"George Jones once asked the musical question, "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes" when the country music legends die out."
Bryce paced over to the windows as he talked.
"Who will be the next generation's legends when the old ones die? The answer is no one, gentlemen. When the legends die off, so do the fans; they're the same age. You can't have legends without fans. Talent is only half the equation. Country music needs new fans, but the fans aren't coming even as the population increases. Why IS that?"
Bryce paused to sip his bottled water, and Maverick set down his phone.
"I'll tell you why. It's because country's still perceived as white, Christian and conservative... and the population isn't. Country music fans are thought to be racist, sexist, pro-life, anti-semitic, homophobic Bible thumpers, and that has to stop. We have to change people's perception of the country music world. We have to make country cool again. We can start by changing the face of it. Men, we need diversity. For starters we need some women in this damn room."
Everyone looked from Bryce over to LuAnne, Maverick's secretary, as if more secretaries must be needed. Bryce shook his head and forged on.
"Second, we need youth. Generation Z can't relate to the geezers we have in these backing bands. They want to see themselves up there. Thirdly, we need better music. That means biting the bullet and paying the songwriters what they're worth. We're losing them now to the pop music world. We need better music, and we need to sell that music better and in more formats. It's way past time to embrace the digital age. We also need to invest in better visuals. Now that MTV and CMT no longer show music videos, the labels resist putting any money into video shoots. But those videos help sell the songs and get the fans interested in the artists. We have to start putting money into them again. The ones I've seen lately look like they were made with someone's phone."
Maverick grabbed his own from the table and glared.
"And fourth, we need a stable method of putting the music in front of people. Radio is still the best way to sell songs, but there are fewer country stations every year. We need to create our own station. Down the road we might even construct a network of stations across the nation to peddle our music to the masses."
Maverick rose from his seat. "Bryce, let's step outside."
YOU ARE READING
Ashes
Romance// BWWM romance // A black teen tries to make a name for herself in the mostly white world of country music. Ashanté wants to be a star like her idols Mickey Guyton, Vicki Vann and Rissi Palmer. Unfortunately, she gets nervous whenever she has to...
