"Country Music, as It Stands Today, Is Broken"

"Corporations don't respect listeners' intelligence. They view country music as a medium through which they can pander to rural and suburban folk and sell cars, power tools and cheap beer. Labels don't have a much higher view of their audiences, it often seems. They've got their eyes on short-term profits, which may be alluring for label executives, but protecting the genre's reputation matters much more in the long run, both for the good of music culture and their own bottom line. So I say bring on the substance–bring on the proverbial Nirvana that replaced the hair metal acts and restored credibility to popular rock music. Because country music's image is plummeting with fans and outsiders alike."


Grady Smith in The Guardian discusses "the debate about the soul of country music."