Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter were the most-streamed U.S. pop artists last year, according to Luminate‘s year-end music report for 2024.
Swift topped the U.S. On-Demand Audio (ODA) tally of 2024 with 12.8 billion streams, followed by Eilish with 4.46 billion and Carpenter with 3.71 billion. Behind the trio sit Ariana Grande (3.12 billion), Olivia Rodrigo (2.76 billion), Chappell Roan (2.49 billion), Benson Boone (1.92 billion), Bruno Mars (1.74 billion), Tate McRae (1.66 billion) and Teddy Swims (1.57 billion).
On a worldwide scale, Swift was named the most prolific songwriter based on ODA, and was the most streamed songwriter in the world for 2024. Her album “The Tortured Poets Department” was the top album in the U.S. based on various sales and streaming figures, earning 6.955 million total album-equivalent consumption. “Poets” also ranked at No. 1 on the top U.S. albums based on total sales (physical and digital), as well as top U.S. CD album sales, top U.S. vinyl album sales and top U.S. cassette album sales.
Popular on Variety
Elsewhere, Boone’s “Beautiful Things” was the top-ranking song of the year globally with 2.577 billion ODA streams. Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” sits at No. 1 on the top U.S. digital song consumption chart and top U.S. top songs for on-demand audio streams, while Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” crowned the top U.S. songs for on-demand audio and video streams. Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” was the top U.S. radio song based on audience impressions and the top U.S. song based on programmed audio streams.
Among the top 10 music documentaries of the year were “The Greatest Night in Pop,” “I Am: Celine Dion,” “Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley,” “Miss Americana” and “Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words.”
In the live music space, Gen-Z spent the most on concerts in 2024 — a first for the generation — with millennials trailing just behind. In Q2 2024, Gen-Z spent more on concerts monthly than any other generation, spending 23 percent more than the average U.S. music listener. The Luminate report forecasts that electronic/dance music, Afrobeats and indie rock events will continue to grow.
On a broader scale, ODA streaming grew globally and regionally in the United States year over year, with a 14 percent shift from 4.2 trillion in 2023 to 4.8 trillion last year. Of the ODA streams in the States, 79.5 percent were songs released in 2010 or later, and nearly one in two U.S. ODA streams are tracks released in the last five years. Outside of the U.S., markets grew at a faster rate with 17.3 percent compared to the regional ODA growth rate of 6.4 percent.
Hip-hop was the most on-demand audio streaming genre, with more than one in every four U.S. streams being from the genre. Though it holds the biggest presence among other genres, its overall share is down 2.3 points since 2023. But pop edged out Latin and rock as the fastest-growing genre in 2024, up .48 points compared to rock’s .40 increase. Among artists who helped pop’s surge included Swift, Eilish and Carpenter.
Digital album sales decreased from 2023 to 2024, falling 9.5 percent from 18.6 million purchases to 16.8 million. Physical album sales also declined one percent from 56.2 million to 55.6 million.
The average number of songs uploaded to streaming platforms each day was 99,000, down 4.4 percent from 2023 when there were 103,500 delivered daily. Independent distribution accounted for 91.8 percent of 2024 uploads, with major distribution sharing 8.2 percent of the rest.