Country Radio will never die. Weve heard the tale of stations shutting down and changing over to talk radio. Country Radio stations, however seem to be bucking the trend. With todays country music being more pop driven, the genre has been able to thread the needle by keeping regular country music listeners while snagging the newer listeners from the ranks of Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood and others
Its even possible to envision a time when 50% of the stations you hear on the radio play country music. Country music listeners are very loyal, and they will pick a station and stay there. There are so many different sub-genres of country music, 2 country stations in the same town can even manage to have 2 separate play-lists spinning country tunes without stepping on each others toes.
Many online radio stations are taking advantage of the recent country listener bonanza. Major websites like
CMT,
GAC and others offer online videos, news and exclusive content. But theyre also developing country radio stations, complete with multiple sub-genre stations that you wont hear over the air. These stations give listeners yet another choice, and another way to discover even more country music.
A search of
Shoutcast (AOLs Online Radio Project) will show you thousands of country stations at your fingertips, most of them commercial free. Its easy to find what kind of country music youre looking for, from new country to bluegrass and everything in between.
So, while many people are complaining about the shut-down of radio, country music seems to be building steam. Nobody will ever know if its just due to Taylor Swift, or if its the just community that country stations seem to embed themselves into that makes it a great fit. One things for sure, Country music radio will never die.
