
Why Country Music is Topping Charts and Filling Arenas Country has exploded in popularity as new artists-and fans-flood in.
By
Alexander Gelfand
December 10, 2024
Illustration by Calef Brown
Country music is having a moment.
Country artists regularly top the Billboard Top 100 chart, which tracks the most popular songs in the US. The genre is the fastest growing in America, and 2023 was its best year ever, according to entertainment data firm Luminate. Pop stars like Post Malone and Lana Del Ray have been rushing to put out country albums. And global interest in country has been surging, with listenership rocketing in Germany and the UK, and festivals from Sydney to Stockholm attracting both homegrown and American talent.
I have been mind-blown by the European country fans. That, to me, is where I can say, Dang, that is crazy,' singer-songwriter Catie Offerman BM '13-who has played the Highways Festival at London's Royal Albert Hall and the C2C Festival, Europe's largest country event-says of the genre's rising popularity.
Catie Offerman BM '13
Image by David McClister
It's become cool, says Bob Stanton, a guitarist and associate professor at Berklee. In recent years, Stanton has seen growing numbers of students enroll in his country music class, through which generations of players-including guitarist Clay Cook '98 of the Zac Brown Band and Americana luminaries Gillian Welch PDM '92 and David Rawlings BM '92-have already passed.
The changing demographics of country musicians and fans, as well as the broadening of the genre, is driving this surge.
Much of the current demand is coming from Millennial and Gen Z listeners; and there are signs that the country music industry, which has historically sidelined women, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community, is becoming more inclusive. This year's AmericanaFest in Nashville featured a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, along with OUTLaw Queer Country, a showcase for queer country performers.
Associate Professor Bob Stanton
Image by Lisa Stanton
I don't know how long it's going to take for there to be true acceptance. But I know it's getting better, says singer-songwriter Andrei Garthoff BM '13, whose experience as an Asian American country artist has veered from having hostile encounters with the KKK to playing AmericanaFest and the first Asian and Pacific Islanders Night at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena. (Though he sees definite signs of improvement, Garthoff continues to encounter industry professionals who don't quite know what to make of an Asian American country artist; and he is now considering leveraging country's growing international appeal to build a following in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and mainland China to help garner industry support back in the US.)
At the same time, country's sonic palette is expanding, with more artists fusing traditional country elements with the sounds of contemporary rock, pop, and R&B-and breaking records in the process.
This year, Beyonc became the first Black female artist to top Billboard's country album chart with the wildly eclectic Cowboy Carter, which threw everything from Patsy Cline to Chicano rock into the mix. And the Nigerian American artist Shaboozey made history by simultaneously dominating all the major radio-airplay charts-including country, pop, and rhythmic, which tracks hip-hop and dance music-with the country-meets-hip-hop track A Bar Song (Tipsy), based on the 2001 song Tipsy by rapper J-Kwon.
Country has experienced spikes in popularity before, with artists such as Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, and Taylor Swift achieving mainstream success by appealing to broad popular tastes. Today, however, the entire genre seems poised to achieve newfound cultural prominence as it reinvents itself along multiple axes.
So what exactly is behind the rise of country music? And what does it mean for the future of the genre?
Andrei Garthoff BM '13
Image by Michael J. Patton
No BordersMembers of the Berklee community play many roles in the contemporary country scene, from performers and songwriters to producers and coaches.
Many say that the current ascendance of country music has as much to do with musical and technological trends as it does with country's traditional strengths. And as several point out, some of what appears to be new-namely, country's recent embrace of Black artists and contemporary R&B-has deep roots.
The people who invented country music were Black, says Stanton, referring to the many pioneering Black artists who helped develop the genre's musical repertoire and techniques in the 1920s and 1930s.
Indeed, what we now call country (and what record executives in the 1920s called hillbilly music ) emerged from a stew of African American and European American music that included English ballads, Appalachian string band tunes, spirituals, and the blues. Even the banjo, that quintessential early-country instrument, can be traced to West Africa.
Over time, country continued to draw on a range of sounds, from big-band swing to Mexican ranchera music, orchestral pop to arena rock, all while retaining an emphasis on narrative storytelling and relatable themes like heartbreak and loss.
Country music is storytelling, says Amanda Williams BM '99, a second-generation Nashville tunesmith (her late father, Kim Williams, is in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame) who provides coaching and career counseling to aspiring country songwriters through her Songpreneurs program.
According to Associate Professor Joel Schwindt, a musicologist at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee who is writing a book about authenticity in country music, there has long been a tension between the country community's desire to maintain a distinct musical identity apart from ma
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
04/06/2026
St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...
03/06/2026
SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...
03/06/2026
The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...
03/06/2026
RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations.
P...
03/06/2026
Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...
03/06/2026
Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies have announced a multi-year extension of their partnership, with Wasabi continuing as the club's official cloud storage...
03/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP as part of the relocation of its n...
03/06/2026
The Riedel Group has announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 201...
03/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the deployment of its intercom solutions at Itaka Arena ...
03/06/2026
Scott Coker has announced six senior executive appointments for his new global MMA promotion, which launched earlier this year with $60 million in financing. Ad...
03/06/2026
Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the FIFA World Cup 2026, has announced its digital and social media programming for the tournament, running Ju...
03/06/2026
The Bundesliga has announced the launch of Captain, an AI assistant built into t...
03/06/2026
Anthony James Partners (AJP) is serving as technology consultant for a moderniza...
03/06/2026
Audio-Technica has announced the recipients of its annual sales rep firm awards for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The awards were presented by Jim Schanz, Executive ...
03/06/2026
iodyne will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 alongside RED Digital Cinema and Adob...
03/06/2026
The broadcaster will deploy 39 cameras for game coverage, six cameras for studio...
03/06/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is providing a great opportunity for not only Fox Sports...
03/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p compatible PTZ Auto Framing camera that uses Sony's proprietary AI to automatically recognize and tra...
03/06/2026
Game Creek Video's Flagship A, B, C, and D unit will wind up its first year ...
03/06/2026
According to Caretta Research, the sports-rights market may be hitting the brake...
03/06/2026
Retrieval still courtesy of Tribeca.
By Jessica Herndon
This year, the Tribeca...
03/06/2026
Step sequencer-style panning tool revealed
Alongside their flagship self-titled sound-design platform, Sound Particles offer an array of creative effects an...
03/06/2026
Now features full H90 algorithm library
Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...
03/06/2026
Significant discount available until 1 October 2026
Aim Audio have just announced a promotion that sees a significant discount applied to their Essence micr...
03/06/2026
Clarification: SBS's position on definitions of antisemitism
3 June, 2026
Media releases
Statement by Mandi Wicks, SBS Director of News and Current Aff...
03/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to supply CERTIUM advanced communications system to Memmingen Ai...
03/06/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
For more than three decades, Re-recording Mixer Andrew Wilson, AMPS, CAS, has helped bring the natural world to the screen with exceptional audio enjoyed by mil...
03/06/2026
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will showcase its latest innovations for modern AV production environments at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N...
03/06/2026
DPA Microphones will present a comprehensive portfolio of integrated audio solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of today's professional AV environm...
03/06/2026
Lightware announces the GVN-HC-TX220AP, a new transmitter in the Gemini GVN 1G AV-over-IP family that introduces full-featured USB-C for professional 1Gb AV-ove...
03/06/2026
Evergent, the customer management and monetization leader for streaming and digital subscription businesses, and Minno, the global leader in faith-based content...
03/06/2026
Alfalite, Europe's only LED display manufacturer, has completed a new broadcast installation with the deployment of two UHD Finepix 1.5 MATIX AlfaCOB LED di...
03/06/2026
Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is completing a contract to build eight...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...