For quite some years now, country music has been making waves with its streaming success. Superstars like Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, and Zach Bryan have played a significant role in transforming country into the hottest genre in music. This dominance was clearly reflected on the charts this year.

Chart Performance: A Steady Ascent

By the first week of December, country albums claimed an impressive 34 spots among the Top 200 best-selling albums of the year, as per data from Luminate. This marks a remarkable 30 percent increase from the previous year when 25 albums made the list. It's even more significant as it shows a 79 percent bump from 2022 when only 19 country albums were in the Top 200. While country still came in third behind hip-hop and pop this year, with rap taking 55 spots and pop taking 41, rap saw a 19 percent drop from last year, and pop remained stagnant.

Album Streaming Success

This year, eleven different country albums garnered at least a billion streams, an increase from nine the previous year and five in 2022. The genre's popularity has attracted the rest of the music business as well. Coastal labels are signing upcoming artists from Nashville. Post Malone and Beyoncé both made country pivots this year with F-1 Trillion and Cowboy Carter. These albums were the fourth and fifth best-selling country albums of the year respectively and are up for Best Country Album at the upcoming Grammys along with more traditional country stars like Kacey Musgraves, Lainey Wilson, and Chris Stapleton. Malone's F-1 Trillion, in particular, represents a rebound as his 2023 album Austin performed poorly compared to his usual chart-toppers, finishing last year with about 666 million streams. But F-1 Trillion doubled that, garnering 1.706 billion streams, and its lead single "I Had Some Help" featuring Wallen became one of the biggest songs of the year.

Pop Stars and Country Albums in 2025

More country albums from pop stars are set to release in 2025. Lana Del Rey's The Right Person Will Stay is coming out in May and she will be promoting it at Stagecoach in April. This shows the continued influence and popularity of country music.

Singles Domination

Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" tied the record for the most time at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 chart last week, staying at Number One for 19 consecutive weeks. It is now tied with Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," a fellow country smash (or at least country-adjacent). Wallen's "Last Night" is at third place after spending 16 non-consecutive weeks at Number One last year.

Insights from Critics and Insiders

The rise of country music has been a topic of discussion among critics. Some have pondered if it was a foreshadowing of the changing political landscape in the US with Trump's reelection to the presidency. Country insiders who spoke to Rolling Stone last year attributed the growth to older country fans embracing streaming since the pandemic and streaming platforms bringing forward a new crop of stars who found strong fanbases outside of the traditional country radio system. Mandelyn Monchick, who manages Lainey Wilson, told Rolling Stone last year, "It's inevitable. It's about accessibility, and streaming is most accessible. Country is cooler than it's ever been and more people depend on streaming platforms, but people's tastes are changing and broadening."