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Winter's Claw · 03-26-2007, 06:38 PM

I used to like Garth quite a bit. I still have his first six albums on CD in fact. However, Garth kind of rubs me the wrong way these days. He seems more concerned with marketing and album sales than with actual music. Come to think of it, he almost seems like the antithesis of a guy like Gordon Lightfoot. Whereas Gordon hardly concerns himself with the business end of his music, Garth is extremely conscious of the marketing and selling of his products. After Garth's fifth album, Fresh Horses failed to meet sales expectations, Garth blamed Capitol Records and the head of its country music division for not marketing it aggressively enough. The truth, however, which is obvious in hindsight, was that Garth's popularity had cooled off substantially by that point. The album sold millions; it just didn't sell as well as previous albums, which is a pretty silly thing to get upset over.

The exclusive sales arrangements he makes with Wal-Mart bother me, too. The purpose of those bargain-priced box sets he keeps putting out is actually to increase his unit sales with the RIAA. Garth is currently in third place in all-time album sales, behind Elvis and the Beatles. Every 6-CD box set he sells counts as six(!) units sold. Also, Brooks once refused to distribute copies of his new albums to stores that sold used CDs, because Garth does not get paid royalties when used CDs are sold--only new ones!

I don't mean to disrespect Garth fans with this rant; I like his music quite a bit. It's just that his hardcore businessman persona irks me a bit.

03-26-2007, 06:38 PM	#24
Winter's Claw Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Portland, OR, USA Posts: 104	I used to like Garth quite a bit. I still have his first six albums on CD in fact. However, Garth kind of rubs me the wrong way these days. He seems more concerned with marketing and album sales than with actual music. Come to think of it, he almost seems like the antithesis of a guy like Gordon Lightfoot. Whereas Gordon hardly concerns himself with the business end of his music, Garth is extremely conscious of the marketing and selling of his products. After Garth's fifth album, Fresh Horses failed to meet sales expectations, Garth blamed Capitol Records and the head of its country music division for not marketing it aggressively enough. The truth, however, which is obvious in hindsight, was that Garth's popularity had cooled off substantially by that point. The album sold millions; it just didn't sell as well as previous albums, which is a pretty silly thing to get upset over. The exclusive sales arrangements he makes with Wal-Mart bother me, too. The purpose of those bargain-priced box sets he keeps putting out is actually to increase his unit sales with the RIAA. Garth is currently in third place in all-time album sales, behind Elvis and the Beatles. Every 6-CD box set he sells counts as six(!) units sold. Also, Brooks once refused to distribute copies of his new albums to stores that sold used CDs, because Garth does not get paid royalties when used CDs are sold--only new ones! I don't mean to disrespect Garth fans with this rant; I like his music quite a bit. It's just that his hardcore businessman persona irks me a bit.