“Labels Have Completely Neutered Country Music” – Cody Jinks Blasts Nashville & TikTok For Making New Country Artists “Soft”

Nobody required to pay their dues anymore.

We’ve talked quite a bit here about the impact that TikTok and social media has had on the landscape of country music. Not so long ago, artists were forced to grind it out playing smoky bars and honky tonks in order to build up a following before finally landing a record deal and making a name for themselves – and the the hard work really began.

But these days, labels are signing artists simply because they come with a million followers on TikTok, regardless of whether they’ve ever played a live show or even have anybody who would show up to see them play. I could name quite a few artists who blew up on TikTok and signed a record deal, and then they struggled to sell tickets to their live shows because…well, TikTok doesn’t equal actual fame.

The point is, a lot of times you get artists who never had to go through the grind before being given a record label. And according to Cody Jinks (and many others), that’s a problem.

Jinks recently discussed the issue during an appearance on the Like A Farmer Podcast, and he didn’t hold back when it comes to Nashville record labels:

“I’m old enough to say it now. God, it’s soft. It’s soft right now. It’s so soft and weak and fragile and emotional…

If somebody walked up to me and was like, ‘Oh hey dude, Cody Jinks. Yeah dude, he’s that bad-ss guy that made it on TikTok.’ Johnny Cash didn’t make it on no d-mn TikTok. TikTok my a-s…

My a-s was, get in the van and go. We cut our teeth driving around the country. I didn’t learn to play in front of 500, 5,000 or 50,000 people… I can tell you, there was one time in Madison, Wisconsin that we had as many people in the crowd as we did in the band. And we had a four piece.

That’s where I came from. We earned every single bit of it.”

Cody made it clear that he wasn’t blaming the artists who were benefiting from it, but instead his criticism was with the labels who aren’t pushing artists who have cut their chops on the road and are instead getting crowds from TikTok or given spots on major tours with built-in audiences to hone their craft:

“This isn’t against anybody. The record labels have made it this way, so the artists have to follow suit because there’s nothing else the artist can do. Everybody’s hamstrung in this business. The labels have made it this way. The labels have just taken all of the balls, just completely neutered country music.”

He was, however, quick to share who he thought was doing it the right way:

“My old Texas buddy CoJo. That guy gets sh-t on on the awards shows. Even I know that. I know how rigged it is. Cody d-mn well does…

Give me one good reason Cody Johnson’s not Entertainer of the Year. I’m not even in this stupid f-cking Nashville game and I can’t give you reason why Cody Johnson is not… And that’s nothing against Lainey or anybody else, I’m not here talking sh-t on anybody but the record labels and what they’ve done to country music, not the artists.”

But in what may come as a surprise, Cody also had some praise for one of the biggest artists in Nashville right now – because he doesn’t care about the awards or playing the game:

“You know who doesn’t give a sh-t about them and does that [gives the middle finger] to everything they tell him, is Morgan Wallen. I think the guy’s funny. He’s got it figured out.

Morgan, you beat the system sir. Great job buddy.”

Of course Cody is far from the only artists who spoken out on this in the past. But it’s refreshing whenever artists aren’t afraid to say what everybody’s thinking when they see yet another TikTok artist signing a record deal.

The post “Labels Have Completely Neutered Country Music” – Cody Jinks Blasts Nashville & TikTok For Making New Country Artists “Soft” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.