Big Machine Label Group's UK's Alex Hannaby is targeting a Glastonbury headline slot for a country music artist as part of her long-term goals for the genre in the UK.
Hannaby joined the country staple from Universal Music Group after being hired by Big Machine founder Scott Borchetta to head up the label's UK operation 10 years ago. She also serves as the firm's VP, international marketing & operations.
"Right from day one, part of the remit when we created Big Machine UK was to grow country music in the UK," Hannaby told Karen Bliss in the September issue of Music Week. "We’re very lucky that the CMA [Country Music Association] have a taskforce here that works together to get things done. We meet regularly, we lobby TV and radio stations, festivals and we create plans on how we can use the stats from all of us to try and help grow it. I definitely pride myself on being someone that’s at the forefront of that.”
The Big Machine roster is currently making waves felt on the UK live scene, including Midland, who are headlining this month's Long Road Festival, where Mackenzie Carpenter is also due to play, and Riley Green, who begins a sold out UK tour in September.
Elsewhere, Carly Pearce is on The Opry 100 bill at the Royal Albert Hall and Brett Young is also preparing for a run of headline dates.
“Originally, the main thing to do was festivals," said Hannaby. "C2C is another marker that changed the landscape of country music in the UK; it’s run by AEG [Europe] and SJM [Concerts] and they do tours on the back of that. So now we have three very key festivals, with Highways at Royal Albert Hall and the Long Road Festival, and they each are these points for artists to come in.
"But we’ve seen a real change in the last year or two with touring. A lot of artists are able to come and tour because the demand for tickets is there. We’ve just had Jackson Dean in. We’ve got Riley Green’s tour in September and it was one of the most exciting ones to work on; three dates sold out in minutes. The buzz is sometimes even higher than we think it will be.”
We have a lot of artists that are doing more tickets in the UK than they are in the US, even though they’re quite successful in America still
Alex Hannaby
Country superstar Zach Bryan sold 130,000 tickets across two nights at BST Hyde Park this summer, building on the success of Morgan Wallen's groundbreaking sold out show at the London concert series in 2024. And Hannaby is convinced that is just the start.
“I don’t think we have anyone that has sold out Wembley Stadium yet, but I think we will do in the next year or two," she said. "We have many coming in. There’s BST in Hyde Park, multiple dates every year and that’s to 60,000 people. Last year, for the first time, Morgan Wallen came and sold that out and we had Riley Green open. That was an incredible experience. Zach Bryan sold out two dates of it this year. So, those artists are coming in. Post Malone and Luke Combs, too.
"But it’s also on the next step down. We have a lot of artists that are doing more tickets in the UK than they are in the US, even though they’re quite successful in America still. Carly Pearce is a great example, we’ve really embraced her here. Kacey Musgraves is another one.”
Hannaby also spearheaded the launch of a new UK country radio airplay chart in March 2024, which is a collaborative effort between Radiomonitor and the CMA UK Task Force.
“I came up with the idea to create the country radio chart,” she said. “It’s not just to benefit Big Machine and our artists; it’s about how can we grow the genre as a whole.
"It’s been the pinnacle of pulling everyone together, the work that we’ve done over the last eight, nine years. We had our first year of it complete in March this year. Everyone’s using it.”
I would love to see someone headline Glastonbury as a country artist, and for it almost not to be commented on
Alex Hannaby
Meanwhile, Hannaby reflected on Beyoncé’s impact on country with her 2024 album Cowboy Carter.
“Beyoncé is incredible, I love that album," she said. "What she was trying to do with it is very clear and it’s a real work of art that stands on its own. And she produced a great single [Texas Hold ’Em] that did incredibly well, as it should have. It’s one of the great country songs to come out for a long time and very addictive.
"Post Malone is similar. Both of them, their roots are country in so many different ways. There’s a lot of core country at the heart of a lot of pop artists and it’s coming out more now that it’s more popular. Anything that brings people to country is great in my book.”
Looking ahead, Hannaby would like to see country music "more embraced within these systems that we already have", including a dedicated section at the BRIT Awards.
"One of my dreams would be – almost ironically, since we just created the country radio chart – that in 10 years’ time it’s not even as much of a conversation, that it’s just like, ‘This is music’, and it’s accepted and it’s normal," she added. "I would love to see someone headline Glastonbury as a country artist, and for it almost not to be commented on. That would probably be my long-term goal. I’m not sure we’re 10 years away from that...”
Subscribers can read the full interview with Hannaby here.
