Sony Music Nashville chairman and CEO Gary Overton ruffled a few feathers among the Americana crowd this week by telling The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville, "If you're not on country radio, you don't exist."
The interview was an advance story on this week's Country Radio Seminar, the annual gathering that allows radio programmers and personalities to strengthen their relationships with artists and their record labels. Of course, there are numerous panel discussions about the state of the country music and broadcasting industries, but the labels capitalize on CRS to court the favor of those who make the decisions about what gets played on mainstream country stations throughout the U.S.
As for a musical act not existing if they're not on country radio, Overton is talking about those artists who strive to attain massive success and financial rewards.
