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Morgan Wallenâs One Thing at a Time closed out 2023 as the most popular album of the year in the U.S., according to music data tracking firm Luminate. The albumâs lead single, âLast Night,â was the yearâs most-streamed song by on-demand audio streams, while Miley Cyrusâ âFlowersâ was the most-heard song on the radio. Total music consumption in the U.S. â as measured in equivalent album units â increased by 12.6% in 2023. (View the U.S. 2023 Luminate Year-End Music Report.)
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See the yearâs top 10 albums chart, along with other year-end rankings and overall industry volume numbers, below.
But first, the fine print:
Equivalent album units â for album titles and chart rankings cited below (but not industry volume numbers) â comprise traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album, or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. Album titles and album chart rankings by equivalent album units do not include user-generated content (UGC) streams, but UGC streams are included in Luminateâs industry volume numbers. (UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboardâs weekly charts.)
For the sake of clarity, equivalent album units do not include listening to music on broadcast radio or digital radio broadcasts. All numbers cited in this story are rounded, and reflect U.S. consumption only.
Luminateâs equivalent album unit totals include SEA and TEA for an albumâs songs registered before an albumâs release, but during the tracking period of Dec. 30, 2022, through Dec. 28, 2023.
Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991 when the company was known as SoundScan. Luminateâs sales, streaming and airplay data is used to compile Billboardâs weekly charts. Luminateâs 2023 tracking year ran from Dec. 30, 2022, through Dec. 28, 2023.
Luminate is an independently operated company and a subsidiary of PME TopCo, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge. Billboard is an independently operated company owned by PME Holdings, a subsidiary of PME TopCo.
Highlights from Luminateâs 2023 year-end data:
Morgan Wallenâs One Thing at a Time was Luminateâs top album of 2023. Itâs the second time Wallen has led the year-end list. He also was tops in 2021 with Dangerous: The Double Album.
On Luminateâs 2023 U.S. year-end top 10 most popular albums ranking, Taylor Swift has five of the top 10 titles â a single-year Luminate-era record.
Total U.S. album consumption increased by 12.6% in 2023.
R&B/hip-hop continues to hold firm as the top U.S. core genre by total album consumption; the world music genre â inclusive of the Korean pop (K-pop) genre â had the largest percentage gain year-over-year.
Morgan Wallenâs âLast Nightâ tallied 1.015 billion U.S. on-demand audio streams in 2023 â the most U.S. on-demand audio streams a song has earned in a calendar year. It is only the second song ever to exceed 1 billion on-demand audio streams in a calendar year.
Yearly U.S. on-demand audio streams surpassed 1 trillion for the second time.
27% of all on-demand audio streams in the U.S. in 2023 were R&B/hip-hop songs, the largest share of any core genre.
Swiftâs 1989 (Taylorâs Version) is the first vinyl album in Luminate history to sell 1 million copies in a calendar year in the U.S.
Swift sold more albums in 2023 than any other act, accounting for 6% of all albums sold, industry-wide.
The top 10-selling CD albums of 2023 were all by Swift or K-pop acts.
Total U.S. album sales grew 5.2% in 2023 â just the second year that album sales grew in the last 10 years.
U.S. vinyl album sales outsold CDs for the third year in a row. 2023 marked the 18th consecutive year vinyl album sales grew in the U.S., and the largest year for vinyl album sales since Luminate began tracking data in 1991.
47.1% of all albums sold in 2023 in the U.S. â across all configurations, physical & digital combined â were vinyl LPs. 57% of all physical albums sold were vinyl.
Total U.S. album sales for the year (physical and digital download purchases combined) grew by 5.2%.
Swiftâs 1989 (Taylorâs Version) sold 1.975 million in traditional album sales in the U.S. in 2023 â the biggest-selling album of any year since 2015.
One Thing at a Time debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated March 18, 2023, and spent 16 nonconsecutive weeks atop the tally. That marked the most weeks at No. 1 for any album since Adeleâs blockbuster 21 spent 24 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in 2011-12. One Thing at a Time is the second Wallen album to be named Luminateâs year-end No. 1 album, after his previous release, Dangerous: The Double Album, in 2021. Wallen is the first artist to have Luminateâs year-end No. 1 album twice in a three-year span since Drake led the year-end ranking in 2018 (with Scorpion) and in 2016 (with Views).
Nearly all of One Thing at a Timeâs units earned in 2023 were powered by on-demand streams of its 36 songs. Its collected tracks generated 6.657 billion on-demand streams in the U.S., equaling 92.5% of the albumâs total activity for the year (or, 4.962 million SEA units of its total 5.362 million units). One Thing at a Time was also the most-streamed album of 2023.
One Thing at a Time sold 326,000 in traditional album sales in 2023 (making it the No. 13-biggest-selling album of the year). The set also generated 745,000 in individual digital track sales, equaling nearly 75,000 in TEA units.
2023 marks the eighth year in a row in which Luminateâs year-end top album is by a solo male artist. The last time a solo male didnât finish at No. 1 was in 2015, when Adeleâs 25 ruled.
One Thing at a Timeâs 5.362 million equivalent album units earned in 2023 is the largest sum for any album measured in a calendar year since 2015, when Adeleâs 25 tallied 8.008 million and was the yearâs top album.
One Thing at a Time spun off the massive multi-format chart hit âLast Night,â which spent 16 weeks atop the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. The tune also closes 2023 as the most-streamed song by on-demand audio streams.
TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2023 IN U.S., BY TOTAL EQUIVALENT ALBUM UNITS1. Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time (5.362 million)2. Taylor Swift, Midnights (3.209 million)3. SZA, SOS (3.172 million)4. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylorâs Version) (2.872 million)5. Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album (2.179 million)6. Taylor Swift, Lover (1.875 million)7. Travis Scott, Utopia (1.782 million)8. Taylor Swift, Speak Now (Taylorâs Version) (1.775 million)9. Taylor Swift, Folklore (1.612 million)10. Metro Boomin, Heroes & Villains (1.573 million)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through Dec. 28, 2023. UGC streams are not included in this chart, but are included in Luminateâs on-demand streaming charts (below).
While Wallen has a pair of titles in the year-end top 10, Taylor Swift looms even larger. Swift has five albums among Luminateâs year-end top 10 â the first time any act has placed that many albums among Luminateâs year-end top 10 since the company began tracking data in 1991. Previously, the most titles any single act had among the yearâs top 10 was three, achieved by Garth Brooks in 1993.
On Luminateâs year-end top 10 albums ranking, Swift is found at No. 2 (Midnights, 3.209 million units), No. 4 (1989 [Taylorâs Version], 2.872 million), No. 6 (Lover, 1.875 million), No. 8 (Speak Now [Taylorâs Version], 1.775 million) and No. 9 (Folklore, 1.612 million). Just two of those albums were released in 2023: Speak Now (Taylorâs Version) and 1989 (Taylorâs Version). Midnights was issued in late 2022, while Folklore bowed in 2020 and Lover arrived in 2019. All of Swiftâs catalog in 2023 was buoyed by her stadium-filling The Eras Tour and its film adaptation Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.
Swift also has five of the top 10-selling albums of 2023, five of the yearâs top 10-selling vinyl albums and three of the top 10-selling CD albums. Sheâs also No. 1 on each of the three rankings. (See lists, below.)
TOTAL ALBUM CONSUMPTION INCREASES 12.6%: Equivalent album units increased by 12.6% in 2023, to 1.097 billion (up from 974.9 million in 2022). There were 28 albums that earned at least 1 million equivalent album units in 2023 â up from 19 in 2022.
R&B/HIP-HOP LEADS AMONG GENRES: R&B/hip-hop continues to hold firm as the top genre by total album consumption, with 277.27 million units earned in 2023 â equating to 25.3% of total volume (1.097 billion units) last year across all of Luminateâs core genres measured. R&B/hip-hop consumption increased by 5.9% in 2023 over its volume in 2022 (261.72 million). However, R&B/hip-hopâs share of total consumption decreased from 26.8% in 2022 to 25.3% in 2023. (R&B/hip-hop is an umbrella genre for Luminate that contains most titles categorized as R&B and/or rap.)
2023âs second-largest genre, by total album consumption, was rock with 212.42 million units (up 9.1% from 194.72 million in 2022). Pop music was third, with 135.32 million (up 9.4% from 123.72 million in 2022), country was fourth, with 92.19 million (up 21.8% from 75.69 million in 2022) and Latin was fifth, with 75.26 million (up 21.9% from 61.73 million in 2022).
In terms of the largest percentage gains among Luminateâs core genres, year-over-year, the world music genre had the biggest increase in 2023. The genreâs 34.1% gain last year (29.94 million units vs. 22.32 million in 2022) is inclusive of Korean pop (K-pop) music. (K-pop is one of the many music genres housed within the larger world music core genre.) The second-and-third-largest percentage increases in 2023 among Luminateâs core genres belonged to Latin (up 21.9%, to 75.26 million in 2023, vs. 61.73 million in 2022) and country (up 21.8%, to 92.19 million, vs. 75.69 million in 2022).
TAYLOR SWIFTâS â1989 (TAYLORâS VERSION)â IS 2023âs TOP-SELLING ALBUM: Taylor Swiftâs most recent release, and her fourth re-recorded project, 1989 (Taylorâs Version), was 2023âs top-selling album in the U.S., with 1.975 million copies sold across all configurations (physical and digital combined: CD, vinyl LP, cassette, digital download album). See the top 10-selling albums, below.
TOP 10-SELLING ALBUMS OF 2023 IN U.S. (PHYSICAL & DIGITAL SALES COMBINED)1. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylorâs Version) (1.975 million)2. Taylor Swift, Midnights (973,000)3. Taylor Swift, Speak Now (Taylorâs Version) (908,000)4. Travis Scott, Utopia (575,000)5. Stray Kids, 5-STAR (526,000)6. Taylor Swift, Folklore (466,000)7. TOMORROW X TOGETHER, The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION (444,000)8. Taylor Swift, Lover (425,000)9. Olivia Rodrigo, Guts (404,000)10. Stray Kids, ROCK-STAR (229,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through Dec. 28, 2023.
With 1.975 million copies sold, 1989 (Taylorâs Version) is the biggest-selling album of any year since 2015, when Adeleâs 25 sold 7.441 million copies. An album by Swift has been the yearâs top-seller in six of the last 10 years: 1989 (Taylorâs Version) in 2023, Midnights in 2022, Folklore in 2020, Lover in 2019, Reputation in 2017 and 1989 in 2014. She also had the top-seller in 2009 with Fearless. Swift is the only act to have the top-selling album of the year at least seven times since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991.
1989 (Taylorâs Version) was also the top-selling vinyl LP of 2023 (1.014 million sold) and the top-selling CD album of the year (800,000 sold). 1989 (Taylorâs Version) is the first album to sell a million copies on vinyl in a calendar year since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991.
Sales of 1989 (Taylorâs Version) were bolstered by its availability across 15 physical configurations: five color vinyl variants, eight CD editions and two cassette albums. Further, of the five vinyl variants, Target carried a color edition that includes one bonus track (âSweeter Than Fictionâ). The set was also issued in two download editions â a standard 21-song version and a deluxe 22-track edition which adds a re-recorded version of the albumâs âBad Blood,â featuring Kendrick Lamar.
Swift, like many acts, leaned into creating additional versions of an album for purchase by superfans. All of the top 10-selling albums of 2023 were aided by their availability across multiple iterations, including many that contained collectible branded merchandise or color vinyl.
Swift by far sold the most albums of any act in 2023 in the U.S., as her collected catalog sold 6.172 million copies (across all configurations, physical and digital combined). Her sales accounted for 6% of all album sales last year across all albums by all artists. The second-biggest selling act, in terms of album sales in 2023, was K-pop group Stray Kids with 1.205 million copies sold.
TOTAL U.S. ALBUM SALES INCREASE BY 5.2%: Total U.S. album sales increased by 5.2% in 2023 to 105.32 million copies sold (up from 100.09 million in 2022). 2023 marked just the second year album sales increased in the last 10 years, following 2021. Album sales declined in every year from 2012-20, and again in 2022, as fans increasingly adopt streaming services as a means to consume music.
Total U.S. physical album sales (CD, vinyl LP, cassette, etc.) increased by 8.9% to 87 million in 2023 (up from 79.89 million in 2022). Digital album sales declined by 9.3% to 18.32 million in 2023 (down from 20.2 million in 2022).
VINYL REIGNS: For the third consecutive year, and the third year since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991, vinyl albums outsold CD albums in the U.S. Vinyl once again is the leading configuration for album purchases for the third year in a row.
Vinyl was the dominant configuration for album purchases in the U.S. up until the early 1980s. After that, cassettes took hold until the early 1990s, when the CD configuration blossomed and remained king until 2021, when vinyl retook the top slot.
49.61 million vinyl albums were sold in 2023 (up 14.2% from 43.46 million in 2022). 2023 marked the 18th consecutive year vinyl album sales grew in the U.S., and the largest year for vinyl album sales since Luminate began tracking data in 1991.
TOP 10-SELLING VINYL ALBUMS OF 2023 IN U.S.1. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylorâs Version) (1.014 million)2. Taylor Swift, Speak Now (Taylorâs Version) (510,000)3. Taylor Swift, Midnights (492,000)4. Travis Scott, Utopia (373,000)5. Taylor Swift, Folklore (308,000)6. Olivia Rodrigo, Guts (267,000)7. Taylor Swift, Lover (256,000)8. Lana Del Rey, Did You Know That Thereâs a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (215,000)9. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (206,000)10. Lana Del Rey, Born to Die (192,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through Dec. 28, 2023.
The top-selling vinyl album of 2023 is Swiftâs 1989 (Taylorâs Version) with 1.014 million sold. That marks the largest yearly sales total for a vinyl album, and the first vinyl set to sell a million in a calendar year, since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. The effort also scored the largest sales week for a vinyl set since 1991 when it debuted with 693,000 copies sold in its first week.
Swift closed 2023 with five of the top 10-selling vinyl albums. Further, her catalog of albums sold 3.484 million copies on vinyl in 2023 â the most of any artist. (Lana Del Rey was the second-biggest selling act on vinyl in 2023, with 646,000 sold.) Swiftâs vinyl sales accounted for 7% of the industryâs total vinyl album sales in 2023.
Vinyl album sales comprised 47.1% of all album sales in the U.S. in 2023 (49.61 million of 105.32 million). Vinyl LPs accounted for 57% of all physical album sold last year (49.61 million of 87 million). Both sums are Luminate-era records for vinylâs share of the album sales market in the U.S.
In 2023 a total of 99 albums each sold at least 50,000 copies on vinyl â up from 88 in 2022. Comparatively, 65 albums on the CD configuration sold at least 50,000 copies in 2023 (up from 56 in 2022).
CD ALBUM SALES INCREASE, SWIFT & K-POP DOMINATE: 36.83 million CD albums were sold in 2023 (up 2.7% compared to 35.87 million in 2022), making it the second-most popular configuration for album purchases.
The top 10-selling CD albums of 2023 are comprised entirely of releases by Swift and K-pop artists. All profit from their availability across multiple collectible editions for superfans.
Swift sold the most CD albums in 2023, with 1.985 million copies sold across her entire catalog of titles. Stray Kids wrap as the No. 2-seller on CD, with 1.188 million sold. Swiftâs CD sales represented 5.4% of all CD albums sold in 2023, industry-wide.
TOP 10-SELLING CD ALBUMS OF 2023 IN U.S.1. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylorâs Version) (800,000)2. Stray Kids, 5-STAR (520,000)3. TOMORROW X TOGETHER, The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION (442,000)4. Stray Kids, ROCK-STAR (381,000)5. NewJeans, 2nd EP Get Up (332,000)6. TWICE, Ready to Be (303,000)7. SEVENTEEN, SEVENTEEN 10th Mini Album Fml (288,000)8. Taylor Swift, Midnights (276,000)9. Taylor Swift, Speak Now (Taylorâs Version) (267,000)10. Jung Kook, Golden (244,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through Dec. 28, 2023.
Digital album sales were the third-most popular configuration in 2023 for album purchases, and the category dropped by 9.3% to 18.32 million (down from 20.2 million in 2022). The top-selling digital album of 2023 was Swiftâs Midnights, with 201,000 downloads sold. Swift additionally was the top-selling artist in terms of digital albums in 2023, with 667,000 downloads sold. Morgan Wallen was the second-biggest-selling artist in terms of download albums, with 187,000 sold. Swiftâs digital sales presented 3.6% of all download albums sold, industry-wide.
CASSETTE SALES STEADY: After cassette album sales jumped 28% in 2022, the niche configuration mostly stayed steady in 2023, slipping just 0.75%. In 2023, a total of 436,400 cassette albums were sold â a sliver less than the 439,700 sold in 2022. Cassettes were the leading album configuration for purchases from the early 1980s until the early 1990s. Today, cassette tapes are frequently sold exclusively on an artistâs webstore and in collectible editions. In 2023, the Billboard 200 chart saw No. 1 albums that boasted a cassette configuration from Blink-182âs One More Time, Olivia Rodrigoâs Guts and Swiftâs 1989 (Taylorâs Version), Speak Now (Taylorâs Version) and Midnights (which first led the list in 2022).
TOTAL STREAMING INCREASES 14.6%, ON-DEMAND AUDIO UP 12.7%: Total U.S. on-demand song streams (audio and video combined, inclusive of UGC streams) increased by 14.6% to 1.453 trillion in 2023 (up from 1.268 trillion in 2022). Yearly on-demand audio streams (again, inclusive of UGC) surpassed 1 trillion for a second time, with 1.249 trillion (up 12.7% from 1.108 trillion in 2022).
On-demand audio streams comprised 86% of all on-demand streams in 2023, with the remainder generated by on-demand video.
The R&B/hip-hop genre accounted for the most on-demand streams (audio and video combined, inclusive of UGC) in 2023, among Luminateâs core genres, with 26.6% of the yearâs volume (387.09 billion of 1.453 trillion).
Rock had the second-largest share of on-demand song streams (audio and video combined, inclusive of UGC) in 2023, with 16.2% of volume (235.11 billion of 1.453 trillion). Pop was third with 12.6% (182.63 billion of 1.453 trillion), Latin was fourth with 8.3% (120.18 billion of 1.453 trillion) country was fifth with 7.8% (113.09 billion of 1.453 trillion).
As for year-over-year growth in total on-demand streams (audio and video combined, inclusive of UGC) among Luminateâs core genres, world music had the largest percentage growth, increasing by 33.3% to 35.97 billion, as compared to 26.98 billion in 2022. The respective second- and third-biggest increases, by percentage, belonged to the genres of dance/electronic (23.2% to 54.37 billion, up from 44.14 billion in 2022) and country (22.2% to 113.09 billion, up from 92.52 billion in 2022).
Looking just at on-demand audio streams for 2023 (inclusive of UGC), R&B/hip-hop was tops with 27% of volume (337.21 billion of 1.249 trillion). Rock (17%; 211.72 billion of 1.249 trillion), pop (11.8%; 147.11 billion of 1.249 trillion), country (8.5%; 106.28 billion of 1.249 trillion) and Latin (8%; 99.71 billion of 1.249 trillion) were Nos. 2-5 for 2023, respectively, as they were in 2022 and 2021.
The genres that saw the largest percentage growth in year-over-year on-demand audio streams (inclusive of UGC) were world music (up 26.2% to 27.52 billion, up from 21.8 billion in 2022), Latin (up 24.1% to 99.71 billion, up from 80.34 billion in 2022) and country (up 23.7% to 106.28 billion, up from 85.91 billion in 2022).
Note: UGC streams are included in Luminateâs industry streaming on-demand volume numbers and its year-end streaming song charts. UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboardâs weekly charts.
âLAST NIGHTâ SURPASSED 1 BILLION ON-DEMAND AUDIO STREAMS: Morgan Wallenâs âLast Nightâ was the most-streamed song of 2023 in the U.S. by on-demand audio streams (inclusive of UGC), with 1.015 billion â the most U.S. on-demand audio streams a song has earned in a calendar year.
âLast Nightâ is the second song to surpass 1 billion on-demand audio streams in a calendar year in the U.S., following Lil Nas Xâs âOld Town Roadâ (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus), which cleared 1.002 billion in 2019.
See the top 10 most-streamed songs, by on-demand audio, below.
TOP 10 MOST STREAMED SONGS OF 2023 IN U.S., ON DEMAND AUDIO1. Morgan Wallen, âLast Nightâ (1.015 billion)2. SZA, âKill Billâ (802.60 million)3. Zach Bryan, âSomething in the Orangeâ (656.07 million)4. Miley Cyrus, âFlowersâ (634.42 million)5. SZA, âSnoozeâ (550.83 million)6. The Weeknd, âDie for Youâ (539.29 million)7. Eslabon Armado x Peso Pluma, âElla Baila Solaâ (526.34 million)8. Luke Combs, âFast Carâ (525.51 million)9. Morgan Wallen, âYou Proofâ (517.58 million)10. Taylor Swift, âCruel Summerâ (507.78 million)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through Dec. 28, 2023. Includes UGC streams.
DIGITAL TRACK SALES DECLINE FOR 11TH YEAR IN A ROW: Digital track sales declined for an 11th consecutive year, falling 11.9% to 133.88 million in 2023 (down from 151.9 million in 2022). The top-selling digital song of 2023 was Jason Aldeanâs âTry That in a Small Townâ with 497,000 downloads sold. It was the second year in a row that no song sold more than a half-million downloads. Prior to 2022, it last happened in the early days of downloading, in 2004 (the first full year of the iTunes Store, which launched in mid-2003). Further, 2023 marks the second year in a row that no song sold 1 million copies. Before 2022, the industry last had a year without a million-selling download in 2005.
TOP 10-SELLING DIGITAL SONGS OF 2023 IN U.S.1. Jason Aldean, âTry That in a Small Townâ (497,000)2. Miley Cyrus, âFlowersâ (428,000)3. Oliver Anthony Music, âRich Men North of Richmondâ (358,000)4. Morgan Wallen, âLast Nightâ (302,000)5. Jimin, âLike Crazyâ (296,000)6. Luke Combs, âFast Carâ (251,000)7. Jung Kook featuring Latto, âSevenâ (228,000)8. Jelly Roll, âNeed a Favorâ (181,000)9. Jung Kook, âStanding Next to Youâ (163,000)10. Rema & Selena Gomez, âCalm Downâ (159,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022 through Dec. 28, 2023.
CYRUSâ âFLOWERSâ BLOOMED ON RADIO: Miley Cyrusâ âFlowersâ was tops on radio in 2023, with 3.919 billion audience impressions earned across all monitored radio stations in the U.S. Audience impressions are measured by cross-referencing plays with Nielsen Audio audience data â i.e., a play of a song on a top-rated New York station at 8 a.m. on a Monday has more listeners (audience) than an overnight weekend play in a smaller city.
TOP 10 RADIO SONGS OF 2023 IN U.S. (BASED ON AUDIENCE IMPRESSIONS)1. Miley Cyrus, âFlowersâ (3.919 billion)2. Rema & Selena Gomez, âCalm Downâ (3.643 billion)3. Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage, âCreepinââ (3.529 billion)4. The Weeknd, âDie for Youâ (2.628 billion)5. SZA, âKill Billâ (2.623 billion)6. Taylor Swift, âAnti-Heroâ (2.491 billion)7. David Guetta & Bebe Rexha, âIâm Good (Blue)â (2.448 billion)8. Morgan Wallen, âLast Nightâ (2.435 billion)9. Luke Combs, âFast Carâ (2.358 billion)10. Harry Styles, âAs It Wasâ (2.199 billion)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through Dec. 28, 2023.
Luminate â which provides data to the Billboard charts â is proceeding with a previously announced plan to retire its weighted data modeling used to measure physical sales in the independent retail sector, according to a note sent Wednesday (Dec. 13) to industry partners and indie retailers.
The change will take effect Dec. 29, the first day of Luminateâs 2024 calendar; and will apply to both the U.S. and Canadian markets, which are measured separately within the Luminate system.
For over 30 years, Luminate and its predecessor companies have relied on sampling of independent stores to extrapolate sales of CDs, vinyl and cassettes for the entire U.S. marketplace.Â
According to the note to the industry on eliminating weighting, âthe goal of this change is for us to present the most accurate data possible to the industry, which is always our primary goal.â
Luminate said that after discussions with all facets of the industry, including retailers, labels, distributors and industry bodies, it decided to proceed with its planned new way of counting indie store sector sales because there was âa consensus that the current weighted modeling should be retired.â
That âconsensusâ apparently is a new development because Billboardâs reporting over the last six weeks has so far found widespread industry resistance to Luminateâs planned changes for the indie sector.Â
Going forward, as of Jan. 29, Luminate will count only actual sales from indie stores without extrapolating to measure sales in the entire U.S. market. As of Nov. 15, Luminate stated that it already has 93% coverage of the total U.S. physical market; and was receiving data from 95% of U.S. independent retail stores that reach over 1,000 sales per week.
Luminateâs note says it will work with the entire music industry to find solutions that make the most sense collectively for all parties. Consequently, it said there is agreement that the industry should work to increase the number of retailers reporting sales to Luminate. The company says stores not already reporting its sales can learn more at luminatedata.com or email music.merchantservices@luminatedata.com.
Luminate said it would work with retailers and their point-of-sales systems to streamline the reporting processes; and will assign resources to liaise with indie stores to address questions and provide feedback.Â
Moreover, Luminate says it will share free weekly physical sales data to all indie reporting stores in the U.S. and Canada that will reflect the best-selling titles for only the indie store sector.
The Luminate note concluded that the data company is confident that its change to actual sales without weighting âis the best way for the industry to access the highest-quality data.â
Note: Luminate is an independently operated company owned by PME TopCo, a PMC subsidiary and joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge. Billboard is an independently operated company owned by PME Holdings, a subsidiary of PME TopCo.
Billboardâs data partner Luminate is improving the way it collects and reflects album sales data from independent music retailers. This week, Luminate revealed to all clients that in week 1 of 2024 (the reporting week that begins Dec. 29, 2023), data on physical sales (vinyl, CDs and cassettes) will reflect a direct representation of those […]
This year has been defined by consistency at the top of the charts, and one record label has led in current market share in each of the first three quarters: Republic Records, which has 12.28% of the market through Sept. 28, according to Luminate. Thatâs a negligible drop from last quarterâs 12.46% and more than four percentage points higher than the 8.77% share the label had for the same period last year.
Republicâs market share â much like the year overall â has been headlined by the massive Morgan Wallen album One Thing at a Time, which has racked up more than 4.5 million equivalent album units since its March debut, and Taylor Swiftâs prolific release schedule, which not only includes her latest collection of new tracks, Midnights, but also the release of Speak Now (Taylorâs Version). Both are among the top 10 albums of the year so far. (Republicâs share also includes Island, Big Loud, Mercury, Cash Money and indie distributor Imperial.)
Wallenâs dominance is such that his label, Big Loud, would rank eighth among all labels on its own, with a 2.69% current market share if it were broken out from Republic, with both One Thing at a Time and his last release, Dangerous: The Double Album, both counting toward current share. (Current is defined as albums released within the past 18 months or that have remained in the top half of the Billboard 200.)
Coming in at a comfortable second place, with big third-quarter releases from Olivia Rodrigo and NewJeans, was Interscope Geffen A&M, which hit a high mark for the year so far with an 8.55% current share, a half-point increase over its midyear mark. Thatâs down from the 9.23% current share IGA posted at the third-quarter mark of 2022, but is a strong showing in a year in which Republic has vacuumed up so much market share. (IGAâs share also includes Verve Label Group.)
In third place, Atlantic â which encompasses 300 Elektra Entertainment â has also moved to a high mark for the year, with a 7.39% share, up from 7.34% at midyear. The music groupâs performance was boosted by releases by Gunna, Lil Uzi Vert and, most significantly, the Barbie soundtrack, which is among the top five albums of the third quarter with over 650,000 equivalent album units.
However, factoring in back catalog to look at overall market share shakes up the top two. Interscope takes the top spot with 9.57%, besting Republicâs 9.49% by a shade over 500,000 units through the first three quarters, with Atlantic in third at 8.31%. Thatâs due to the deeper catalog of IGA and Atlantic: They are Nos. 1 and 2 in catalog-only share, with 9.91% and 8.62%, respectively. Republic finished third at 8.54%. Coming into the final quarter of the year, thatâs a race to watch.
Capitol, which includes Motown/Quality Control, Blue Note, Astralwerks, Capitol Christian and indie distributor Virgin Music, remained steady in fourth place at 6.01% (from 6.0% at midyear) through three quarters. (Although HYBE acquired Quality Control earlier this year, Universal Music Group [UMG] continued to distribute the label.)
In fifth, Warner Records has made large gains throughout the year, largely due to the successes within Warner Nashville. (Its market share also includes catalog label Rhino, as well as Warner Music Latina.) Zach Bryanâs self-titled album has been a standout success in the quarter, while Bailey Zimmermanâs Religiously. The Album continues to perform well. Notably, both Capitol and Warner made big leaps in current market share year over year: Capitol jumped from sixth place to fourth, growing from 4.50% in 2022 to 6.01% in 2023; Warner grew from 4.77% in 2022 to 5.89% in 2023.
Slipping down the rankings year over year was Columbia, which dropped in current share from fourth through three quarters in 2022 (6.93%) to sixth in 2023 (4.93%). Columbia scored big this year with Miley Cyrusâ Endless Summer Vacation, though 2022âs slate with releases from Harry Styles, BeyoncĂ© and Adele represents a tough act to follow. RCA, in seventh, remains on a hot streak led by the huge success of SZAâs SOS â still the No. 2 album of the year â with the label coming in at a 4.64% share, up from 4.47% this time last year.
Epic has roared back after a relatively quiet 2023 on the strength of Travis Scottâs mammoth Utopia, which boosted the label from 1.82% in current share at midyear to 2.39% at the three-quarters mark â its highest quarterly showing for the year. Sony Nashville (eighth, 2.50%) and Sony Latin (10th, 1.96%) round out the top 10, with each growing more than half a percentage point year over year.
Among the label groups, both UMG (up from 32.54% to 34.61%) and Sony Music Entertainment (up from 27.09% to 27.50%) made big year-over-year strides, while Warner Music Group (down from 18.64% to 17.46%) and, collectively, independent labels (down from 21.73% to 20.43%) lost share compared with the same period in 2022.
At the midyear mark of 2023, thereâs one over-arching theme: so far, itâs the year of Morgan Wallen. The artistâs album One Thing At a Time is the most-consumed album of the year so far by far, racking up 3.312 million equivalent album units in the U.S. since its March release, while its single âLast Nightâ gobbled up the most U.S. on-demand audio streams of the year so far, with 588.7 million.
That helps explain a huge leap in country music market share so far this year, with the genre growing to 8.36% of the U.S. market, from 7.83% at the halfway point last year. Overall, in terms of current consumption units â those derived from albums released within the past 18 months â country music increased by 4.5 million equivalent album units over the same period in 2022, the highest among all 15 genres tracked by Luminate in 2023 so far.
But thatâs just one of the big takeaways derived from combing through the data six months into this year. Here are four other observations from the first half of 2023.
Why is Rock so big? Catalog.
Overall, rock has grown most of any genre year over year in consumption units, with 11.2 million more units in 2023 over 2022. That growth, however, is almost entirely from catalog â 10.3 million of it, compared to 900,000 units of growth from current releases. Itâs the second-largest growth metric among genres in terms of catalog, just behind R&B/hip-hop in raw numbers (11.2 million), though because R&B/hip-hop actually declined in current releases (more on that later), rock saw the biggest overall growth in unit terms.
Itâs a testament to the enduring value that exists in classic rock recordings â and a reason those catalogs continue to be valued, bought and sold at such high figures â and helps explain why it still represents such a large part of the market, despite rock not generally being represented in the highest echelons of the charts. Rockâs catalog share of 23.31% is behind R&B/hip-hopâs 27.15% in the rankings, but is much higher than that of pop (12.91%) and country (7.69%), the next two genres in share.
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Consider the rankings in terms of current share: rock (10.32%) slides to third place, behind pop (10.69%) and barely ahead of country (10.16%), with Latin coming in fifth at 7.84%. And its current unit growth year over year of 900,000 is significantly behind country (4.5 million), world music (3.3 million) and Latin (2.5 million), although at least itâs still growing, while R&B/hip-hop and pop is not.
R&B/Hip-Hop: The Elephant In the Room
The drumbeat has been growing louder over the past year when it comes to what, exactly, is going on with R&B/hip-hop from a market share perspective. But despite concern that the genresâ grip on the public consciousness is getting diluted, a few things have remained consistent: it remained the largest genre in consumption units, it was still growing the most in raw numbers (if not percentage-wise), and R&B and hip-hop artists were continuously topping the charts dictating the culture.
Some of that dominance, however, has begun to slip. There is the biggest one â in the first half of the year, no hip-hop album had yet topped the Billboard 200, a distinction that finally ended in the first week of the third quarter with Lil Uzi Vertâs Pink Tape this week. And in terms of year over year unit growth, R&B/hip-hop slipped to second at 13.01% of the marketâs growth, behind rock (17.71%) and just ahead of country (12.35%). And as consumption overall grew by 13.4%, R&B/hip-hop remained stagnant at 6.3% â the same mark it had at the midway point of last year. Still, itâs been a weird year; R&B/hip-hop actually accumulated more growth in raw units in the first half of 2023 (8.3 million) than in the first half of 2022 (7.8 million).
Yet there are signs for concern â and not necessarily just because of gains in other genres. R&B/hip-hopâs overall market share has slipped from 27.64% halfway through 2022 to 25.92% halfway through 2023, more than a point and a half. Its share of on-demand streaming has dropped from 29.39% to 27.31% â more than two percentage points. Overall album sales growth â huge for rock (45.85%) and pop (30.99%) â was just 2.53%, though growth at all in that metric is still positive. Even more concerning are its current numbers, which weâll get to in a second. So, with R&B/hip-hopâs market share at its lowest point since 2018, is it just a cyclical, first-half blip due to domination by the likes of Morgan Wallen and Taylor Swift so far this year? Or something deeper?
Current Share Tells the Story of the First Half
The three genres that experienced the biggest growth over the first half of 2023 also tell the story of the first six months of the year, and theyâre undeniable on several metrics. In terms of overall percentage growth year over year, World Music â which encompasses ex-U.S. genres like K-Pop and Afrobeats â was up 42.5%; Latin was up 21.9%; and Country was up 21.1%. Each managed to grow their overall share of the market significantly over the same period last year: Country, the fourth-biggest genre, rose from 7.83% to 8.36%; Latin, in fifth, grew from 6.25% to 6.72%; World, in seventh, grew from 2.20% to 2.76%. In comparison, the top three genres â R&B/Hip-Hop, Rock and Pop, in that order â all ceded share of the market at least somewhat year over year.
Looking at the current share illustrates where those gains came from. The country genre came in 4.5 million units higher than at the same point in 2022, boosting its current share from 7.98% to 10.16%. world music added 3.3 million units, vaulting over dance/electronic into sixth with a 5.22% share of the current market, up from 3.29% at this time last year. And Latin added 2.5 million units over last yearâs total, increasing from 6.86% to 7.84% this year.
The flip side of that is the current percentage drops from the other leading genres. Current R&B/hip-hop share fell from 27.50% halfway through 2022 to 22.62% this year, an almost 5% decline, and dropped 8.0% in consumption units year over year. Pop slid from 12.87% to 10.69% in share, dropping 7.1% in consumption units year over year. Rockâs slip in share was more modest (10.83% to 10.32%), but also still fell, though its unit count actually grew (the slide in share is due to larger gains elsewhere). Itâs a reflection of how the first half of the year has gone in terms of impactful releases in the market.
World Musicâs Growth Isnât Slowing Down
World music now accounts for 2.76% of the overall market in the U.S., up from 2.20% at the midway point last year. Itâs not huge, but by percentage, itâs far and away the fastest-growing genre (up 42.5% year over year) in the industry; by raw consumption unit growth, itâs sixth-highest, having increased by 4.4 million units over its midyear 2022 mark. And itâs up by huge percentages in just about every metric: overall album sales (71.3%), physical album sales (76.4%) and on-demand streaming (38.2%) growth all far outstrip the industry overall.
Some of this is just a function of how percentages work: a smaller number thatâs growing quickly will naturally have a higher percentage growth than a larger number that, while growing at a larger volume, is growing at a slower rate. But these percentages continuing getting higher, not smaller: in 2020, it grew 8.0% over 2019; in 2021, the metric was 18.9%; in 2022, it was 26.4%. From the first half of 2019 through the first half of 2023, world music is up 131.3%.
So far this year over midway through 2022, K-pop consumption is up 154.9%, and Afrobeats consumption is up 143.8%. Theyâre still small in terms of actual consumption numbers â K-popâs numbers compare most directly to those of childrenâs music for the first half of the year, for example â but they no longer exist in the realm of the potential. The industry has spent the past few years pouring money and resources into these areas and hoping to boost these artists in the States. The metrics are no longer about what the future may look like: itâs here now.
In the first half of 2023, an average of 112,000 new tracks were added daily to digital service providers such as Spotify and Apple Music, Luminate revealed in its 2023 midyear report Wednesday (July 12). Thatâs an increase of 19.9% from the 93,400 new tracks uploaded daily to digital platforms in the first half of 2022.
At the current rate, digital services will add around 41 million tracks this year, about 7 million more than the 34.1 million tracks added in 2022 and more than double the 16.4 million tracks added in 2018.
The flood of tracks did not bring a commensurate increase in listening, however. While the number of tracks uploaded to digital platforms grew 19.9%, audio on-demand streaming rose only 13.5%. That disconnect between supply and on-demand streams is not unusual. In 2022, on-demand streams increased 12.2% while average daily new tracks grew 12%. But in 2021, on-demand streams grew 9.9% while average daily new tracks grew 18%.
Low barriers to recording and distributing digital music give unknown artists a chance to compete against established, big-budget releases. Major labels â some of whom, like Universal Music Group, have endorsed a system that rewards their music with better royalty payouts â accounted for just 3.3% of new tracks added to digital platforms through June 30. Streaming services are filled with music not just from independent labels â who may be distributed by companies owned by the majors â but also independent musicians, bedroom producers using inexpensive digital audio workstations and a variety of âfunctional music,â a term used for generic music that often fills streaming playlists aimed at helping people sleep, relax or study.
The possibility that 112,000 new tracks per day will seem low in a few years is causing consternation in some quarters of the music business. A new generation of AI tools will further reduce the barriers to creating music. Just as generative AI programs such as Midjourney and DALL-E-2 create images based on text prompts, AI will instantly create songs without the need for musical expertise or technical ability. âWe see a huge market with many billions of original unique songs, similar to photos,â Alex Mitchell, CEO of AI music platform Boomy, told Billboard earlier this year. Such a scenario had previously prompted Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge to warn against âa vast and unnavigable number of tracksâ of âlower-quality functional contentâ created to game algorithms and âdivert royalties.â
While independently released music and AI content chips away at major labelsâ market shares, the majors continue to produce hits that stand out in an increasingly crowded field. The most popular albums and tracks fared well in the first half of 2023. The top 10 albums took a 2.49% share of equivalent album units (EAUs), up from 2.18% in the first half of 2022. That improvement can be chalked up to Morgan Wallen, whose album One Thing at a Time had 3.31 million EAUs â 67% greater than the No. 2 album, SZAâs SOS. Excluding the No. 1 albums from each half-year period, the remaining top 10 albumsâ share of 1.88% in the first half of 2023 was almost equal to the 1.85% in the prior-year period.
Led by Wallenâs âLast Nightâ and SZAâs âKill Bill,â the most popular tracks also increased their share of total streams. The top 10 tracks at the midway point of 2023 owned a 0.63% share of on-demand audio streams, well above their 0.5% share in the prior-year period.
In 2023 so far, whatâs happened in the last three months of the year largely mirrors the first when it comes to U.S. record label market share: the top two albums of the year â Morgan Wallenâs One Thing At a Time (Big Loud/Mercury/Republic) and SZAâs S.O.S. (TDE/RCA) â are still dominating the top two slots among consumption albums through June 29, according to Luminate. But while that may come as little surprise to industry chart-watchers, the rest of the top five points to a relatively surprising level of domination by one record label in particular: Republic Records.
In the first quarter of the year, Republic â which encompasses Island, Big Loud, Mercury, Cash Money and indie distributor Imperial â put up a current market share (defined as albums released within the past 18 months) of 12.45%, nearly five percentage points higher than second-placed Interscope Geffen A&Mâs 7.75% (Interscope also encompasses Verve Label Group). At the end of the first half of the year, Republicâs current share stands at 12.46% â a remarkable level of consistency that shows the staying power of Republicâs current big releases, even as IGA has tightened the gap a bit, posting an 8.08% mark of its own to remain in second place.
Republicâs 12.46% current share at the midway point is also a significant leap from where it stood at the halfway mark in 2022, when it posted a current share of 8.92%, good for third place behind leaders Atlantic Records (9.92%) and second-placed Interscope (9.36%). Republic releases â chiefly Wallenâs album, but also Taylor Swiftâs Midnights (one week) and Stray Kidsâ 5 Star (one week) â spent all 13 weeks of the second quarter at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, part of a run of 17 straight weeks that only ended with Lil Uzi Vertâs new album Pink Tape.
Both Republicâs consistency and Interscopeâs growth helped propel parent company Universal Music Group to a 34.48% current market share at the midyear mark, an improvement over both its first quarter current share (33.59%) and its current share at the midyear mark of 2022 (33.18%). Sony Music, in second place at 27.54%, dipped slightly from its huge Q1 current share of 28.46%, though it is still up significantly from the midyear mark in 2022, when it posted a 26.01% current share. And the Warner Music Group, in third among the major corporations, grew to 17.26% at the halfway mark of the year in current share, up from Q1âs 16.81% and 2022âs 15.33%. The collection of indie labels came in at 20.72% in current share at midyear, down from 21.15% in Q1.
Atlantic, in third among current share, grew to 7.34% at the midyear mark from 7.22% in Q1, though still down from the leading 9.92% it had midway through 2022. (Atlantic includes the combined 300 Elektra Entertainment Group.) But Capitol Music Group â which includes Motown/Quality Control, Blue Note, Astralwerks, Capitol Christian and indie distributor Virgin Music â surged from sixth place in Q1 2023 (5.56%) to fourth at the midyear market (6.00%), up significantly from the 4.31% it posted at the midway mark of 2022. Fifth-placed Warner Records (encompassing catalog label Rhino, Warner Latin and the bulk of Warner Nashville) also jumped two slots, from seventh in Q1 to fifth at midyear, to put up a 5.62% current share, up from 5.23% in Q1 and a 4.63% mark halfway through 2022.
Those two jumps from Capitol and Warner mean that Columbia (which includes some labels from indie distributor RED) and RCA Records slide down to sixth and seventh among current share, respectively. Columbia dipped from 5.85% in Q1 to 5.16% at the midyear mark in 2023 â though down significantly from the 6.65% it had at midyear 2022 â while RCA dropped from 5.76% in Q1 to 4.98% at the halfway point this year, a mark which is improved from the 4.31% it posted midway through 2022.
Rounding out the top 10 among current share is a trio of Sony labels, including two that made large strides: Sony Nashville, in eighth, at 2.55%, which grew from 2.30% in the first quarter and 1.72% midway through 2022; and Sony Latin in ninth, at 1.95%, up from 1.92% in Q1 and 1.22% halfway through 2022. Epic Records, at 1.82%, came in 10th in current share, dropping from 2.06% in Q1 and 2.24% at this time last year.
But current market share â while a strong indicator of recent performance for any label â does not tell the whole story, particularly at a time when Luminate reports that catalog (albums older than 18 months old, or the bulk of many major labelsâ repertoire) share has increased again in 2023 so far, to 72.8% of all consumption from 72.4% in 2022, with a corresponding drop for current from 27.6% to 27.2%. And when taking into account all consumption, Interscope actually leads the U.S. industry in overall market share, posting a 9.48% mark at the midway point of 2023, up from 9.44% in Q1 and slightly down from its leading 9.80% mark halfway through 2022. That nudges Republic into second, ever so slightly, at 9.34% in overall share, a number that is also up from its Q1 mark (9.16%) and a significant increase from midyear 2022, when it posted a 7.96% share and came in third.
Outside those top two labels, the next handful of slots in the top 10 remain in the same order as their current share rankings, with Atlantic (8.31%) equalling its Q1 mark despite falling from the 9.30% it had in 2022; and Capitol also remaining static over Q1, posting a 6.70% (from 6.68% in Q1 and 6.06% in 2022). Warner (6.55%), in fifth, swapped positions with Columbia (6.23%) from their respective Q1 showings, while RCA (5.27%), in seventh, dropped from its 5.50% in Q1 but improved on its 4.92% mark from midway last year. Epic (2.54%), Sony Nashville (2.13%) and Def Jam (1.88%) rounded out the top 10 in overall market share.
Among the major label groups, UMG grew from 37.25% in overall share at the midpoint of last year to 37.98% this year, while Sony grew a full percentage point, jumping to 27.34% from last yearâs mark of 26.34%. Warner Music Group, meanwhile, jumped significantly from 16.26% midway through 2022 to 18.75% halfway through this year, largely at the expense of the Indies, which fell from 20.15% to 15.93% in overall share this year.
In the first six months of 2023, Morgan Wallenâs monster album One Thing at a Time was the most popular album, while Miley Cyrusâ smash single âFlowersâ was the most-streamed song (by on-demand streams, audio and video combined), respectively, at the midyear point in the U.S., according to Luminate. âFlowersâ was also the most-heard song on radio airwaves, with over 2.4 billion in radio audience impressions.
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Read more about midyear metrics in the 2023 Luminate Midyear Music Report.
âOne Thingâ is Tops: For the tracking period of Dec. 30, 2022, through June 29, 2023, Wallenâs One Thing at a Time was the most popular album in the U.S. The country starâs latest studio effort was released on March 3, 2023 via Big Loud/Mercury/Republic Records and earned 3.312 million equivalent album units in the first half of 2023. (See full top 10 chart, below.) One Thing at a Time spent 15 nonconsecutive weeks atop the weekly Billboard 200 chart in March-July â the most weeks at No. 1 for any album since Adeleâs 21 racked up 24 nonconsecutive weeks in 2011-12.
Concurrently, the One Thing at a Time single âLast Nightâ was the most-streamed song by on-demand audio streams in the first half of 2023 in the U.S., with 588.7 million on-demand audio streams (inclusive of user-generated content streams). âLast Nightâ spent 13 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the weekly all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart from March through July â the singer-songwriterâs first leader on the tally.
The most-streamed song by total on-demand streams (audio and video combined, inclusive of user-generated content streams) was Cyrusâ âFlowers,â with 750.7 million clicks in the first six months of the year. âFlowersâ led the Hot 100 eight nonconsecutive weeks from January through early April. It marked Cyrusâ second chart-topper, following 2013âs âWrecking Ball.â
Equivalent album units â for album titles and chart rankings cited below (but not industry volume numbers) â comprise traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sales, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album, or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official and audio streams generated by songs from an album.
Equivalent album units cited for album titles below, and in the âMidyear Top 10 Albums in U.S.â chart do not include user-generated content (UGC) streams. UGC streams are included in Luminateâs industry volume numbers and its midyear song streaming rankings. (UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboardâs weekly charts.)
For the sake of clarity, equivalent album units do not include listening to music on broadcast radio or digital radio broadcasts. All numbers cited in this story are rounded, and for the U.S. only. Programmed streams are not included in any of the data in this story.
Luminate (formerly MRC Data, Nielsen Music and SoundScan) began tracking music consumption in 1991. Luminateâs sales, streaming and airplay data is used to compile Billboardâs weekly charts.
Of One Thing at a Timeâs 3.312 million equivalent album units earned at midyear, SEA units comprise 3.024 million (equaling 4.023 billion on-demand official streams of the setâs 36 songs), album sales comprise 242,000 and TEA units comprise 46,000.
The top five most popular albums at the midyear point in the U.S. are One Thing at a Time, SZAâs December 2022 release SOS (1.982 million equivalent album units), Taylor Swiftâs October 2022 release Midnights (1.876 million), Wallenâs January 2021 release Dangerous: The Double Album (1.172 million) and Metro Boominâs December 2022 release Heroes & Villains (1.038 million). In 2022, Midnights and Dangerous were the Nos. 2 and 3 most popular albums of the year in Luminateâs year-end report.
2023âs Midyear Top 10 Albums in U.S. (by Equivalent Album Units)1. Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time (3.312 million)2. SZA, SOS (1.982 million)3. Taylor Swift, Midnights (1.876 million)4. Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album (1.173 million)5. Metro Boominâ, Heroes & Villains (1.038 million)6. Bad Bunny, Un Verano Sin Ti (967,000)7. Drake & 21 Savage, Her Loss (898,000)8. Zach Bryan, American Heartbreak (769,000)9. Karol G, Mañana SĂ©ra Bonito (716,000)10. Taylor Swift, Lover (711,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through June 29, 2023. UGC (user-generated content) streams are not included in this chart, but are included in Luminateâs on-demand streaming charts (below). Luminateâs equivalent album unit totals include SEA and TEA for an albumâs songs registered before an albumâs release, but only during the tracking period.
Total Album Consumption Increases 13.4% at Midyear: Year-to-date, total equivalent album units stand at 538.9 million â up 13.4% compared to the first half of 2022 (475.4 million in the tracking period of Dec. 31, 2021, through June 30, 2022).
Album Sales Up! Total album sales across all formats (physical CDs, vinyl, cassettes, etc., along with digital album downloads) increased by 7.9% in the first half of 2023 as compared to the same point in 2022. At the 2023 midyear point, 50.6 million albums were sold â up from the 49.6 million sold in the first half of 2022. The top-selling album of 2023 so far is Swiftâs Midnights, with 607,000 copies sold
In total, there were 41.6 million physical albums sold (up 13.3% compared to 36.7 million at midyear 2022) and 9.234 million digital albums sold (down 11.2 percent compared to 10.4 million at midyear 2022).
CD album sales grew by 3.8% in the first half of 2023 (17.5 million vs. 16.9 million at midyear 2022), while vinyl album sales jumped by 21.7% (23.6 million vs. 19.4 million at midyear 2022). Even cassette tape album sales perked up. The mostly dormant format sold 212,000 in the first half of 2023 â up 5.8% compared to the 200,500 sold in the first half of 2022.
The top-selling album across all physical formats (CD, vinyl, cassette, etc.) at the midyear point is Swiftâs Midnights, with 430,000 sold. Itâs also the top-selling digital album (177,000) and vinyl LP (251,000). The biggest-selling CD album in the first half of 2023 was TOMORROW X TOGETHERâs The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION with 395,000 copies sold.
Taylor Swift was the top-selling artist by total album sales in the first half of 2023, with 1.45 million albums sold across her entire catalog across all formats. Swift was also the top-selling in total physical album sales (1.19 million), vinyl album sales (808,000) and digital album sales (256,000). Stray Kids was the top-selling act in CD album sales (509,000).
2023âs Midyear Top 10 Selling Albums in U.S. (Physical & Digital Album Sales Combined)1. Taylor Swift, Midnights (607,000)2. TOMORROW X TOGETHER, The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION (399,000)3. Stray Kids, 5-STAR (327,000)4. TWICE, Ready to Be (286,000)5. Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time (242,000)6. SEVENTEEN, SEVENTEEN 10th Mini Album: FML (236,000)7. Metallica, 72 Seasons (215,000)8. Agust D, D-Day (200,000)9. Jimin, FACE (152,000)10. Melanie Martinez, Portals (194,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through June 29, 2023.
Taylor Swift, Midnights (251,000)
Lana Del Rey, Did You Know That Thereâs a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. (132,000)
Taylor Swift, Folklore (107,000)
Tyler, The Creator, Igor (104,000)
Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (103,000)
Boygenius, The Record (100,000)
Melanie Martinez, Portals (93,000)
Michael Jackson, Thriller (85,000)
Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon (85,000)
Lana Del Rey, Born to Die (84,000)
On-Demand Streaming Up 15%, âFlowersâ Most-Streamed Song: âFlowers,â Cyrusâ Hot 100-topping single, was the most-streamed song in the first half of 2023 in the U.S., with 750.7 million on-demand streams (inclusive of UGC). SZAâs âKill Billâ (701.2 million) and Wallenâs âLast Nightâ (642.8 million) round out the top three.
Total on-demand streams (audio and video combined) at midyear grew 15% in the U.S. as compared to the same point a year ago (713.5 billion vs. 620.2 billion). On-demand audio streams rose 13.5% (616.5 billion vs. 543.2 billion) while on-demand video streams grew 26% (97 billion vs. 77 billion).
UGC streams are included in Luminateâs industry streaming on-demand volume numbers (above) and its midyear streaming song charts (below). UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboardâs weekly charts.
In general, all songs in the below charts combine the assorted remixes of a song into one overall total. Thus, PinkPantheressâ âBoyâs a Liarâ includes activity for its remix with Ice Spice, âBoyâs a Liar, Pt. 2,â The Weekndâs âDie for Youâ includes activity for its remix with Ariana Grande,â and so forth.2023âs Midyear Top 10 Most Streamed Songs in U.S. (On-Demand Audio & Video Combined)1. Miley Cyrus, âFlowersâ (750.7 million)2. SZA, âKill Billâ (701.2 million)3. Morgan Wallen, âLast Nightâ (642.8 million)4. PinkPantheress, âBoyâs a Liarâ (580.7 million)5. Lady Gaga, âBloody Maryâ (531.7 million)6. Rema & Selena Gomez, âCalm Downâ (486.3 million)7. Twisted featuring Oliver Tree, âWorth Nothingâ (462.7 million)8. J. Cole featuring Amber Coffman & The Cults, âShe Knowsâ (455.6 million)9. Fifty Fifty, âCupidâ (427.7 million)10. Lil Uzi Vert, âJust Wanna Rockâ (416.1 million)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through June 29, 2023. Includes UGC streams.
2023âs Midyear Top 10 Most Streamed Songs in U.S. (On-Demand Audio)1. Morgan Wallen, âLast Nightâ (588.7 million)2. SZA, âKill Billâ (567.6 million)3. Miley Cyrus, âFlowersâ (464.6 million)4. PinkPantheress, âBoyâs a Liarâ (370.4 million)5. The Weeknd, âDie for Youâ (349.8 million)6. Zach Bryan, âSomething in the Orangeâ (331.2 million)7. Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage, âCreepinââ (308.3 million)8. Eslabon Armado x Peso Pluma, âElla Baila Solaâ (307.4 million)9. Morgan Wallen, âYou Proofâ (303.3 million)10. Taylor Swift, âAnti-Heroâ (302.8 million)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through June 29, 2023. Includes UGC streams.
Digital Song Sales Drop 13%: Digital song sales fell 13% in the first six months of 2023, dipping to 69.57 million, as compared to 79.98 million sold in the first half of 2022. The top-selling digital song at the midyear point is Cyrusâ âFlowersâ with 380,000 sold. Six songs sold more than 100,000 downloads in the first half of 2023. At midyear 2022, there were eight songs that sold in excess of 100,000.
2023âs Midyear Top 10 Selling Digital Songs in U.S.1. Miley Cyrus, âFlowersâ (380,000)2. Jimin, âLike Crazyâ (289,000)3. Morgan Wallen, âLast Nightâ (217,000)4. Luke Combs, âFast Carâ (126,000)5. BeyoncĂ©, âCuff Itâ (119,000)6. Rema & Selena Gomez, âCalm Downâ (110,000)7. Taylor Swift, âAnti-Heroâ (97,000)8. Lainey Wilson, âHeart Like a Truckâ (89,000)9. Ice Spice, âPrincess Dianaâ (87,000)10. Jelly Roll, âNeed a Favorâ (86,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through June 29, 2023.
âHeat Wavesâ Hottest on Radio: The most-heard song on U.S. radio in the first half of 2023 was Cyrusâ âFlowers,â with a cumulative 2.409 billion audience impressions across all formats monitored by Luminate. The single was released in early January and became one of the biggest radio hits in the modern era. It spent 18 weeks at No. 1 on Billboardâs all-format Radio Songs chart, tying Goo Goo Dollsâ âIrisâ for the second-most weeks at No. 1 since the chart began in 1990. The song with the most weeks at No. 1 on Radio Songs is The Weekndâs enduring âBlinding Lights,â which ruled for 26 weeks in 2020.
2023âs Midyear Top 10 Radio Songs in U.S. (Based on Audience Impressions)1. Miley Cyrus, âFlowersâ (2.409 billion)2. Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage, âCreepinââ (2.359 billion)3. SZA, âKill Billâ (1.909 billion)4. The Weeknd, âDie for Youâ (1.877 billion)5. Taylor Swift, âAnti-Heroâ (1.730 billion)6. David Guetta & Bebe Rexha, âIâm Good (Blue)â (1.691 billion)7. Rema & Selena Gomez, âCalm Downâ (1.580 billion)8. Harry Styles, âAs It Wasâ (1.362 billion)9. Sam Smith & Kim Petras, âUnholyâ (1.275 billion)10. Chris Brown, âUnder the Influenceâ (1.142 billion)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through June 29, 2023.
Luminate has been the music industryâs data authority for over three decades. As the company readies the launch of a more sophisticated platform, its leaders discuss the past, present and future of the operation â and how theyâve kept pace with the evolving business. PAST â Starting with the launch of SoundScan in 1991, Luminate âhas continued to […]
Luminate is launching a new platform that will house the companyâs global data capabilities across music, film, TV and more, the company announced Monday (May 15).
An improvement from the companyâs current legacy data platform, Music Connect, the new platform includes the industry-leading music sales, streaming and airplay data that has powered the Billboard charts for over three decades. The design was built to complement the rapidly evolving entertainment industry and allows users to explore a more comprehensive view of music consumption by artist and project at both global and individual country levels. It also provides customers with the ability to extract more in-depth insights.
The news was broken Monday morning at the annual Music Biz conference in Nashville by Luminate CEO Rob Jonas.
âAs conversations of uncertainty surrounding AI and other technological advancements begin to inundate the entertainment industry, thereâs never been a more pressing time for transparency and objectivity in how data is used across music, film, TV, streaming video content and more,â said Jonas. âLuminateâs new platform is built upon three decades of expertise â the information and content we collate and analyze every day forms a rich data asset on which prediction and recommendation will become commonplace for our customers and partners. We are focused on centralized, unbiased information to help keep creators informed, honest, and united by a singular reference point.â
The platformâs improved benefits and features include a more customizable user interface, allowing for various sorting, filtering and grouping functionality; an improved search, with dedicated page and separation per categories (artist/song/album) for quicker access; and the ability for users to share dashboards with team members by copying and pasting a URL for easier collaboration.
Additionally, the platform boasts upgraded data infrastructure, using a multi-cloud architecture incorporating Amazon Web Services and Snowflake, making it faster and more flexible than any of its predecessors. It is designed to ingest thousands of data sources and present them as valuable insights and trends about consumer engagement and behavior, with data exchange and API support available for customers who require data ingestion into their own systems and platforms.
The platform also incorporates more comprehensive artist metadata, including country of origin, language(s) and label information. Additionally, users can drill down to the ISRC or EAN/UPC level, as well as break out the data by different criteria; they also have the ability to separate all activities from Charts Equivalent by providing a dedicated âcharts view.â The platform also includes international market-level data via new global filters â an improvement from Music Connect, which largely represents North America â giving users the ability to drill down to key international data from specific countries.
Lastly, the new platform incorporates support for new forms of consumption, including short-form video and gaming environments.
In the coming quarters, Luminate will integrate its other data offerings into the new platform, including music audience research, film metadata, TV metadata and streaming video analytics. New data provider partners will also be announced in the coming weeks.
âLuminateâs new platform was designed in collaboration with some of our most valued partners across the entertainment industry,â said Luminate chief product officer Arnaud Retureau. âTheir feedback was invaluable to our efforts in providing a user experience that is beneficial to the entire music community, especially in creating a central reference point pertaining to baseline consumption metrics and expert insights. Weâre looking forward to continuing to engage with that feedback to maintain the most effective and useful product possible.â
Luminateâs team is currently on the ground at Music Biz, where theyâre scheduled to participate in featured speaking sessions and curated music data programming and will be offering demos of the new platform for industry professionals. You can learn more about their presence at the conference here.
Luminate rebranded in March 2022 and was previously known as Nielsen Music and P-MRC Data.