Country Music Outside the USA

As the CEO of an artist development company and a publishing catalog it is my job to stay up on the latest trends in the music industry.

One of the places I go to stay up to date is BMI’s Music World.

The July 28th article Writing and Placing Songs Internationally is a “must read” for any singer or songwriter.

The whole article is great, but I paid special attention to the section Country Music Outside the USA,  because I am in Nashville and I work with so many country artists.

Did you know that people in Australia love American country music?

Here’s what the article says…

Few of these fans have ever heard a song by Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Jake Owen, Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, or the other artists who regularly top the U.S. Billboard country music charts. But all of the aforementioned artists [Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, and Willie Nelson] are on the current Australian country music album chart.

Another great part of this article is from the section titled Lyric Considerations for the International Market says…

When writing songs intended for artists outside the U.S., and when pitching existing catalog songs, it’s important to avoid lyrics that are applicable only to America. According to songwriter/publisher Bob Dellaposta (more than 2,500 songs recorded all over the world), “Lyrically, keep the subject matter universal… having a good time with friends, falling in love, falling out of love. Writing about our American soldiers or writing patriotic songs about the red white and blue isn’t going to fly.

This is so true!

A great example of this is my client Tiah Guillot, a country artist from Australia. She came to Nashville and we paired her with seasoned songwriter Joe Sins. Together they crafted Already Gone. Here’s what Joe has to say about the song…

“Already Gone” is a story that is told in every town in every corner of the world. It is happening to two young lovers at this very moment. Probably in your own neighborhood.  It may have happened to you. That is why Tiah insisted it be brought to life”

If you are interested in writing with professional songwriters to create amazing songs like this then submit your demo to me, I’d love to hear it.