Scott Borchetta: Country Is 'The New Rock'

Scott Borchetta

BIG MACHINE LABEL GROUP Pres./CEO SCOTT BORCHETTA cited Country's move into harder rocking sounds as the key to its current success. In an exclusive Power Player interview, BORCHETTA also noted that attracting teens is key to the format's long-term success.

"Country has become the new rock," he stated. "Even though there's still Rock radio and new rock records, from the moment the Country format started rocking harder, we took over. When you look at the big festivals and see the ones headlined by JASON ALDEAN and BRANTLEY GILBERT, 25 years ago they'd both be called Southern Rock acts. It's really the same Southern culture you heard from LYNYRD SKYNYRD. The younger listeners really create a young Country culture, which is fantastic. When our bands get into their DNA at that age, they literally stay with them for the rest of their lives. It can be TAYLOR SWIFT or FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE; when those records get embedded into you in your teen years, it never leaves you."

Read the entire interview here.

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