Decryption | The momentum of country music

The least we can say is that the stars were in favor of launching a festival like Lasso, back at Parc Jean-Drapeau for the third time. Country music is not only on the rise, it has enjoyed unparalleled popularity over the past five years. It owes this momentum to Generation Z. Here’s a breakdown of this global popularity.

Beyoncé does her first rodeo

In March, Beyoncé released her first album inspired by country music. Cowboy Carter still stands out as the musical event of the year. Its release sparked a major discussion about the contribution of black people to the birth of country music, a genre historically associated with white Americans, and about racism. Cowboy Carter also made history: it generated 281 million streams in the week of its release – a record.

Migration

One factor behind country music’s surge in popularity is the genre’s late embrace of streaming music platforms. For a long time, its audiences stuck to traditional channels like buying albums and listening to genre-specific radio stations, which are plentiful in the United States. The migration of country fans to Spotify and the like, where listener preferences are easily measurable, has highlighted the genre’s immense popularity. Even here in Quebec, where no major radio station played country music until very recently. Having access to this information was instrumental in setting up the Lasso festival, producer evenko confirmed to The Press in 2022.

Read “Lasso Festival: a new showcase for a renewed country”

10/20

No less than half of the top 20 songs in the United States on Spotify were country songs at the time of writing. Three were by Zach Bryan (28, Pink Skies And I Remember Everythingfeaturing Kacey Musgraves), while Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen and Post Malone each appeared, alone or in tandem, on six other of these ten songs. On the Billboard website, the top 20 The most listened to albums ranking also leaves a large place for country… besides the endless presence of Taylor Swift.

Check out the Billboard 200 albums chart (in English)

#countrytok

Interest from millennials and millennials is also pushing country music upward. Many young TikTok users are using songs from this genre in their posts, and the hashtag #countrytok has nearly 1 billion views.

Check out the hashtag #countrytok on TikTok

Country turn

Beyoncé isn’t the only one making a country shift; here are three other stars who are flirting with this musical genre.

Post Malone

Post Malone’s country album has been in the works for some time now. He’s been making a big splash in recent months with collaborations, including duets with two of the genre’s biggest names: Morgan Wallen, Blake Shelton and Luke Combs. F1 Trillion was released on Friday.

Lana Del Rey

“The music industry is going country,” Lana Del Rey said after the recent Grammy Awards. “I knew it, I said it, this is what’s happening. And that’s why Jack [Antonoff, son collaborateur] followed me to Muscle Shoals, Nashville, Mississippi for the past four years.” Those words, picked up by many media outlets since last winter, announced the release of a country album – or at least country-influenced – called Lasso (yes, like the name of the Montreal festival) to be released in September.

Dua Lipa

No, Dua Lipa hasn’t announced a country turn. But, in proof that country music is no longer taboo even for pop stars usually busy rocking dance floors, she sang a duet in May with an immensely respected Nashville artist, Chris Stapleton.

Sources: Luminate, Capital News Service, Newsweek, Billboard

The Lasso festival ends this evening, Saturday August 17, at Parc Jean-Drapeau.

Visit the Lasso Festival website