Imagine driving down the road and Tyler Childers comes on your radio station, and then Kane Brown, followed by Drake, Rihanna, Kacey Musgraves, Taylor Swift, Migos, Jason Aldean, Chris Brown and more.
Well, that’s exactly what producer Polow Da Don aims to do with his new “Young Country Nashville” radio station in Nashville.
You might remember Polow Da Don as the guy that’s produced records for Chris Brown, Usher, and Fergie, among others, or you might remember him as Kane Brown’s former producer, the guy that’s in the middle of a legal battle with Kane Brown right now over a breach of contract. More than likely, you don’t know who he is at all, and that’s perfectly fine, it doesn’t really matter.
“Young Country is a culture,” he tells Billboard in an interview. “It’s more than a radio station, it’s more than a playlist of songs. Young Country will be an inclusive home to artists who may not have a platform right now.”
The plan is to play more women, play regular country radio hits, play country songs that don’t get any radio play, along with contemporary pop music, hip-hop music, R&B music and mash-ups of all of the above.
According to Rolling Stone, the station recently played Tyler Childers’ “House Fire,” Drake and Chris Brown’s “No Guidance,” Jessie James Decker’s “Old Town Road,” Morgan Wallen, Blake Shelton and Blanco Brown’s “The Git Up,” all in a row.
It’s an interesting idea, one that might in fact reflect the tastes of today’s young music fans, however I see one glaring problem with that kind of radio station… the young country fans that like a good mix of country, pop, and hip-hop are already deeply embedded into the streaming platforms. Why would they flip on the radio when they already have playlist after playlist of the same thing on their phone, curated by them, and not some new radio station trying to convince them to tune in. I also don’t think the average Tyler Childers or Brandi Carlile fan is looking to hear Drake or Taylor Swift right after “House Fire.” Are they looking hear Drake or Taylor right after FGL or Kane Brown? Yes. After Tyler or Brandi? I doubt it.
I’ll keep my Spotify and Apple Music. As for “YoCo,” I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…
