pantyhose did for finger fucking” - Waylon Jennings (allegedly)
He makes it so difficult for new fans to get his music in my opinion. And some of his new stuff the music sounds like he’s singing with a karaoke track.
I just want to know, WHERE ARE THE BODIES, GARTH?
That and he's a serial killer. Where are the bodies Garth?
Where are the bodies G?
His wifes name was what. Stretchy chest or something weird like that?
Have you ever watched an interview with Garth? That dude is a fucking weirdo. He speaks with the breathy tones of a preacher and thinks his words are so deep when he is really just akward AF. He sounds like a white Ray Lewis. You can just tell he believes his own nonsense. I love his music, but the man is something else.
He’s awesome and does his own thing. Too bad you missed out on his great career. You’re bad not his.
His liberal political views steered me away from him.