Aaron Watson doesn’t sugar-coat anything. The Texas country legend stopped by the podcast to talk about coming up in the Texas music scene and how that shaped his perspective of country music and the Nashville machine, dealing with record executives, being self-sufficient and taking a unique approach to his career, current country music beefs, how he started his tailgate talks on social media and the success that the videos have had online, playing the American Rodeo alongside Post Malone and what that experience was like and so much more. As a proud, independent artist, Aaron Watson has always had the mindset that he can make it on his own. He does things how he wants to, and doesn’t ever let a record label tell him what he can or cannot do. In fact, he told us that the only thing he’ll let record executives do is motivate him to put out more, incredible music: “I’ve had a couple of very well-known record executive guys in the last year tell me that I’m not relevant anymore. So that kind of lit a fire under me where I’m like, ‘Oh, (my next album) Horse Named Texas is going to be one of the best albums in country music next year.’ I’m so content and happy with where my career is at. I don’t measure myself off awards and hits. But if you want to challenge me, let’s go.” @whiskeyriff “If you want to challenge me… Let’s go.” // Check out the latest Whiskey Riff Raff episode with @Aaron Watson! Available now on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. #whiskeyriff #whiskeyriffraff #aaronwatson ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff And to be clear, Aaron Watson doesn’t hate all record executives and the big wigs behind the record labels. The Texas native simply doesn’t care for how they treat artists, especially those that are up-and-coming. Later on in the interview, Watson explained how he’s been able to be a bit of a mentor lately, and that he’s been bewildered by some of the record deals that executives are offering young artists: “I won’t name names, but I’ve had a couple of kids come to me and have me look at their record deals they’ve been offered from major labels, and I’m like, ‘I would use this as toilet paper. This is just a bad loan. And they’re not gonna push a single to radio until you get 50 million streams?’ How do you get to 50 million streams?” Aaron Watson went on to voice his displeasure with the “minimum streaming” qualifiers, and explain how that doesn’t really make sense – or help out the artist that’s trying to make it. The country singer simplified things with an investing metaphor, and called out the record executives for being obsessed with numbers rather than trying to seek out and discover raw talent: “I look at some of the number one songs on country radio and they don’t have 50 million streams. But yet these kids are expected to have 50 million streams before a label will invest in them? Well that’s the equivalent of a small, mom and pop coffee shop… there’s a successful little shop and they want to franchise. So they go to an investor and they say, ‘Hey, we think we have something.’ That’s the equivalent of the investor saying, ‘Well, franchise your store, make it blow up, and after you are the most popular coffee shop, come to us and then we’ll invest in you.’ Once upon a time, people invested in young artists because they saw the ability (and potential).” They sure did… and I suppose we can file that under “things that used to make more sense back in the day.” At least we’ve got artists like Aaron Watson out there that aren’t afraid to call out how things are, and explain how they ought to be. You can hear more from the “July In Cheyenne” singer by downloading the podcast on Apple Podcasts by searching “Whiskey Riff Raff” or click here. We’re also available on Spotify and wherever else you can listen to podcasts. Cheers, y’all. Audio The post Aaron Watson Calls Record Label Contracts That Require An Artist To Get 50 Million Streams “Toilet Paper” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.