The poor sales of his comeback album Man Against Machine show that taking a stand against the modern music business only works if youre Taylor Swift
This is where I make my stand. So Garth Brooks proclaims in the opening lines of the new album, Man Against Machine, his first collection of new original material since 2001. He isnt just flexing his muscles. The earnest country megastar has, in fact, made some very public stands in 2014, taking on heavyweights like iTunes, Pandora, and even the Irish government all in an effort to release his music the way he wants. But such big stands often yield equally big falls, even for the best-selling country artist of all time, and it doesnt take a Nashville executive to see how thoroughly underwhelming Brookss return to recorded music has been as a result of his many stubborn convictions.
For starters, Brooks, who has sold more than 120m albums worldwide, hasnt been able to inspire much excitement for his mega-hyped comeback album. Man Against Machines maudlin lead single People Loving People bricked at country radio, and Brookss refusal to sell his music on the worlds biggest digital music retailer, iTunes, has hugely limited its reach. (Digital versions of Brookss albums are now exclusively available on his own newly launched platform, GhostTunes, which he claims compensates songwriters more fairly than iTunes.)
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