River city streaming: Brisbane really is a big country (music) town

To nobody’s surprise, Taylor Swift was the most-streamed artist in the world, in Australia, and in every major Australian city in 2024 – including Brisbane.

But a closer look at Spotify Wrapped data reveals some curious local variations, with Brisbane bucking the national trends.

Across Australia, Drake was in every city’s five most streamed artists, and Joe Rogan was the most popular podcaster, with Casefile True Crime, The Diary of a CEO and Call Her Daddy also in every top five for the category.

Brisbane’s top 5 Spotify Wrapped artists: (clockwise from top-right) Taylor Swift, Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan and Drake.Credit: Matthew Absalom-Wong

People also united behind Spotify’s most-played song, Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things, which was number one in Australia and every city, with Noah Kahan’s Stick Season also in every top five.

But while every other major Australian city had Billie Eilish among their most-played artists, and Kanye West was still popular in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, neither made Brisbane’s top five.

In fact, Brisbane would have been all-country if not for Drake, who ranked higher everywhere else.

According to Spotify, the most-played artists in Brisbane in 2024 were Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen, Drake, Zach Bryan and Luke Combs.

Brisbane listeners also had a little more country in their five most-played songs, courtesy of Post Malone’s collaboration with Morgan Wallen on I Had Some Help, which didn’t make the cut in other cities.

Australia has its own rich history of producing country music, says Griffith University sociologist Ben Green, but it’s also had an interest in the North American variety for almost a century.

Next to Tamworth, the Gympie Muster and CMC Rocks at Ipswich are two of the biggest country music festivals in the country, which means many international artists tour the south-east.

“It’s interesting that that’s reflected in Brisbane listening,” Green says.

“Brisbane listeners might be two steps removed from regional listeners where country music is big.”

Green notes that Australian artists did not appear in any city’s top artists or songs, reflecting a sharp drop in numbers of local artists on the ARIA charts since the rise of music streaming platforms.

Amid lingering concerns over the fate of the local live music industry, Green says streaming services could be required to offer up more Australian content.

Morgan Wallen entertains the crowd at CMC Rocks in Ipswich in 2019, drinking a “shoey”.Credit: CMC Rocks

“The technology does exist for streaming services and online music platforms to have some degree of tailoring to local music markets,” he says.

“There are levers that can be pulled.”

As to why country music has found so many fans, Green says this reflects the booming American market, and the broader audience attracted by crossover genres like country pop and country rap.

“Australia can produce artists who appeal here and in international markets,” he said, citing Kasey Chambers as one example.

“But we’re in a time of struggle when it comes to getting our local artists heard.

“The artists who do seem to be sustaining their careers and building audiences are those putting in the grassroots work with lots of touring, and that’s something that country artists do well.”