Exec Says Country Acts Not Reaching Beyond Borders

11/26/2004 9:03 PM, Reuters
Phyllis Stark

Country artists need to try harder when it comes to international markets, according to talent executive Bruce Allen.

During a recent keynote speech at the Country Music Assn.'s Global Markets Forum in Nashville, Allen said few country artists have careers outside the United States because most aren't willing to work for it.

Allen, the president of Vancouver-based management firm Bruce Allen Talent, whose clients include Martina McBride and Anne Murray, said at the Nov. 10 event that he is disillusioned with the global reach of country music and the efforts of its artists to expand into international markets.

"I don't see country music making an impact anywhere (else), including my home country of Canada," he said. "How hard is it to work Canada? You could cover the country in a week and sales would double."

Allen said country music in the global marketplace has "a problem. Make no mistake about that."

In Allen's view, only one artist, Canadian Shania Twain, has a truly global career, and he says her ability to cross over to the pop mainstream was a critical element in her international success. Faith Hill and LeAnn Rimes have some international presence, Allen allowed, but they are "miles behind Shania."

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"She was always imaged correctly," he said of Twain, noting that in publicity photos of Twain there was "not a boot, spur, fireplace or cactus."

Country artists who sing with a twangy accent and perform songs whose lyrics are "children's stories," he said, are much more likely to turn off audiences overseas. He also said international labels are more likely to concentrate on promoting U.S. acts with crossover appeal, not those with hats or accents.

"If the consumer is scratching their heads, you're dead. Country is indigenous, white soul music," Allen continued. "That's why it's hard for country to connect in some global markets." But he also said artists are unwilling to work to earn an international fan base, saying U.S. country artists' excuses for not performing overseas are "bad food, too far and not worth it."

"Artists have to work the market and they have to show up, and that means more than one visit," he said. "They have to be willing to get on a plane and go to Europe and do the big TV shows. In Europe, if you do the right TV and have the right image, you can get a foothold. And if you can get a foothold, you can kick the door down."

Allen thinks the international markets with the most prospects for U.S. country artists are Ireland, Canada, Australia and, to some extent, the United Kingdom. But while those markets may have more of an openness to embracing country, he said, "it takes work."

And as long as Nashville artists are "romanced" by lucrative fairs and festivals on home turf, Allen thinks it will be tough to get them to try their luck overseas.

Reuters/Billboard