Streamed music consumption in the U.S. 2021, by genre

Data on the distribution of streamed music consumption in the United States showed that rock music accounted for 17 percent of all on-demand audio and video streams in 2021. The leading genre by streams was, as is almost always the case, R&B and hip-hop.

Most streamed artists

The demand for streamed audio content is growing year by year, and in 2021, the number of paid music streaming subscribers in the United States exceeded 92 million. So which musicians are topping the digital charts? Based on the most recent data, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, and Ed Sheeran were the top artists on Spotify based on monthly listeners in 2022. The top-10 ranking was visibly dominated by pop singers and bands that year, although Doja Cat and Eminem were the acts that amassed the largest monthly audience within the R&B and hip-hop genre.

Keeping it classical

A closer look at the distribution of music consumption in the U.S. by genre and format reveals that fans of jazz, rock, and classical music were among the most likely to listen to artists via physical formats. Between 13 and 27 percent of surveyed respondents stated that they listened to these genres via physical albums, which was above the industry average. One reason for this sense of audio nostalgia could be that these genres are particularly popular with listeners from older, less tech-savvy generations.