The global music scene has reached new heights, hitting a remarkable 4.8 trillion streams in 2024, according to Luminate’s Year-End Report. This marks a notable increase of 14% from the previous record set in 2023. If you found yourself streaming more music in 2024—particularly from female pop artists—you’re certainly not alone.
In the United States, on-demand audio streams saw an impressive growth of 6.4%, totaling approximately 1.4 trillion. Contemporary music is significantly contributing to this growth, with around 79.5% of U.S. streams originating from tracks released in 2010 or later. Notably, songs released between 2020 and 2024 made up nearly half of all streams during this period.
The top spot goes to Taylor Swift, who was revealed to be the most-streamed songwriter globally in 2024, but her influence is certainly part of a broader trend.
At mid-year, data from Luminate indicated that Latin music was the fastest-growing genre in U.S. streaming, showing a 15.1% increase compared to summer 2023, followed closely by pop, rock, and country music. However, the latter half of the year saw a significant shift, and pop music ultimately took the lead, followed by rock and Latin sounds. Jaime Marconette, Luminate’s vice president of music insights and industry relations, commented on these changes, stating, “In the first half of the year, Latin was the fastest-growing streaming genre in the U.S. due to an increase in genre streaming share. However, with a shift in streaming behavior in the latter part of the year, pop regained its No. 1 status… Female solo artists greatly contributed to this rise, as nearly two-thirds of all audio streams among the top 100 pop artists in the U.S. were for their music.”
Leading this streaming surge are six prominent female artists:
1. Taylor Swift with a staggering 12.8 billion streams
2. Billie Eilish with 4.46 billion
3. Sabrina Carpenter with 3.71 billion
4. Ariana Grande with 3.12 billion
5. Olivia Rodrigo with 2.76 billion
6. Chappell Roan with 2.49 billion
This trend is mirrored in the top global streaming songs for the year, which includes:
1. Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things”
2. Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso”
3. Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Father”
4. Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control”
5. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die with a Smile”
6. FloyyMenor’s “Gata Only”
7. Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
8. Hozier’s “Too Sweet”
9. Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer”
10. Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please”
Regional Mexican music continues its ascent, even as pop music overtakes Latin music in overall growth. In 2024, regional Mexican music emerged as the largest Latin subgenre in the U.S. Marconette remarked, “Latin music saw growth in both volume and its share of the total U.S. audio streaming landscape throughout 2024… Regional Mexican music showed the most substantial growth.” This genre encompasses various styles, including mariachi, banda, corridos, norteño, and sierreño, resonating across borders and appealing to new audiences.
Regional Mexican tracks garnered 28.57 billion streams in 2024, while Latin pop trailed with 24.09 billion. Although pop is currently reigning supreme, R&B and hip-hop maintain a strong presence in overall U.S. music streaming. In 2024, the combined streams from rap and R&B accounted for 341.63 billion, followed by rock at 234.22 billion, pop at 165.49 billion, country at 117.58 billion, and Latin music with 113.02 billion streams.
