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Luminate: Genres, Eras Rule Streaming In 2024.

Writer's picture: Inside Audio MarketingInside Audio Marketing

What can consumer on-demand audio streaming trends tell radio programmers? Potentially a lot, based on data shared in Luminate’s Year-End Music Report for 2024.


As usual, songs released in the most recent year dominated total on-demand audio streams in the U.S. in 2024, with total streams mostly declining steadily for earlier years. Luminate notes that songs released in 2010 or later account for 79.5% of U.S. on-demand streams, nearly half of those (49.6%) from the 2020s, and 29.9% from the 2010s. Shares drop sharply for earlier decades, with 10.4% of streams from the 2000s, 4.7% from the 1990s, 2.2% from the ’80s, 1.8% from the ’70s, and 1.4% from the ’60s or earlier.


Luminate’s breakdown of current-vs.-catalog composition by genre shows rock with the largest share of on-demand streaming of deep catalog titles, where nearly three-fourths of its streams are of music released five years ago and older, compared to close to half for total industry streams. While no other genre touches rock in this regard, nearly half of pop and R&B/hip-hop streams are also deep catalog. World music, Latin, and country boast the highest shares of current (18 months old or newer) titles streamed, all in the 30% range.


Pop was the fastest-growing genre in 2024, ahead of rock and Latin, with country and Christian/gospel fourth and fifth. Driving pop’s growth were acts who all made noise at CHR and hot AC last year: Taylor Swift leads Luminate’s top 10, followed by Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Ariana Grande, and Olivia Rodrigo. Four of the top 10 were breakout artists in 2024, with Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Benson Boone, and Teddy Swims all making the cut.


The power of female artists stands out in Luminate’s rankings. They account for seven of Pop’s top 10 — Tate McRae, the seventh — giving them an 85.6% share of streams from the acts ranked among those 10. On down to the top 100, females still dominate, with 13 of the top 20 and a 78.3% share of top 20 artist streams, 27 of the top 50 and 69.5%, and 47 of the top 100 and 63.4%.


R&B/hip-hop was the only genre to pass 300 billion streams in 2024, while rock was the only other genre to hit 200 billion. Pop, country, and Latin — ranked third, fourth and fifth in total U.S. on-demand audio streams, all logged 100 billion or more. While R&B/hip-hop’s 300 billion+ streams translate to more than one in every four U.S. streams from the genre, its overall on-demand audio share is down 2.3 points since 2023.


Leading the most streamed songs of 2024 is Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” at 1.038 billion, followed by the only other song to pass the billion mark, Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Rounding out the top five are Boone’s “Beautiful Things,” Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen’s “I Had Some Help,” and Swims’ “Lose Control,” which leads U.S. top radio songs with 3.3 billion audience impressions. The rest of radio’s top five are “Bar Song,” “Help,” “Beautiful,” and Hozier’s “Too Sweet.”


Stations in Boston, San Antonio, Phoenix and Kansas City should note that on-demand audio streaming activity increased the most since 2023 in these markets, according to Luminate. The rest of the top 10 markets gaining the most share of total streams includes Philadelphia, Oklahoma City, New York, Columbus, OH, Charlotte, NC, and Orlando, FL. Taking the entire U.S. into account, Latin and country are the genres growing the most in share of streams at the metro level.

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