“Spotify shines brightest during CMA Fest, and, in 2024, we brought Spotify House back to Nashville for its fifth year,” Foisset says of the Music City gathering that attracted an estimated 90,000 country music fans daily last year. Over three days, Spotify House hosted more than 20 performances each day and featured superstars Jelly Roll, Post Malone, Shaboozey, Dasha, Thomas Rhett and Keith Urban. “We also gave rising stars like Zach Top and Vincent Mason their Spotify House debuts on our Fresh Finds Rooftop,” he adds. “We’re already counting down to what’s next this June.” Beyond CMA Fest, Spotify created unforgettable moments through experiential events with artists like Lainey Wilson and Kelsea Ballerini, as well as campaigns like The Year of the Cowgirl and intimate hometown shows with its Homegrown series.

“It’s Kenny Rogers’ version of ‘The Gambler,’ ” Foisset says.

At a time when global relations seem especially strained, YouTube brought five country artists — Kane Brown, Jelly Roll, Grace Bowers, BRELAND and Lainey Wilson — into a partnership with the U.S. Department of State called Global Music Diplomacy. “This program focused on demonstrating the power of music as a tool for connection and fostering cultural understanding around the world,” Hart says. For the partnership, Jelly Roll spoke to patients and staff at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, while Brown spent time with local homeless teens in Perth, Australia, during his tour in the region.

“I would love to see country artists continue to innovate in visual storytelling,” Hart says. “The success of many superstars past and present has been the result of world-building — creating not just an album, but a full visual narrative across the music, videos, short-form content and social posts that connect to merch and the live show.”

Bannen says that when Apple Music launched Apple Music Country five years ago, “I was inspired by the way Apple Music was prioritizing live radio in an almost countercultural manner. We believe in the power of engaging with music lovers in real time and creating real daily moments of connection around our favorite music.” The success of Apple Music Country led to the launch of three global stations — Apple Música Uno, Apple Music Club and Apple Music Chill — in December 2024, which Bannen says she hopes “meet global audiences in the same way and with the same passion.” With Apple Music Country and the other new offerings, Bannen stresses that “human curation [remains] at the heart of our editorial approach and everything we do.”

“ ‘Crazy’ by Patsy Cline,” Bannen says.

Over the last year, Tigard Kammerer and her team rethought how country music appears on Amazon Music. Rather than adhere to predictable tradition, curator Cohen Belote turned the Bonfire playlist into an expansive meditation on the genre. “It’s a unique, mood-based playlist where artists like Noah Kahan and Jelly Roll rub elbows with Lana Del Rey and boygenius,” Tigard Kammerer says. “It sounds like nothing else on our service, and ever since its launch, it’s built an impressive, steadily growing audience.” The brand has extended to other aspects of the platform, such as a Bonfire event featuring Jelly Roll during Amazon Music Live for Country Music Month.

“Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ is the best country song of all time,” Tigard Kammerer says.