Amazon Music Aims Country Heat Playlist Toward Global Listeners

Amazon Music has launched a country music playlist aimed at markets outside the United States. Amazon’s Country Heat playlist is available now, for the first time, in more than 35 countries around the world.

The curated playlist features a mix of new and established country artists. To celebrate the launch of the playlist, Brett Young recorded his own version of the Leonard Cohen classic “Hallelujah,” which he has frequently played as an encore to close his live shows. The newly-recorded track is streaming exclusively as an Amazon Original for fans of the Country Heat playlist.

“Country Heat represents the biggest and best in country music right now, and launching this playlist around the world is a great way to super-serve the country fans on Amazon Music and provide them with a weekly destination for the best in country music, while providing a massive look for some artists that might not yet have a presence outside of the US,” said Emily Cohen, country music curator for Amazon Music. “Amazon Music offers thousands of playlists in every territory, and it’s amazing to add Country Heat to our programming roster globally.”

Country Heat is now available to stream via the Amazon Music app for iOS and Android, or at amazon.com/countryheat. Listeners can also access Country Heat on Alexa-enabled devices where available by simply asking, “Alexa, play Country Heat.”

The timing of the new playlist launch is apt, given that country music labels, managers, promoters and agents are pushing for more international opportunities for their artists in areas such as the U.K. and Australia. Last year marked the first Country Music Week in the U.K., following the success of the Country To Country (C2C) festival, which AEG launched in 2013. CMW will return for a second year in October, with headlining concerts from Kacey Musgraves, Darius Rucker, and Drake White. The C2C festival will return next year, running from March 8-10, 2019. Meanwhile, numerous artists have used the newfound visibility gained from the festival and CMW to book a run of shows.