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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). That’s 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 — some of whom, like Universal Music Group, have endorsed a system that rewards their music with better royalty payouts — 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 — who may be distributed by companies owned by the majors — but also independent musicians, bedroom producers using inexpensive digital audio workstations and a variety of “functional music,” 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. “We see a huge market with many billions of original unique songs, similar to photos,” 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 “a vast and unnavigable number of tracks” of “lower-quality functional content” created to game algorithms and “divert royalties.”
While independently released music and AI content chips away at major labels’ 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 — 67% greater than the No. 2 album, SZA’s SOS. Excluding the No. 1 albums from each half-year period, the remaining top 10 albums’ share of 1.88% in the first half of 2023 was almost equal to the 1.85% in the prior-year period.
Led by Wallen’s “Last Night” and SZA’s “Kill Bill,” 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, what’s 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 — Morgan Wallen’s One Thing At a Time (Big Loud/Mercury/Republic) and SZA’s S.O.S. (TDE/RCA) — 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 — which encompasses Island, Big Loud, Mercury, Cash Money and indie distributor Imperial — 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&M’s 7.75% (Interscope also encompasses Verve Label Group). At the end of the first half of the year, Republic’s current share stands at 12.46% — a remarkable level of consistency that shows the staying power of Republic’s 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.
Republic’s 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 — chiefly Wallen’s album, but also Taylor Swift’s Midnights (one week) and Stray Kids’ 5 Star (one week) — 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 Vert’s new album Pink Tape.
Both Republic’s consistency and Interscope’s 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 Q1’s 16.81% and 2022’s 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 — which includes Motown/Quality Control, Blue Note, Astralwerks, Capitol Christian and indie distributor Virgin Music — 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 — though down significantly from the 6.65% it had at midyear 2022 — 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 — while a strong indicator of recent performance for any label — 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 labels’ 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 year’s 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 Wallen’s monster album One Thing at a Time was the most popular album, while Miley Cyrus’ smash single “Flowers” 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. “Flowers” 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.
‘One Thing’ is Tops: For the tracking period of Dec. 30, 2022, through June 29, 2023, Wallen’s One Thing at a Time was the most popular album in the U.S. The country star’s 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 – the most weeks at No. 1 for any album since Adele’s 21 racked up 24 nonconsecutive weeks in 2011-12.
Concurrently, the One Thing at a Time single “Last Night” 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). “Last Night” spent 13 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the weekly all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart from March through July – the singer-songwriter’s 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 Cyrus’ “Flowers,” with 750.7 million clicks in the first six months of the year. “Flowers” led the Hot 100 eight nonconsecutive weeks from January through early April. It marked Cyrus’ second chart-topper, following 2013’s “Wrecking Ball.”
Equivalent album units – for album titles and chart rankings cited below (but not industry volume numbers) – 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 “Midyear Top 10 Albums in U.S.” chart do not include user-generated content (UGC) streams. UGC streams are included in Luminate’s industry volume numbers and its midyear song streaming rankings. (UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboard’s 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. Luminate’s sales, streaming and airplay data is used to compile Billboard’s weekly charts.
Of One Thing at a Time’s 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 set’s 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, SZA’s December 2022 release SOS (1.982 million equivalent album units), Taylor Swift’s October 2022 release Midnights (1.876 million), Wallen’s January 2021 release Dangerous: The Double Album (1.172 million) and Metro Boomin’s 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 Luminate’s year-end report.
2023’s 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 Boomin’, 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 Séra 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 Luminate’s on-demand streaming charts (below). Luminate’s equivalent album unit totals include SEA and TEA for an album’s songs registered before an album’s 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 – 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 – up from the 49.6 million sold in the first half of 2022. The top-selling album of 2023 so far is Swift’s 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 – 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 Swift’s Midnights, with 430,000 sold. It’s 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 TOGETHER’s 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).
2023’s 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 There’s 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%, ‘Flowers’ Most-Streamed Song: “Flowers,” Cyrus’ 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). SZA’s “Kill Bill” (701.2 million) and Wallen’s “Last Night” (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 Luminate’s industry streaming on-demand volume numbers (above) and its midyear streaming song charts (below). UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboard’s weekly charts.
In general, all songs in the below charts combine the assorted remixes of a song into one overall total. Thus, PinkPantheress’ “Boy’s a Liar” includes activity for its remix with Ice Spice, “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2,” The Weeknd’s “Die for You” includes activity for its remix with Ariana Grande,” and so forth.2023’s Midyear Top 10 Most Streamed Songs in U.S. (On-Demand Audio & Video Combined)1. Miley Cyrus, “Flowers” (750.7 million)2. SZA, “Kill Bill” (701.2 million)3. Morgan Wallen, “Last Night” (642.8 million)4. PinkPantheress, “Boy’s a Liar” (580.7 million)5. Lady Gaga, “Bloody Mary” (531.7 million)6. Rema & Selena Gomez, “Calm Down” (486.3 million)7. Twisted featuring Oliver Tree, “Worth Nothing” (462.7 million)8. J. Cole featuring Amber Coffman & The Cults, “She Knows” (455.6 million)9. Fifty Fifty, “Cupid” (427.7 million)10. Lil Uzi Vert, “Just Wanna Rock” (416.1 million)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through June 29, 2023. Includes UGC streams.
2023’s Midyear Top 10 Most Streamed Songs in U.S. (On-Demand Audio)1. Morgan Wallen, “Last Night” (588.7 million)2. SZA, “Kill Bill” (567.6 million)3. Miley Cyrus, “Flowers” (464.6 million)4. PinkPantheress, “Boy’s a Liar” (370.4 million)5. The Weeknd, “Die for You” (349.8 million)6. Zach Bryan, “Something in the Orange” (331.2 million)7. Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage, “Creepin’” (308.3 million)8. Eslabon Armado x Peso Pluma, “Ella Baila Sola” (307.4 million)9. Morgan Wallen, “You Proof” (303.3 million)10. Taylor Swift, “Anti-Hero” (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 Cyrus’ “Flowers” 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.
2023’s Midyear Top 10 Selling Digital Songs in U.S.1. Miley Cyrus, “Flowers” (380,000)2. Jimin, “Like Crazy” (289,000)3. Morgan Wallen, “Last Night” (217,000)4. Luke Combs, “Fast Car” (126,000)5. Beyoncé, “Cuff It” (119,000)6. Rema & Selena Gomez, “Calm Down” (110,000)7. Taylor Swift, “Anti-Hero” (97,000)8. Lainey Wilson, “Heart Like a Truck” (89,000)9. Ice Spice, “Princess Diana” (87,000)10. Jelly Roll, “Need a Favor” (86,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through June 29, 2023.
‘Heat Waves’ Hottest on Radio: The most-heard song on U.S. radio in the first half of 2023 was Cyrus’ “Flowers,” 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 Billboard’s all-format Radio Songs chart, tying Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” 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 Weeknd’s enduring “Blinding Lights,” which ruled for 26 weeks in 2020.
2023’s Midyear Top 10 Radio Songs in U.S. (Based on Audience Impressions)1. Miley Cyrus, “Flowers” (2.409 billion)2. Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage, “Creepin’” (2.359 billion)3. SZA, “Kill Bill” (1.909 billion)4. The Weeknd, “Die for You” (1.877 billion)5. Taylor Swift, “Anti-Hero” (1.730 billion)6. David Guetta & Bebe Rexha, “I’m Good (Blue)” (1.691 billion)7. Rema & Selena Gomez, “Calm Down” (1.580 billion)8. Harry Styles, “As It Was” (1.362 billion)9. Sam Smith & Kim Petras, “Unholy” (1.275 billion)10. Chris Brown, “Under the Influence” (1.142 billion)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through June 29, 2023.
Luminate has been the music industry’s 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 — and how they’ve kept pace with the evolving business. PAST – Starting with the launch of SoundScan in 1991, Luminate “has continued to […]
Luminate is launching a new platform that will house the company’s global data capabilities across music, film, TV and more, the company announced Monday (May 15).
An improvement from the company’s 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.
“As conversations of uncertainty surrounding AI and other technological advancements begin to inundate the entertainment industry, there’s never been a more pressing time for transparency and objectivity in how data is used across music, film, TV, streaming video content and more,” said Jonas. “Luminate’s new platform is built upon three decades of expertise – 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.”
The platform’s 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 “charts view.” The platform also includes international market-level data via new global filters — an improvement from Music Connect, which largely represents North America — 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.
“Luminate’s new platform was designed in collaboration with some of our most valued partners across the entertainment industry,” said Luminate chief product officer Arnaud Retureau. “Their 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. We’re looking forward to continuing to engage with that feedback to maintain the most effective and useful product possible.”
Luminate’s team is currently on the ground at Music Biz, where they’re 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.
In a year when a lot of country music’s top product was a repeat, Zach Bryan provided a slightly new sonic shade.
His lonesome “Something in the Orange” racked up 432.1 million on-demand audio and video streams to become the most streamed country song of 2022, according to year-end figures provided by Luminate. Likewise, his album American Heartbreak, released May 20, landed at No. 2 among the Top Country Albums, accruing over 1 million total equivalent album units.
American Heartbreak, Luke Combs’ Growin’ Up (No. 7) and Bailey Zimmerman’s Leave the Light On (No. 10) were the only new titles among the top 10 most popular country albums for 2022, ruled by Morgan Wallen’s 2021 release Dangerous: The Double Album for the second year in a row.
In fact, five of the seven albums that repeated among this year’s top 10 finished in the exact same chart position they occupied one year ago: Dangerous, Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) (No. 3), Combs’ This One’s for You (No. 5), Wallen’s If I Know Me (No. 6) and Chris Stapleton’s Traveller (No. 8).
Four of last year’s 10 most streamed country songs were also holdovers from 2021’s top 10, though only one resided in the exact same position: Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” at No. 4. The other three returnees among the top streamers: Wallen’s “Wasted On You” and “Whiskey Glasses,” plus Walker Hayes’ “Fancy Like.”
While the successful titles remained a tad static, the modes of consumption continued to change, with streaming up and music ownership dropping over 20%.
Country’s total on-demand streams, audio and video combined — including user-generated content (UGC) — rose 9.8% to 92.5 billion streams, an increase that trailed the overall industry, which rose 12.4% to 1.27 trillion streams. (Album titles and album chart rankings by equivalent album units do not include UGC streams, but UGC is included in Luminate’s industry volume numbers. UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboard’s weekly charts.)
Country’s total equivalent album units increased by 4.8% to 75.7 million units, compared with the overall industry, which expanded 9.2% to 974.9 million units.
In 2021, album sales grew in the industry, but prerecorded audio purchases slid again in 2022, continuing a trend in the streaming era. Country album sales were down 25%, checking in at 7.1 million. The industry’s album sales dropped 8.2% to 100.1 million. Track sales took a dramatic nosedive — country volume fell 21.1% to 18.8 million units. The overall industry’s track sales deteriorated even more, tumbling 25.1% to 152 million.
Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) claimed the No. 1 position among Top-Selling Country Albums for 2022, repeating her ranking from one year ago behind 228,000 purchases. Cody Johnson’s “ ’Til You Can’t” took Top-Selling Country Digital Song after moving 145,000 units, edging out Hayes’ No. 2 entry, “AA,” by a mere 1,000 purchases.
Additional reporting by Keith Caulfield.
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Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti wrapped 2022 as the most popular album of the year in the U.S., according to music data tracking firm Luminate. Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow’s “Industry Baby” was the year’s top song by on-demand streams, while Harry Styles’ “As It Was” ruled as both the top-streamed song by on-demand audio streams and the most-heard song on the radio. Meanwhile, total music consumption in the U.S. — as measured in equivalent album units — grew by 9.2% in 2022. (View the U.S. 2022 Luminate Year-End Music Report.)
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See the year’s top 10 albums chart, along with other year-end rankings and overall volume numbers, below.
But first, the fine print:
Equivalent album units – for album titles and chart rankings cited below (but not industry volume numbers) – 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 Luminate’s industry volume numbers. (UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboard’s 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.
Luminate’s equivalent album unit totals include SEA and TEA for an album’s songs registered before an album’s release, but during the tracking period. For example, Harry Styles’ Harry’s House album unit total includes SEA and TEA for its song “As It Was” from April 1, 2022 (its release day) through May 19, 2022, before the album was released on May 20, 2022.
Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991 when the company was known as SoundScan. Luminate’s sales, streaming and airplay data is used to compile Billboard’s weekly charts. Luminate’s 2022 tracking year ran from Dec. 31, 2021, through Dec. 29, 2022.
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.
Highlights from Luminate’s 2022 year-end data:
Music consumption in the U.S., as measured by equivalent album units, grew by 9.2%
Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti is the first Latin album, all-Spanish-language title, and non-English-language effort to be Luminate’s year-end No. 1 album, since the firm began tracking data in 1991.
Children’s music and Latin music had the largest growth among Luminate’s core genres in the U.S., rising 30% and 28.2%, respectively.
Overall U.S. on-demand song streams (audio and video combined) increased 12.2% to 1.268 trillion.
Yearly U.S. on-demand audio streams surpassed 1 trillion for the first time.
29% of all on-demand audio streams in the U.S. in 2022 were R&B/hip-hop songs.
U.S. vinyl album sales outsold CDs for the second year in a row & vinyl sales grew for a 17th consecutive year.
43% of all albums sold in 2022 in the U.S. – across all formats, physical & digital combined – were vinyl LPs.
Taylor Swift sold more vinyl albums than any act in 2022 in the U.S., accounting for 1 of every 25 vinyl LPs sold nationwide.
Total U.S. album sales for the year (physical and digital download purchases combined) fell by 8.2%
Swift’s latest album Midnights sold 1.8 million in traditional album sales in the U.S. in 2022 – the biggest-selling album of any year since 2017, when Swift’s Reputation sold 1.9 million. Further, an album by Swift has been the year’s top seller in three of the last four years: Midnights in 2022, Folklore in 2020 and Lover in 2019.
U.S. digital track sales declined for the 10th consecutive year, falling 25% in 2022. And for the first time since 2004, no song sold more than 500,000 downloads in a calendar year. From 2005-21, there was at least one song that sold a million downloads in each year, and from 2006-21, at least one song sold 1 million each year.
Un Verano Sin Ti debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated May 21, 2022, and spent 13 nonconsecutive weeks atop the list. That marked the most weeks at No. 1 for any album since Drake’s Views also logged 13 frames at No. 1 in 2016. All 22 new songs on Bad Bunny’s album charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously, with the set launching four top 10-charting hits.
Un Verano Sin Ti was a streaming powerhouse, with 97% of its total activity in 2022 coming from on-demand streams of its 23 songs. Its tracks generated 4.649 billion on-demand streams in the U.S. in 2022 – easily making it the most-streamed album of the year (equaling 3.314 million in SEA units). The album sold just 70,000 in traditional album sales (CD and digital album download purchases – it was not available in any other format at retail). In terms of straight album sales – Un Verano Sin Ti was the No. 121st biggest-selling album of the year. And, Un Verano Sin Ti’s tracks sold just 148,000 downloads in 2022 – equaling 15,000 in TEA units.
Un Verano Sin Ti is the first Latin album, all-Spanish-language title, and non-English-language effort to be Luminate’s year-end No. 1 album, since the firm began tracking data in 1991.
2022 is the seventh consecutive year a solo male artist has Luminate’s top album by equivalent album units, following Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album (2021), Lil Baby’s My Turn (2020), Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding (2019), Drake’s Scorpion (2018), Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) (2017) and Drake’s Views (2016). The last time an album not by a solo male was tops for the year was in 2015, when Adele’s 25 ruled.
TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2022 IN U.S., BY TOTAL EQUIVALENT ALBUM UNITS1. Bad Bunny, Un Verano Sin Ti (3.400 million)2. Taylor Swift, Midnights (3.294 million)3. Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album (2.405 million)4. Harry Styles, Harry’s House (2.204 million)5. The Weeknd, The Highlights (1.879 million)6. Soundtrack, Encanto (1.839 million)7. Future, I Never Liked You (1.460 million)8. Olivia Rodrigo, Sour (1.438 million)9. Lil Durk, 7220 (1.357 million)10. Drake, Certified Lover Boy (1.317 million)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 31, 2021, through Dec. 29, 2022. UGC streams are not included in this chart, but are included in Luminate’s on-demand streaming charts (below).
The second-biggest album of 2022 by equivalent album units is Taylor Swift’s Midnights, with 3.294 million units earned in just 10 weeks (the album was released on Oct. 21, 2022). Unlike the streaming-powered Un Verano Sin Ti, the Midnights album saw its success distributed more evenly across streaming, album purchases and track sales.
Midnights was by far the top-selling album of 2022, with 1.818 million copies sold – the biggest-selling album of a calendar year since 2017, when Swift’s own Reputation was tops (1.903 million). Midnights’ songs generated 1.854 million on-demand official streams last year, equating to 1.407 million SEA units. And, in terms of tracks sold from the album, Midnights’ collected songs sold 680,000 – resulting in 68,000 TEA units for the set. The album’s “Anti-Hero” is also 2022’s top-selling digital song, with 436,000 sold.
Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album is 2022’s No. 3-biggest album by units (2.405 million). It was 2021’s top album. Harry Styles’ Harry’s House (2.203 million) and The Weeknd’s hits compilation The Highlights (1.879 million) round out Luminate’s top five albums of 2022.
TOTAL ALBUM CONSUMPTION INCREASES 9.2%: Equivalent album units increased by 9.2% in 2022, to 974.9 million (up from 893.1 million in 2021). There were 19 albums that earned at least 1 million equivalent album units in 2022 – down from 26 in 2021.
R&B/HIP-HOP LEADS, LATIN & CHILDRENS MUSIC GAINS: R&B/hip-hop music continues to have the largest share of total album consumption, with 261.7 million units earned in 2022 – accounting for 26.8% of total volume (973.9) last year across all of Luminate’s core genres measured. R&B/hip-hop consumption increased 5.7% in 2022 over its volume in 2021 (247.5 million). (R&B/hip-hop is an umbrella genre for Luminate that contains most titles categorized as either R&B and/or rap.)
2022’s second-largest genre, by total album consumption, was rock with 194.7 million units (up 9% from 178.7 million in 2021). Pop music was third, with 123.7 million (up 6.2% from 116.5 million) and country music was fourth, with 75.7 million (up 4.8% from 72.2 million). The Latin genre rounded out the top five with 61.7 million units (up 28.2%) from 48.2 million in 2021.
Latin music had the second-largest percentage gain among Luminate’s core genres, in terms of total album consumption in 2022, rising 28.2%. Notably, Bad Bunny holds the top four Latin albums of 2022 by units earned: Un Verano Sin Ti (3.398 million units), YHLQMDLG (802,000), El Ultimo Tour del Mundo (577,000) and X 100PRE (386,000). Rauw Alejandro’s Vice Versa is 2022’s No. 5 biggest Latin album, with 375,000 units. (Those five albums, in order, are also the five total Latin albums among the year-end all-genre top 200 albums, ranking at Nos. 1, 40, 83, 179 and 186, respectively.)
2022’s second-largest gain among Luminate’s core genres was children’s music, which increased 30% to 13.4 million units in 2022 (up from 10.3 million in 2021). The genre was got a big boost from the massive success of the soundtrack to the Disney animated film Encanto, which finished the year as the No. 6 album overall with 1.839 million units. The set topped the weekly Billboard 200 chart for nine nonconsecutive weeks – the most weeks at No. 1 for any soundtrack since Disney’s own Frozen ruled for 13 nonconsecutive frames in 2014. The Encanto album – which boasts the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” – also racked up 24 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Kid Albums chart (which ranks the most popular children’s albums of the week).
TAYLOR SWIFT’S ‘MIDNIGHTS’ IS 2022’s TOP-SELLING ALBUM: Taylor Swift’s latest studio album Midnights was a monster sales success in the U.S., closing 2022 as the top-selling album of the year with 1.818 million copies sold across all formats (physical and digital combined: CD, vinyl LP, cassette, digital download album). (See the top 10-selling albums of 2022, below.)
With 1.818 million sold in 2022, Midnights is the biggest-selling album of any year since 2017, when Swift’s Reputation sold 1.903 million. Further, an album by Swift has been the year’s top-seller in three of the last four years: Midnights in 2022, Folklore in 2020 and Lover in 2019. (The top-selling album in 2021 was Adele’s 30, with 1.464 million sold.)
Midnights’ sales were bolstered by an array of available versions and variants of the album, including four standard CD editions (each with different cover art, both clean and explicit), four vinyl LP editions (each with a different cover and colored vinyl), a cassette tape and multiple digital iterations (including a “3am Edition” of the set with seven bonus tracks). Target stores also carried an exclusive “Lavender” edition of the album on CD and colored-vinyl, with the CD boasting three bonus tracks.
To further enhance sales, Swift’s official webstore sold signed copies of the four standard CD albums and vinyl LPs during a pre-order window before the album launched. As previously reported when the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, some superfans may have been motivated to purchase all four variants of the album on either CD or vinyl, as the back covers of the albums fit together like a puzzle to display a clock face (a literal reference to Midnights). Swift shared the news through her social media in mid-September, saying: “If you put all the back covers together, she’s a clock. It’s a clock… It makes a clock.” (Swift’s official webstore previously sold hardware to hold the four CDs or the four vinyl LPs together as a wall clock.)
The idea of assembling multiple versions of an album’s back cover (or cover) together to reveal a larger complete image isn’t unique to Swift, as other acts (frequently in the K-pop world) have employed a similar marketing idea.
And, It’s not unusual for many artists to offer collectible variants of a physical album package – from multiple color vinyl editions to collectible CD editions and beyond. (Swift herself has done it for previous releases.) In 2022, acts ranging from Ghost, Ozzy Osbourne and Red Hot Chili Peppers to BLACKPINK, Madonna and Harry Styles all leaned in to the practice of offering multiple iterations of a physical album where usually the only difference is in packaging or the color of a vinyl LP.
Midnights was the only album to sell a million copies in the U.S. in 2022. It’s the fifth year in a row where just one album surpassed 1 million in U.S. sales. In 2021, Adele’s 30 was the only million-seller (1.464 million); in 2020, Swift’s Folklore was tops (1.276 million); in 2019, Swift’s Lover was the lone million-seller (1.085 million), and in 2018 the soundtrack to The Greatest Showman ruled with 1.489 million.
Swift is the only act to have the top-selling album of the year at least six times since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. (Swift also had the top-seller in 2020, 2019, 2017, 2014 and 2009.)
All but two of the year’s top 10-selling albums were aided by their availability on vinyl LP. Of the top 10, BTS’ Proof and TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s Minisode 2: Thursday’s Child were the only titles not available on vinyl (the two K-pop projects were only available as digital download albums and on CD). It’s typical for many K-pop albums to bypass a release on vinyl LP in the U.S.
TOP 10 SELLING ALBUMS OF 2022 IN U.S. (PHYSICAL & DIGITAL SALES COMBINED)1. Taylor Swift, Midnights (1.818 million)2. Harry Styles, Harry’s House (757,000)3. BTS, Proof (422,000)4. Olivia Rodrigo, Sour (354,000)5. Beyoncé, Renaissance (335,000)6. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (310,000)7. Adele, 30 (296,000)8. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city (278,000)9. Michael Jackson, Thriller (236,000)10. TOMORROW X TOGETHER, Minisode 2: Thursday’s Child (229,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 31, 2021, through Dec. 29, 2022.
Taylor Swift sold the most albums in total among all artists in 2022, with 2.928 million sold across her entire catalog and via all formats (physical and digital combined). Harry Styles was the No. 2 biggest-seller with albums, as he sold 1.068 million in 2022.
U.S. ALBUM SALES DECLINE BY 8.2%: Total U.S. album sales fell by 8.2% in 2022 to 100.09 million (down from 108.98 million in 2021). In 2021, album sales posted their first yearly gain in a decade, when sales increased by 6.3%, thanks partly to the release of her hot-selling 30 in that year (2021’s top-selling album). Album sales have declined in every year from 2012-20, and again in 2022, as fans increasingly adopt streaming services as a means to consume music.
Physical album sales (CD, vinyl LP, cassette, etc.) declined by 3.5% to 79.89 million (down from 82.79 million in 2021).
VINYL CONTINUES TO OUTSELL CDS: For the second year in a row, and only the second year since Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991, vinyl albums outsold CD albums. Vinyl continues to be the leading format for album purchases for the second straight year.
Vinyl was the dominant format for album purchases in the U.S. up until the early 1980s. After that, cassettes took hold until the early 1990s, when the CD format blossomed and remained king until 2021.
43.46 million vinyl albums were sold in 2022 (up 4.2% from 41.72 million in 2021). 2022 was the 17th 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. Plus, vinyl LP sales posted their single-largest sales week of the Luminate era when 2.232 million vinyl albums were sold in the week ending Dec. 22.
The top-selling vinyl album of 2022 is Swift’s Midnights, with 945,000 copies sold across all of its vinyl variants and editions (see top 10 list, below). Midnights has the largest yearly sales total for a vinyl album since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. The set also posted the single-largest sales week for a vinyl LP in Luminate history, when it launched with 575,000 copies in its first week.
Eight of the year-end top 10-selling vinyl albums saw their sales enhanced by their availability across multiple variants (including assorted color-vinyl editions). Among the top 10 vinyl sellers, just Tyler, the Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost (No. 6) and Igor (No. 8) were only available in one iteration each.
TOP 10 SELLING VINYL ALBUMS OF 2022 IN U.S.1. Taylor Swift, Midnights (945,000)2. Harry Styles, Harry’s House (480,000)3. Olivia Rodrigo, Sour (263,000)4. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city (254,000)5. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (243,000)6. Tyler, the Creator, Call Me If You Get Lost (211,000)7. Taylor Swift, Folklore (174,000)8. Tyler, the Creator, Igor (172,000)9. Michael Jackson, Thriller (168,000)10. The Beatles, Abbey Road (160,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 31, 2021, through Dec. 29, 2022.
Swift sold the most vinyl albums among all acts in 2022 in the U.S., with 1.695 million sold across her entire catalog. (She sold more vinyl LPs last year than the next two biggest-sellers on vinyl combined: Styles with 719,000 and The Beatles with 553,000.) Swift loomed so large on vinyl in 2022, one out of every 25 vinyl LPs sold last year in the U.S. was a Swift album (1.695 million of 43.46 million).
Vinyl album sales comprised 43.4% of all album sales in the U.S. in 2022 (43.46 million of 100.09 million). Vinyl LPs accounted for 54.4% of all physical album sold last year (43.46 million of 79.89 million). Both sums are Luminate-era records for vinyl’s share of the album sales market in the U.S.
In 2022 there were a total of 88 albums that sold at least 50,000 copies on vinyl – up from 87 in 2021. To compare, only 56 albums on the CD format sold at least 50,000 copies in 2022 (down from 67 in 2021).
CD SALES FALL, K-POP & COLLECTIBLE SETS BOLSTER TOP-SELLERS: 35.87 million CD albums were sold in 2022 (down 11.6% from 40.59 million in 2021), making it the second-most popular format among consumers who bought albums.
The top-selling album on the CD format in 2022 was Midnights with 640,000 copies sold. Swift sold the most CD albums last year, with 923,000 copies sold across her entire catalog of titles. BTS was the No. 2-seller on CD, with 917,000 copies sold.
Notably, of the year’s top 10-selling CD albums (see list, below), seven are K-pop titles (Nos. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10). K-pop titles sell particularly well on the CD format, as many releases in the genre are issued in collectible CD editions, each usually housed in elaborate packaging with branded paper goods contained inside (sometimes with randomized elements).
There are three non-K-pop titles in the year-end top 10 CD albums ranking: Midnights (No. 1), Harry’s House (No. 4) and Beyoncé’s Renaissance (No. 9). Midnights’ CD sales were bolstered by its availability in multiple collectible editions with different cover art, while Harry’s House was issued in zine-CD and casebook CD editions. All three titles were also available in deluxe boxed sets containing branded T-shirts.
TOP 10 SELLING CD ALBUMS OF 2022 IN U.S.1. Taylor Swift, Midnights (640,000)2. BTS, Proof (413,000)3. TOMORROW X TOGETHER, Minisode 2: Thursday’s Child (227,000)4. Harry Styles, Harry’s House (219,000)5. Stray Kids, ODDINARY (204,000)6. TWICE, Between 1&2 (199,000)7. Stray Kids, MAXIDENT (177,000)8. ENHYPEN, Manifesto: Day 1 (173,000)9. Beyoncé, Renaissance (163,000)10. NCT 127, 2 Baddies (148,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 31, 2021, through Dec. 29, 2022.
Digital album sales were the third-most popular format in 2022 for album purchases, and the category declined by 22.9% in 2022 to 20.2 million (down from 26.17 million in 2021). The top-selling digital album of 2022 was Midnights, with 219,000 sold. Swift was also the top-selling act across digital albums in 2022, with 292,000 download albums sold across her catalog in total. Beyoncé was the second-best selling act in digital album sales in 2022, with 69,000 copies sold.
CASSETTE TAPES SPIN BIG GAIN: In 2022, sales of albums on cassette tape in the U.S. increased by 28% to 440,000 (up from 343,000 in 2021). That’s a robust figure for a format that was mostly non-existent a few years ago, when yearly cassette sales numbered just 74,000 in 2015. Now a niche offering marketed to superfans, cassettes were once the leading format for album purchases in the U.S., from the early 1980s until the early 1990s.
The top-selling album on cassette in 2022 was the soundtrack to Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, with 17,000 copies sold. Two more Guardians-related titles dot the top 10 (at Nos. 3 and 6). As actual cassette mixtapes feature prominently in the Guardians’ storyline, it makes sense that a real-world cassette album offering, mirroring those seen in the films and series, could be a solid seller. (The three Guardians tapes that rank in the year-end top 10 have sold, combined, more than 238,000 since their release a number of years ago.)
TOP 10 SELLING CASSETTE ALBUMS OF 2022 IN U.S.1. Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 (17,000)2. Taylor Swift, Midnights (14,000)3. Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 (13,000)4. Harry Styles, Harry’s House (11,000)5. Billie Eilish, Happier Than Ever (8,000)6. Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Mix, Vol. 1 (8,000)7. Nirvana, Bleach (7,000)8. Bo Burnham, Inside (The Songs) (5,000)9. Bad Bunny, YHLQMDLG (5,000)10. Ghost, Impera (5,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 31, 2021, through Dec. 29, 2022.
TOTAL STREAMING INCREASES BY 12.2%: Total U.S. on-demand song streams (audio and video combined, inclusive of UGC streams) grew 12.2% to 1.268 trillion in 2022 (up from 1.130 trillion in 2021). Yearly on-demand audio streams (inclusive of UGC) bolted past the 1 trillion mark for the first time, rising 12.2% to 1.108 trillion in 2022 (up from 988.15 billion in 2021).
The R&B/hip-hop genre accounted for the most on-demand streams (audio and video combined, inclusive of UGC) in 2022, among Luminate’s core genres, with 28.6% of the year’s volume (362.77 billion of 1.268 trillion). In 2021, R&B/hip-hop represented a leading 30.1% of volume.
The rock genre had the second-largest share of on-demand song streams (audio and video combined, inclusive of UGC) in 2022, with 16.7% of the volume (210.71 billion of 1.268 trillion). Pop was third with 13.1% (166.65 billion of 1.268 trillion). Latin overtook country as the fourth-largest genre in on-demand streams, with 7.8% of the volume (99.08 billion of 1.268 trillion), while country was in fifth place with 7.3% (92.52 billion of 1.268 trillion). In 2021, Latin had 77.37 billion streams versus country’s 84.26 billion, when they were in fifth and fourth place, respectively.
In terms of year-over-year growth in total on-demand streams (audio and video combined, inclusive of UGC) among Luminate’s core genres, children’s music had the largest percentage increase in 2022, rising 35.5% (to 17.02 billion, up from 12.56 billion in 2021). World music (an umbrella genre which includes, among its many sounds and styles, most K-pop music), had the second-biggest percentage increase, climbing 28.5% (to 26.98 billion, up from 21.01 billion in 2021). Latin had the third-largest gain, spiking 28.1% (to 99.08 billion, up from 77.37 billion in 2021).
Looking just at on-demand audio streams for 2022 (inclusive of UGC), R&B/hip-hop led the way with 28.7% of volume (318.02 billion of 1.108 trillion). Rock (17.1%; 190.82 billion of 1.108 trillion), pop (12.5%; 138.97 billion of 1.108 trillion), country (7.8%; 85.91 billion of 1.108 trillion) and Latin (7.3%; 80.35 billion of 1.108 trillion) were Nos. 2-5 for the year, as they were in 2021.
The genres that saw the largest percentage growth in year-over-year on-demand audio streams (inclusive of UGC) were Latin music (up 31.5% to 80.35 billion; up from 61.12 billion in 2021), children’s music (up 30.6% to 14.43 billion; up from 11.05 billion in 2021) and world music (up 27.5% to 21.8 billion; up from 17.09 billion in 2021).
Note: UGC streams are included in Luminate’s industry streaming on-demand volume numbers and its year-end streaming song charts. UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboard’s weekly charts.
‘BABY’ & STYLES LEAD STREAMS: Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow’s co-billed smash “Industry Baby” was the most-streamed song of 2022 in the U.S., with 877.25 million on-demand audio and video streams combined (inclusive of UGC). “Industry Baby” garnered a sizable number of streams via user-generated video content. The most-streamed song by on-demand audio streams (inclusive of UGC) was Harry Styles’ “As It Was,” with 609.67 million clicks.
The most-streamed song of 2021 was Dua Lipa’s “Levitating,” with 804.71 million on-demand audio and video streams (inclusive of UGC), and it was also the top song by on-demand audio streams (inclusive of UGC) with 626.56 million.
See the top 10 most-streamed songs, below.
TOP 10 MOST STREAMED SONGS OF 2022 IN U.S., ON-DEMAND (AUDIO & VIDEO COMBINED)1. Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow, “Industry Baby” (877.25 million)2. Harry Styles, “As It Was” (763.45 million)3. Glass Animals, “Heat Waves” (758.07 million)4. Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” (684.90 million)5. Imagine Dragons X JID, “Enemy” (627.61 million)6. The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber, “Stay” (622.39 million)7. Kodak Black, “Super Gremlin” (609.88 million)8. Future featuring Drake & Tems, “Wait for U” (602.69 million)9. Bad Bunny & Chencho Corleone, “Me Porto Bonito” (565.38 million)10. Bad Bunny, “Titi Me Pregunto” (551.57 million)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 31, 2021, through Dec. 29, 2022. Includes UGC streams.
TOP 10 MOST STREAMED SONGS OF 2022 IN U.S., ON DEMAND AUDIO1. Harry Styles, “As It Was” (609.67 million)2. Glass Animals, “Heat Waves” (528.73 million)3. Future featuring Drake & Tems, “Wait for U” (507.89 million)4. Bad Bunny & Chencho Corleone, “Me Porto Bonito” (471.36 million)5. Kodak Black, “Super Gremlin” (471.15 million)6. Bad Bunny, “Titi Me Pregunto” (451.12 million)7. Jack Harlow, “First Class” (433.93 million)8. Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” (421.80 million)9. Steve Lacy, “Bad Habit” (421.09 million)10. Zach Bryan, “Something In the Orange” (406.79 million)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 31, 2021, through Dec. 29, 2022. Includes UGC streams.
DIGITAL TRACK SALES FALL 25%: For the first time since 2004, no song sold more than 500,000 downloads in a calendar year in the U.S. And, 2022 marked the first year since 2005 that no song sold 1 million.
Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” was the year’s top-selling digital song in 2022, with 436,000 paid downloads. And, total digital track sales declined for a 10th consecutive year, falling 25% in 2022 to 151.90 million sold (down from 202.92 million in 2021).
In 2021, the top-selling digital song was BTS’ “Butter,” with 1.89 million sold.
The last time a year closed without a million-selling digital song was 2005, when Weezer’s “Beverly Hills” was the top-seller with 962,000. The last year without a song surpassing 500,000 was 2004, when Hoobastank’s “The Reason” was the top-selling digital song, with 380,000 sold. (2004 was also the first full year of the iTunes Store, which launched mid-2003.)
TOP 10 SELLING DIGITAL SONGS OF 2022 IN U.S.1. Taylor Swift, “Anti-Hero” (436,000)2. Lizzo, “About Damn Time” (217,000)3. Latto, “Big Energy” (206,000)4. Elton John & Dua Lipa, “Cold Heart” (202,000)5. Kate Bush, “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” (188,000)6. Harry Styles, “As It Was” (183,000)7. Nicki Minaj, “Super Freaky Girl” (172,000)8. Cody Johnson, “Til You Can’t” (145,000)9. Walker Hayes, “AA” (144,000)10. Sia, “Unstoppable” (143,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 31, 2021 through Dec. 29, 2022.
‘IT WAS’ BIG ON THE RADIO: Harry Styles’ “As It Was” rules 2022 as the biggest song on the radio, as it collected 3.001 billion audience impressions across all monitored radio stations. Audience impressions are measured by cross-referencing plays with Nielsen Audio audience data – 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 2022 IN U.S. (BASED ON AUDIENCE IMPRESSIONS)1. Harry Styles, “As It Was” (3.001 billion)2. Glass Animals, “Heat Waves” (2.789 billion)3. The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber, “Stay” (2.779 billion)4. Lizzo, “About Damn Time” (2.344 billion)5. Justin Bieber, “Ghost” (2.325 billion)6. Latto, “Big Energy” (2.205 billion)7. Lil Nas X, “Thats What I Want” (2.064 billion)8. Ed Sheeran, “Bad Habits” (2.060 billion)9. Adele, “Easy On Me” (1.963 billion)10. Jack Harlow, “First Class” (1.859 billion)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 31, 2021, through Dec. 29, 2022.