About NCN
The next voice in country music is
already playing somewhere
The Nashville Country Network exists to find them first — and to tell the story properly when we do. Real country. Real stories. Real Nashville.
Our story
Thirty-five years of listening first
NCN did not start as a website. It started as a record box — the one that showed up at country radio stations every month for more than three decades, carrying songs from artists nobody had heard of yet.
That was CDX Nashville, the oldest independent radio delivery platform in country music. Along the way it became the place programmers looked when they wanted something that was not already on every chart. A lot of careers started inside that box.
The music always found its way in. What kept getting lost was the story behind it.
The Nashville Country Network is the answer to that. Same ears, same relationships, same refusal to take money for coverage — pointed now at the writing, the reporting and the interviews an artist deserves when their song finally connects.
We are based in Nashville because that is where the rooms are. Every word is written by people who have been in them.
By the numbers
Not a new arrival
What we stand for
Three words, and what they cost us
Our tagline is not decoration. Each word rules something out.
Real Country
We cover the genre as it actually sounds right now — traditional, outlaw, Americana-adjacent, Texas, bluegrass-leaning. What we will not do is pretend a song is country because the marketing says so.
Real Stories
No rewritten press releases. If we publish a profile, someone sat down with the artist. If we publish a review, someone listened to the record end to end, twice.
Real Nashville
The version with the day jobs, the co-writes that go nowhere and the nine-year overnight successes — not the postcard. That is the city we actually work in.
Editorial policy
You cannot buy a word on this site
Plenty of country blogs will sell you a feature. We think you should know exactly where we stand before you pitch us — so here it is, in public, permanently.
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No pay-to-playWe do not accept payment, gifts or favours in exchange for coverage, placement or a better review. Not once, not for anyone.
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Advertising is labelledSponsors can buy ad space. They cannot buy editorial. Anything paid is marked as such, clearly, where you will actually see it.
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Conflicts get disclosedWe run a label, a promotion company and an agency. When we write about an artist connected to any of them, we say so in the piece.
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Everyone gets listened toEvery submission is heard by a human being. Most will not get covered — but none of them get ignored because of who is or is not attached.
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We correct in the openWhen we get something wrong we fix it on the page and note what changed. No quiet edits.
Meet the team
Bylines need faces
The people who decide what runs, and who answer when you write in.
Joe Kelly
Founder & Editor-in-ChiefThirty-five years in country radio delivery, label operations and artist development. Reads every submission that comes through the door.
Name to come
Managing EditorRuns the weekly schedule, edits every feature, and is the reason the Friday newsletter goes out on Friday.
Name to come
Creative ServicesPhotography, sessions and everything you see. Shoots most of the artist portraits on this site.
Name to come
New Artist AdvisorFirst listen on submissions. If your record made it to a feature, it got past this desk first.
The network
What stands behind the reporting
NCN is the editorial arm of a family of companies that has worked every side of this business. That is why we disclose conflicts — and why we know who to call.
CDX Nashville
The oldest independent radio delivery platform in country music. Gets new music into the hands of programmers every month.
LabelCDX Records
An independent country label distributed through Sony Orchard. Signs artists on the songs, not the following.
AirplayCDX TRACtion
The airplay tracking platform artists and labels use to see where a single is actually spinning, week to week.
RadioTriumph Promotion
Radio promotion for independent artists — the unglamorous, relationship-driven work of getting a record added.
PressTriumph Publicity
Publicity and media relations for artists who have something worth saying and need someone to place it.
BookingThe Joseph Henry Agency
Booking and career management, built around long careers rather than one good year.
For artists & labels
Send us your record
A private stream, one paragraph on the story, and a photo. Our editors listen within ten business days and you will hear from a real person either way.
For brands & partners
Advertise with NCN
Reach country programmers, independent artists and the people who actually buy the records. Rate card and audience figures on request.