Country Music star Garth Brooks YouTube presence is fairly limited as Garth does not support an official Garth Brooks YouTube channel. Most of his peer male country music artists all support an official YouTube channel including: Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Alan Jackson Keith Urban, and many more. So, many fans ask, “Why Does Garth Brooks not have a YouTube channel”?
Garth Brooks Careful Control of His Music Distribution
Garth has always been super protective of his music. Brooks’ team finds and removes most recordings or live performance that get uploaded to YouTube. Garth was one of the last holdouts for digital music distribution and did not support digital services until 2014 when he created his own music distribution service (called GhostTunes). GhostTunes was Garth’s attempt to avoid sharing revenue with music distribution platforms and services (e.g. YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify, etc…). Garth’s team learned that building and running your very own music distribution platform is not all that easy. He decided to partner with Amazon as the only digital service carrying his new music and back catalog. Amazon Music Unlimited is a good way to listen to all things Garth (including his latest “All Day Long,” song).
With his Amazon deal, Brooks holds fast to his decision to not allow his songs to be downloaded as individual tracks. Past hit songs like “Friends in Low Places” can only be downloaded as part of a full album. (Or purchased in a physical CD format. Some of his new songs like “All Day Long” can be downloaded with the pre-order of the full upcoming album.
Garth remains one of the few artists that does not support selling or streaming his music via Apple Music and Spotify.
Garth Brooks YouTube Perspective
n a November 17th appearance on Access Hollywood, Brooks spoke out against YouTube, calling YouTube “the devil.” Garth was asked for his opinion on the recent battle between Spotify and top-tier artists like Taylor Swift. This evolved to a broader conversation about the way digital music providers are not fairly compensating the singers and songwriters who compose it.
“YouTube; oh my god,” Brooks stated. “They claim they pay people, [but] they’re not paying anything, either. People get millions and millions and millions and millions of views, and they don’t get squat. Trust me. Songwriters are hurting. So, I applaud Miss Taylor and I applaud everyone for standing up for the songwriters, because without them, music is nothing.”
Even though Garth does not have a YouTube channel, fans and media organizations have uploaded over 140,000 of his music videos, live performances and interviews to YouTube. Garth met with representatives at YouTube asking to remove his content from YouTube’s archives. YouTube responded that this would be impossible to block any user from uploading Garth-related content. “You can’t get out of it,” he said. “I had the sweetest meeting with [YouTube]. They were all fired up. They were the sweetest, and they’re all, like, 12. So young! I said, ‘I just have the first question: How do you get out?’ Silence. You don’t. You don’t get out.”
So, don’t expect an official Garth Brooks YouTube channel any time soon. The easiest place to find Garth Brooks’ music is on Amazon.com.
Since 2016, Garth also has his channel on Sirius XM. The Garth Channel as a 24/7, exclusive channel that is curated and presented by Brooks. The channel features music from Brooks spanning four decades, along with songs from the artists that influenced his iconic career. SiriusXM’s The Garth Channel also include regularly hosted shows and behind-the-scenes commentary from Brooks, guest DJ specials hosted by Brooks’ fans and friends, and live concert recordings..
Remember to share Garth Brooks YouTube perspectives and help other fans understand why he does not support a YouTube channel.
