U.S. Music Streaming Continues Impressive Growth in 2023

Music remains a central source of enjoyment for people in the U.S., and the latest report on the industry shows no signs of this enthusiasm waning. The music streaming scene has experienced a significant upturn in consumption over the past year, marking consistent expansion in this digital era.

Exponential Growth in Streaming Numbers

In 2023, a surge in music streaming was recorded, with 1.454 trillion audio and video streams, representing an approximate 14.6% growth from the previous year. This growth outpaced the already impressive 12.2% increase seen in 2022. Audio streams constituted the majority of this figure with a 12.7% jump from 2022, amounting to 1.2 trillion streams.

Diving into genre specifics, World, Latin, and Country music saw the largest boosts in streaming numbers. Country music edged out Latin with an additional 20.4 billion streams, while Latin followed closely with 19.4 billion more streams. In the Latin category, Regional Mexican music witnessed a remarkable 60% growth in streaming alone, totaling 21.9 billion streams.

Tangible and Digital Consumption on the Rise

Not only has digital consumption flourished, but physical album sales also saw an unexpected uptick. There was an 8.9% increase in physical album sales, which, coupled with continued growth in digital music consumption—a 12.9% rise—led to an overall upward trend. Vinyl sales, a niche but significant market, continued gaining popularity as well.

Despite a decline in digital album sales by 9.3%, total album sales recorded an overall increase. Combining both physical and digital sales, the market experienced a 5.2% hike.

Genre and Artist Highlights

Rock dominated album sales, capturing 41.5% of total sales, while R&B/Hip-Hop led in streaming across the audio and video platforms. In 2023, Morgan Wallen's "One Thing at a Time" topped the total consumption charts among albums. Taylor Swift's "1989" not only led in combined album sales but she also dominated vinyl sales, with "1989 (Taylor's Version)" breaking the million mark.

Additionally, Morgan Wallen's "Last Night" reigned supreme as the most streamed song across various metrics. When it came to video streams, Hans Zimmer's "First Step" emerged on top, surpassing a billion streams.

streaming, growth, consumption