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Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Billie Eilish have all had their most successful years in US album sales so far, according to Luminate's 2024 midyear music report.
The report, which looked at trends so far this year based on multiple data points, noted that musicians are benefiting not only from streaming but also from physical sales, particularly by releasing multiple versions of a project — “variants” that typically include bonus tracks or variations in artwork. The top 10 physical albums in the U.S. included an average of seven different LP variants, 13 CDs, and two cassettes.
“The Tortured Poets Department” was the best-selling album in the U.S. with 4.66 million album-equivalent units, followed by Morgan Wallen's “One Thing at a Time,” Noah Kahan's “Stick Season,” Beyoncé's “Cowboy Carter,” and SZA's “SOS.” In terms of total sales, “Poets” led the charts, followed by “Hit Me Hard,” “Cowboy Carter,” Swift's “1989 (Taylor's Version),” and Swift's “Lover.”
Benson Boone's release of “Beautiful Things” was arguably the biggest hit of the year, garnering 1.434 billion on-demand audio streams worldwide. “Beautiful Things” also topped various singles-focused charts, including Top Digital Songs Consumption in the U.S. and Top Songs in the U.S.: Both Audio and Audio + Video On-Demand Streaming.
Looking at the macro picture, global on-demand audio streams increased 15.1% year-over-year, US on-demand audio streams increased 8.1% year-over-year, and US physical album sales increased 3.8% year-over-year.
In the U.S., hip hop and R&B had the highest share of total volume by format and genre, accounting for 24.6%, followed by rock, pop, country, and Latin. Meanwhile, Latin music was the fastest growing genre in the U.S., increasing by 0.51% share points compared to the same period last year. Overall, Latin increased 15.1% in on-demand audio streaming.
Among other music, Latin music accounts for the largest listener share (35%) in the current period, defined as music released within the past 18 months, while R&B and hip hop account for 26.7% of catalog streams (18-60 months) and rock accounts for 70.5% of deep catalog streams (60+ months).
Luminate notes that 43 of the 46 artists with over 1 billion on-demand streams in the U.S. outsource their most streamed tracks to major distributors, and independent artists account for 62.1% of all artists who have accumulated 1-10 million streams. Live music is also surging, with 64% of all music-related spending by U.S. consumers now going to live music events. Gen Z spends the most on concerts, more than 23% more than the average U.S. music listener.
It's also worth noting that usage of YouTube Shorts among U.S. music listeners is expected to increase from Q2 2023 to Q3 2024, making it a strong contender to challenge TikTok as the most used short-form video platform.