At the 59th Annual Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, Tennessee, some fans who attended surely went home disappointed as once again the CMA showed that it is refusing to adapt to modern music and the cravings of young listeners.
Morgan Wallen’s combination of trap beats and traditional country sounds and lyrics; Shaboozey’s ability to pound out hits like “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and “Good News”; Post Malone’s transition from rap and pop to a surprise country album with some of the genre’s biggest names; Zach Bryan’s soulful lyrics and simple guitar chord progressions which have captured many hearts; and Beyonce’s 2023 country album have rejuvenated the previously dead genre of country music, which is becoming one of America’s fastest-growing and most popular genres of music.
However, on a night where fans should have been celebrating the commercial success and revival of country music, they were instead given a clear message: the CMA has no intention of embracing these new artists and sounds, and instead are insistent on sticking with what worked for them 30 years ago—good ole’ traditional country.
Consider the Album of the Year and the marquee Entertainer of the Year awards: Lainey Wilson, a singer/songwriter whose sound leans more toward the traditional side of country, won awards over Wallen in both categories, Malone for Album of the Year, and Chris Stapleton and Luke Combs, other country superstars, for Entertainer of the Year. No shade toward Wilson, who has several songs that are on my country playlists, but it doesn’t make much sense to me how she could beat any of the aforementioned artists for album and entertainer of the year.
Wallen, who should have won both awards, released the highly anticipated “I’m the Problem” album during May, and instantly it soared to the top of the charts. The week after the album released, the Billboard Hot 100 Chart for the week of May 24 had five songs from from “I’m the Problem” on the chart, and all three top songs in America the week of May 31 were from the album, with another three in the top ten. “I’m the Problem” topped the Billboard Hot 200 for eight straight weeks, and another four weeks after a quick one week stop. His song “What I Want,” which featured Canadian singer/dancer and pop superstar Tate McRae, held the top spot on the Hot 100 for 14 consecutive weeks. How can the person whose song held the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 consecutive weeks in the summer and whose album was the hottest album in the county for 12 weeks not win Entertainer of the Year? It’s truly befuddling, and again, not to knock on Wilson, but she isn’t reviving the genre of country and attracting millions of new young fans. Unique creators who are willing to change the standards, like Wallen, are.
Granted, these coveted awards aren’t popularity contests and shouldn’t be awarded to the artist with the most streams or albums sold each year. But it’s impossible to ignore the value that these superstars have given to country music. According to the CMA, country music has seen a 9% growth in population over the past five years, with 10+ million listeners in their teen years and 129+ million listeners 18 and above. Wallen, Malone, Bryan and Beyoncé all have over 20 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and Wallen, Malone, Bryan and Shaboozey each have at least one country song with over one billion downloads on Spotify.
The CMA simply refuses to admit that the traditional country music sounds, while still beloved by many (including myself), are dying. In doing this, the CMA is dissuading its artists from producing country records and is responsible for killing the genre. For example, the Atlanta-based rapper Lil Nas X’s 2018 single “Old Town Road” broke the record for most weeks at the top of the Hot 100, and was classified as a country song by Billboard, but later reclassified as hip-hop/trap. Lil Nas X didn’t receive a single CMA nomination, and despite creating one of the most successful songs of the streaming era, the CMA sent him packing because he wasn’t traditional enough. Lil Nas X went on to pursue a career in hip-hop and rap rather than country, which he may have been on track to do if not for the CMA fighting against him.
Beyoncé, whose album “Cowboy Carter” won the Album of the Year award at the 2025 Grammys, didn’t receive a single nomination at the 2024 or 2025 CMA awards shows. Despite having a much more traditional sounding style towards country, some songs on the hefty 27-song album had trap beats and hip-hop style melodies. Shaboozey, whose single “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” tied the record set by Lil Nas X for the most weeks atop the Hot 100 at 19, was nominated for New Artist of the Year twice, and lost both times. He also lost the Single of the Year in 2024, and was not even nominated for any song-specific awards in 2025, despite several songs being repeat nominations from 2024. Zach Bryan has only been nominated for two in his CMAs in his career, neither of which he won.
It’s unclear how a song can be nominated for an award in two different years, yet it happened with “You Look Like You Love Me” by Ella Langley featuring Riley Green, which was nominated and won several awards last year, and won Musical Event of the Year in 2025. If anything, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” should have won multiple awards in multiple years due to the number of plays, and the overall genius of the song.
Some argue that the CMAs were rigged in Wilson’s favor because she was hosting, but I do not think that’s the issue. Some argue the CMA voters are trying to keep black artists out of country music to preserve the image of country and cowboys for white artists only, but I’ve got news: there were black cowboys before white cowboys, so if that’s the reason, it’s a poor one.
I believe that the reason for the falling ratings of the CMA Awards is the association’s stubbornness and refusal to adapt to the streaming era. The music industry is changing, and if country music wishes to survive and appeal to this generation, it needs to learn that artists like Lil Nas X, Morgan Wallen, Beyoncé, Post Malone, Zach Bryan and Shaboozey are helping the genre grow by attracting newer, younger listeners. While artists like Langley, Wilson and Zach Top are all talented artists in their own light, they don’t represent the future of country music like the aforementioned stars do. Country music can’t make the same mistake it did with Lil Nas X to Wallen, Malone, Shaboozey and others, and the CMA needs to embrace the superstars they were gifted instead of turning them away. If the CMA can’t learn to do this, we can expect to watch a slow and preventable death of the legendary genre of country music.
