ITT people claim they don’t know who Garth Brooks is. If selling more records than Elvis and Michael Jackson isn’t enough to gain some recognition on the world’s premiere music site, then what’s a poor country boy to do? 
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…
Who? 
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I totally wasn’t going to go there.
I guess it is a mentality issue. I can recognize the “big” names of any “big” genre from any “big” era. I may not be an authority on them, but I can at least hold the conversation.
It’s not like we are talking about Brantley Gilbert, who is only recognizable today by followers of a current genre but has no history and no future. Nor is it like we are talking about Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Nu Nu by Dicky Doo & The Don’ts, or the cover version by Bad Manners. Garth is a fairly recognizable name.
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I’ve literally never heard the name of Garth Brooks before, honestly. In my life, I’ve heard about I think literally two country artists (from googling him, I understand he’s a country artist), Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton. And I suspect most people my age (30) in Spain haven’t heard of them either, even ones quite into music.
Country as a genre just never features anywhere in Spain, and in my experience in most of Europe 
It’s not a “big” genre for us at all. I also don’t know who are the best selling artists in the history of, say, Chinese or Japanese pop, although I imagine they’ve also sold many millions of records.
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I was very surprised when I saw a clip of Yoshiki playing a Yamaha piano. He was a Kawai guy for years.
As long as they have a name that translates into English, I’m good to go. I don’t even pretend to understand the language, so if they are only known as 林 佳樹, I am screwed.
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I had a teacher in high school (I only had him for a few months because I got kicked out) who constantly drilled into our heads that if you know 2 things about everything, you can talk to anyone about anything.
It’s an interesting concept.
What’s your favourite Discharge album?
Edit: I guess more on topic, could you hold a conversation on different types of EDM?
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THAT is probably the one thing I have little knowledge on. And that is because, as a musician, I have very little respect for someone pushing play on a CD player and calling it a concert.
But, yes, as a piano/keyboard player, I am also very familiar with how to make beats and loops.
I think it’s very easy to claim that you know the “big” names from any “big” genre when you only count the genres that you like/approve of.
Edit: Discharge is a very influential d-beat (punk/metal) band, very different to EDM
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That’s just not true, country is huge! There is even a country program on Radio 3 in Spain, jeje 
I suspect the reason why (younger) people don’t know about Garth Brooks is because he’s not on Spotify. Also, there’s the “Dave Matthews Band” factor, some acts are absolutely YUGE in America, yet relatively obscure in Europe. But again, bigger than Elvis… 
EDIT: For those interested, Toma Uno is a great C&W show on Spanish Radio 3, there’s even some good Spanish country bands featured now and then: Toma uno - Programa de contenido musical en RTVE Play
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That’s a little arrogant, isn’t it? EDM is by no means my favorite genre, but seeing a guy like Deadmau5 work (he’s known to stream his work in the studio) it’s pretty clear that more goes into it than “pressing play”. That said, I guess lazy/less talented musicians exist in most genres.
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Today I learned! 
(it even has a better time slot than the hip hop one!). Still, it’s very much niche music, compared with in the US
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I also recognize the difference between musicians and entertainers. As well as the fact that some of what people consider EDM is more of a techno-pop, sort of a watered down commercial version of EDM.
I think the original post (now split in to another topic) mentioned guys making a 60 minute “album” in 45 minutes. Churning out two or three a day.
Yes, it is arrogant of me to think of a disc jockey on the radio as being on a lesser level than the guy that actually created the music they spin, but I at least recognize that they have their purpose in life. Hell, I work with Ryan Seacrest. He knows I am better than him (and he openly admits it), but where would we be without him. Yet, he’s on a different level than, let’s say, John Smith from the morning drive on WLOCL in Paducah.
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I feel like this explains a lot 
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You’re not Some Lady, are you? (Sorry, I’m a big Bojack fan, hehe
Maybe/probably not your cup of Sangría, but I thought I’d share a pretty nice example of contemporary Spanish country rock/pop:
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Just for the records:
19 other top-selling country acts
http://www.nashcountrydaily.com/2017/01/06/the-20-top-selling-country-acts-of-all-time-whos-bringing-home-the-bacon-and-frying-it-too/
That’s not true, not even close…
Elvis Presley has 223.1 million certified units,
Michael Jackson 185.3 million,
Garth Brooks 156.1 million
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I might recognize the name, but if someone stopped me on the street and asked me if Garth Brooks is an a) musician, b) football player or c) actor I wouldn’t be able to answer. You would think I could have picked it up from my ex who was into square dancing, but no. Country is just too obscure for it to register on my radar. Just like k-pop.
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That’s a nice example, I would definitely not tag it as country music.
I mainly agree with Spanish pop, and maybe rock/folk to a certain extent.
But I lack references about country music, as most Europeans probably do.
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Elements of country in that video include:
The nostagic/“frayed” location.
The liquor bottle and overturned chairs in the opening scene.
The moody approach to imagery.
The distressed woman.
The crackling radio.
The music, with melody and drums all very country - very reminiscent of The Travelling Willberries.
The vocal style of the male - very reminiscent of The Travelling Willberries.
The kicking over of chairs and sweeping of things off the table.
The gun.
The then/now theme.
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