BBC Business Daily Podcast: ‘How Country Music Became Cool’ with LN SVP Milly Olykan
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Milly Olykan, SVP of Artist Development & Global Touring at Live Nation, spoke with BBC Business Daily about the explosive global growth of country music and rising fan demand worldwide
Australia has emerged as a breakout market, with country music ticket sales up 746% since 2019
Country’s global expansion is accelerating, as fans increasingly want international tours and major festival bookings
Milly Olykan, SVP of Artist Development & Global Touring at Live Nation, joined the BBC Business Daily podcast to discuss the explosive global growth of country music—and why demand for the genre is reaching new highs around the world.
During the conversation, Olykan pointed to Australia as a key market in the genre’s international expansion, highlighting how touring economics and fan demand aligned to create a breakthrough moment.
“In Australia…we reached a point where artists, for the first time, could travel, could get paid enough to do it, could see their fans, and could see the opportunity to build an audience internationally. We hit almost a snowball moment at the beginning of 2024.”
The numbers underscore that momentum.
“It sounds like a crazy statistic, but since 2019, we’ve seen 746% growth in country music ticket sales in Australia.”
And Olykan believes the global rise of country is just getting started.
“We’re really only at the beginning. I see huge opportunities in markets like Mexico and Brazil.”
That optimism is backed by fan data. According to a Live Nation study:
- 89% of fans say country music feels more international than ever, and attendance at country shows has doubled since 2019.
- Additionally, 90% of fans want to see country acts tour globally, and 89% want to see them featured on major festival lineups.
Listen to the full conversation on BBC Business Daily’s episode, “How Country Music Became Cool,” available on all major podcast platforms.