46 Latest Music Streaming Statistics (2024 Usage + Revenue Data)
Looking for the latest music streaming statistics? We’ve got you covered.
In this post, we’ll be sharing 40+ interesting facts and stats about the music streaming industry.
These stats will tell you how many music listeners use streaming services around the world and reveal useful insights about their usage habits and preferences.
We’ll also look at the size and shape of the music streaming market, what the most streamed songs and artists were last year, and lots of other interesting stuff you won’t want to miss.
Music streaming statistics – Editor’s picks
- People streamed music 7.1 trillion times globally last year, and 1.45 trillion times in the US (Luminate)
- Music streaming consumption has grown 4x over the last 6 years (Luminate)
- Over 12.7% of the global population uses music streaming services (Statista1)
- The music streaming market is expected to bring in over $22B in revenue this year (Goldman Sachs1)
- Streaming services account for 67% of global music revenues (IFPI)
- Spotify is the most popular music streaming platform with 30.5% of the market share (Statista2)
- There are over 184 million unique tracks on music streaming platforms (Luminate)
- The average listener streams music for 20.7 hours each week (IFPI2)
General music streaming statistics
First, let’s look at some general music streaming statistics that provide an overview of how just widely used streaming is.
1. Music was streamed around 7.1 trillion times globally last year
This was the total number of on-demand song streams (including both audio and video) recorded by Luminate in 2023. That’s up from 5.3 trillion in 2022—a huge increase of 33.7% year-over-year.
If we only count audio streams and don’t count video streams of music, there was still a whopping 4.1 trillion music streams in 2023, up from 3.4 trillion (+22.3%) from the year before.
Source: Luminate
2. Consumption of music streams has increased more than 4x since 2017
There were around 950 billion global on-demand audio streams in 2017. By 2023, that had risen to 4.1 trillion global on-demand audio streams. That’s an increase of over 400% in just 6 years.
Source: Luminate
3. There will be 1.1 billion music streaming service users by 2027
According to forecasts by Statista, this is the total number of people expected to use music streaming services around the world.
Source: Statista1
4. The global music streaming penetration rate is estimated to be 12.7%
Again, this is according to projections by Statista and represents the percentage of the global population that uses streaming services.
Source: Statista1
5. 32% of listeners mainly use streaming services to access music
Almost a third of those who listen to music mainly do so using streaming services. This makes it the number one channel for music consumption.
Video streaming came second (31%), radio third (17%), purchased music fourth (9%), and other forms of listening fifth (7%).
Source: IFPI2
Music streaming around the world
Next, let’s look at how popular music streaming is in specific countries, and how often music in different languages from around the world is streamed.
6. There were around 1.45 trillion total music streams in the US last year
This makes the US the number one country by music streaming consumption. The 1.5 trillion figure includes both audio (1.2 trillion) and video streams (300 billion) of songs and is up from 1.3 trillion in 2022 (+14.6%).
Source: Luminate
7. There were around 1.04 trillion total music streams in India last year
This makes India the second top country by overall streaming volume. However, it’s number one by year-over-year growth; there were over 463 billion new net streams in India in 2023 compared to 2022.
Source: Luminate
8. There were around 373.5 billion total music streams in Brazil last year
Brazil came third in the list of the top 10 countries by total music streams, and fourth in terms of year-over-year growth.
The rest of the top 10 countries by streaming volume include Mexico (366.5 billion), Indonesia (235.5 billion), Germany (217.6 billion), Japan (209 billion), the UK (204.7 billion), Canada (145.3 billion), and France (136.9 billion).
Source: Luminate
9. English is the most popular music streaming language
As of the end of 2023, 54.9% of the top 10k global tracks by total on-demand streams are English language content. This makes it the most popular music streaming language. However, as we’ll discuss later, the overall trend seems to be shifting away from English language content.
Source: Luminate
10. Spanish is the second most popular music streaming language
Spanish accounts for 10.1% of total on-demand streams, making it the second most popular language to stream music in. Hindi comes third at 7.8%, Korean fourth at 2.4%, and Japanese fifth at 2.1%.
11. Millennials and Gen Z are more likely to stream foreign language music
In the US, these two demographics are more likely to stream music in languages other than their own compared to any other generational demographic. Furthermore, 65% of Millennials say they ‘listen to new music to experience new cultures and perspectives’ and 63% of Gen Z say the same.
Source: Luminate
Music streaming revenue statistics
The stats below reveal more about the global music streaming market and how much revenue it generates.
12. Global music streaming industry revenue is expected to reach $22.35 billion this year…
That’s up from $19.64 billion last year, according to a report by Goldman Sachs.
To put that into perspective, consider the fact that music downloads are expected to bring in just $0.6 billion in global revenues, and physical music sales are expected to bring in just $0.436 billion.
Source: Goldman Sachs1
13. …and is forecast to reach $41.43 billion by 2030
This is according to forecasts from Goldman Sachs research. That’s almost double the amount of revenue it’s expected to generate this year.
Source: Goldman Sachs1
14. Streaming services have an overall share of 67% of global music revenues
According to an IFPI report from 2023, streaming services account for over two-thirds of global music revenues.
To break that down even further, 48.3% of music revenues come from subscription audio streams and 18.7% from ad-supported streams.
In comparison, just 17.5% of global music revenues come from physical sales, and 3.6% from digital downloads.
Source: IFPI
15. Paid streaming subscriptions account for 57.8% of total US music revenues
According to an RIAA report from 2022, streaming subscriptions account for 57.8% of total music revenues in the US specifically.
This is in stark contrast to a couple of decades ago when physical CD sales were by far the leading source of revenue in the US.
Source: RIAA
16. Ad-supported streaming accounts for 11.4% of total US music revenues
This makes it the second-highest revenue source in the music industry in the US. If we combine ad-supported streaming and paid streaming subscriptions, it works out that music streaming accounts for 69.2% of total music revenues in the US—higher than the global average.
Source: RIAA
17. Revenue per stream has fallen by 20% since 2017
While music streaming revenues as a whole are on the rise, that’s thanks to the increase in consumption of music streams—the amount labels/artists earn per stream has actually fallen by 20% since 2017.
Source: Goldman Sachs1
18. The average US listener spends around $11 to $12/month on music streaming services
And average monthly music streaming spend has increased year-over-year. The only generational demographic that didn’t increase their average music streaming spend this year is Gen Z, who spent 11% less on music streaming per month YOY.
Source: Luminate
19. Music revenue accounts for 5.28% of all entertainment spend
This doesn’t just include streaming but also other forms of music consumption. It’s up slightly from 2020, when music accounted for just 4.37% of all entertainment spend but is still way below its peak in 1998 when it accounted for 7.95% of all entertainment spend.
Source: Goldman Sachs1
20. Monetizing ‘superfans’ could add $4.2 billion to music streaming platform revenues by 2027
Superfans are a subgroup of music stream listeners that are willing to pay more to support their favorite artists. Right now, streaming platforms aren’t adequately monetizing superfans. If they did, research from Goldman Sachs shows it could significantly boost revenues.
Source: Goldman Sachs1
Music streaming services & platforms
Now let’s take a look at some statistics that tell us more about the leading music streaming services and platforms.
21. Spotify is the most popular music streaming platform in the world
It accounts for 30.5% of the market share, as of Q2 2022. In other words, almost a third of all the people who stream music do so on Spotify.
Source: Statista2
22. Apple Music is the second most popular music streaming platform
However, Apple Music only has 13.7% of the market share—that’s still less than half that of Shopify.
Other leading music streaming platforms by market share include Tencent Music (13.4%), Amazon (13.3%), and YouTube Music (8.9%).
Source: Statista2
Related:
23. Spotify has 600 million users
That’s as of Q3 2023 and includes 236 million paid subscribers, which is up from 195 million YOY.
Source: Spotify Newsroom, Statsta3
24. There are over 100 million music tracks on Spotify
Spotify has one of the largest catalogs of any platform, with over 100 million songs, 5 million podcasts, and 350 audiobooks.
Source: Spotify Newsroom
25. There are at least 184 million unique tracks across all streaming platforms
This is the total number of audio ISRCs tracked by Luminate in their latest year-end report and is probably a good estimate of the total number of unique tracks across all music streaming catalogs.
Source: Luminate
26. Around 103,5000 new tracks are added to streaming platforms every day
That’s the number of new ISRCs delivered to DSPs (digital service providers) each day in 2023, which is up 10.8% from 2022. This shows just how competitive the music industry is, and how hard it is for new artists to cut through the noise.
Source: Luminate
27. The top reason people pay for music streaming platforms is for ad-free listening
Unsurprisingly, the main reason most surveyed users report paying for streaming services is so that they can listen without ads. The second top reason is so they can choose what music to listen to, and the third is to access a large catalog of music.
Source: IFPI3
Music streaming demographics
Here are some music streaming statistics about user demographics.
28. 62% of 25- to 34-year-olds have music streaming subscriptions
More people in this age range subscribe to audio streaming services than any other age group. The second top demographic is 16- to 24-year-olds (60%), and the third is 35- to 44-year-olds (50%).
Source: IFPI2
29. Only 28% of 55- to 64-year-olds have music streaming subscriptions
Fewer people in this age range subscribe to audio streaming services than any other age group. This indicates that music streaming consumption may negatively correlate with age.
Source: IFPI2
30. Male artists have around a 60% music streaming share in the US
60% of the top 500 artists by music streams in the US are men. However, women are catching up.
In 2022, the streaming share of women within the top 500 US artists was just a little over 25%. This year, it rose +4.2 percentage points to around 30%. The remaining 10% or so is made up of mixed groups and non-binary artists.
Source: Luminate
31. Millennials spend more on music streaming than any other demographic
Millennials spent over $15/month on average in 2023—that’s up from around $13 in 2022 and more than any other demographic. Boomers spend the least of any demographic at just a little over $6 a month.
Source: Luminate
Music streaming usage & preferences
How often do listeners stream music? And how do they interact with streaming services? Let’s find out.
32. People listen to music for 20.7 hours a week on average
That’s up slightly from 20.1 hours in 2022. Assuming each song is around 4 minutes long, that means the average listener now streams around 310 songs a week.
Source: IFPI2
33. 63% of music streaming service users choose specific songs
This is the most common way music streaming service users select music. 57% also choose specific artists, while 42% choose specific albums, and 59% choose their own playlists.
Source: IFPI2
34. 26% of listeners use ‘stream ripping’ to obtain music
Stream ripping is the practice of turning music that’s available to stream online into downloadable files. According to an IFPI report, over a quarter of listeners engage do this despite the fact it’s illegal.
And it’s an even more common practice amongst younger listeners: 41% of 16 to 24-year-olds report stream ripping. What’s more, 55% of stream rippers say they do it so they don’t have to pay for streaming subscriptions.
Source: IFPI2
35. 76% of music streaming listeners say ‘access to millions of tracks’ is important
This is a top priority amongst listeners. Of that 76%, 41% said it’s ‘very important’, and 35% said it’s ‘fairly important’.
Source: IFPI2
Most streamed music, artists, and genres
Next, let’s look at some music streaming statistics that tell us what the most commonly streamed songs, artists, and genres were last year.
36. Hip-hop / R&B is the most streamed music genre
26.6% of all music streams went to hip-hop and R&B songs last year, which is the most of any genre. Rock came second, accounting for 16.2% of all music streams. And pop third, accounting for 12.6% of all music streams.
Source: Luminate
37. ‘Last Night’ by Morgan Wallen was the most streamed song in the US last year (by audio streams)
It had over 1.015 billion on-demand audio streams, and a further 101.4 million on-demand video streams. The huge popularity of this song is part of the reason why Country music genre as a whole saw such a large increase in music streaming in 2023.
The rest of the top 5 songs by total audio streams can be found below:
- SZA, ‘Kill Bill’ – 0.803 billion streams
- Miley Cyrus, ‘Flowers’ – 0.634 streams
- Zach Bryan, ‘Something in the Orange’ – 0.656 billion streams
- SZA, ‘Snooze’ – 0.551 billion streams
Source: Luminate
38. ‘First Steps’ by Hans Zimmer was the most streamed song in the US in 2023 (by video streams)
It had over 1.149 billion video streams in total. The rest of the top 5 songs by video streams can be found below:
- J. Cole ft Amber Coffman ‘She Knows’ – 0.755 billion streams
- Cavendish Music ‘Funny Song’ – 0.729 billion streams
- Lady GaGa ‘Bloody Mary’ – 0.669 billion streams
- Heinz Kiessling, Gema ‘Blue Blood’ – 0.615 billion streams
Source: Luminate
39. ‘One Thing at a Time’ by Morgan Wallen was the most streamed album in the US last year
It had over 6.357 billion on-demand audio streams, and 299.3 million on-demand video streams.
Source: Luminate
40. Almost half of US music streams last year went to tracks released in the last 5 years
Last year, 48.3% of music streamed was released within the last 5 years—just a little less than half.
Source: Luminate
41. 463,000 tracks were streamed at least a million times last year
That’s globally. Interestingly, though, a much greater number of tracks weren’t streamed at all—45.6 million tracks had zero streams.
Source: Luminate
Music streaming trends
Finally, let’s look at some music streaming statistics that reveal notable trends.
42. World music is the fastest-growing music genre in the US
There were over 5.7 billion on-demand audio streams of world music in 2023, which is 26.2% higher than the year before.
Latin music was the second fastest-growing genre with 19.4 billion on-demand audio streams, an increase of 24.1% year on year. And Country music was third, with 20.4 billion on-demand audio streams, up by 23.7%
On the other end of the spectrum, new age music was the genre that grew the slowest, with only 452.1 million streams, which is actually down 6.9% compared to the year before.
Source: Luminate
43. Alt-rock is the fastest-growing music sub-genre in the US (by streaming volume)
If we break it down even further and look at sub-genres of music, alt-rock is the fastest growing, with over 15 billion more music streams in 2023 compared to 2022. However, it’s only the fastest growing in terms of streaming volume, whereas…
Source: Luminate
44. Regional Mexican music is the fastest growing sub-genre in the US (by % change)
While alt-rock is the fastest growing by volume change, regional Mexican music is the fastest growing by year-over-year percentage change, with around 60% more music streams in 2023 than in 2022.
K-pop was another super fast-growing sub-genre in terms of YOY change, with over 52% more streams in 2023 than in 2022.
Source: Luminate
45. Younger fans are fueling an increase in streams of country music
As we saw earlier, Country is one of the fastest-growing music genres. In fact, the record for the most Country music streams ever was broken twice in 2023.
And the reason for that increase is because of the emergence of popular new Country artists that appeal to younger fans.
Generally, the biggest fan cohort of the country genre is boomers. But if we look specifically at new artists like Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs, their biggest fan cohorts are Gen Z and Millennials.
Source: Luminate
46. The share of English language content in music streaming is falling
In 2021, 67% of the top 10k global tracks by total on-demand streams were English language songs. By 2022, that had fallen to 62.1%. And in 2023, it fell again to 54.9%
Spanish language content’s share also fell from 12.4% in 2021 to 10.1% in 2023, and Korean language content’s share fell from 3.5% to 2.4%.
At the same time, the share of Hindi language in the top 10k global tracks grew dramatically from 3.8% to 7.8%
So the overall trend is clear: While English may still dominate the streaming charts for now, that dominance is beginning to wane.
Source: Luminate
Final thoughts
That concludes our roundup of the latest music streaming industry statistics.
Overall, these stats paint a clear picture: The music streaming market is bigger than ever, and still growing.
You can find a list of all the sources we used for these stats below. And while you’re here, you might also want to check out our roundup of more general music industry statistics.
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