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Taylor Swift dominated the U.S. market in 2023 by accounting for 1.8% of music consumption and one out of every 78 audio streams, according to Luminate’s 2023 year-end report released Wednesday (Jan. 10). But even without Swift, last year Americans streamed a record amount of music and purchased more albums than the year before. 

U.S. music consumption grew 12.6% in 2023 to 1.1 billion units (measured as album sales plus track equivalent albums and streaming equivalent albums). With that double-digit gain, the U.S. market easily exceeded the 9.2% improvement from 2022 and had its biggest one-year gain since consumption grew 15% in 2019.  

The streaming market picked up momentum in 2023 despite on-demand services already reaching mainstream status and subscription prices increasing in recent years. On-demand song streaming — both audio and video — climbed 14.6% to 1.5 trillion streams, an improvement on the 12.2% growth in 2022 and 10% growth in 2021. On-demand audio streams from services such as Spotify and Apple Music rose 12.7% to 1.2 trillion.  

It was another good year for vinyl LPs and CDs as consumers continued to keep the album format alive in an era of single-serving music. Overall U.S. album sales rose 5.2% to 105.3 million — a rebound from 2022, when overall sales fell by 8.2%. Physical album sales grew 8.9% to 87 million while digital album sales fell 9.3% to 18.3 million.  

Repeating a trend seen in recent years, the music Americans consumed in 2023 got a little older. The share of album consumption for catalog — releases more than 18 months old — was 72.6%, a slight increase from 72.2% in 2022. Total catalog album consumption increased 13.2% to 796.8 million units. Current music’s share of album consumption dropped to 27.4%, though current album consumption still increased in unit terms, rising 10.9% to 300.4 million units.  

In the year it celebrated its 50th anniversary, hip-hop was the most popular genre in the United States with a 25.3% share of album units (album sales plus track equivalent albums plus streaming equivalent albums) — even though no hip-hop song topped the Hot 100 until Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” did it in September. Rock was No. 2 with a 19.4% share and pop was No. 3 with a 12.3% share. Country and Latin rounded out the top five with 8.4% and 6.9% shares, respectively.  

Rock led album sales with a 41.5% share, more than triple No. 2 hip-hop’s 12.9% share and No. 3 pop’s 12.7% share. Country was No. 4 with a 7.8% share and World — mainly K-pop — was No. 5 with a 6.9% share. 

In terms of growth rate, World music — which also includes J-pop, or Japanese pop, and Afrobeats — topped all other genres with a 26.2% increase in U.S. on-demand audio streams to 5.7 billion. No. 2 Latin was close behind with 24.1% growth but was far larger with 19.4 billion on-demand audio streams. Country was No. 3 in terms of growth, up 23.7% and with a total of 20.4 billion on-demand audio streams.  

On the other end of the spectrum was comedy, which excels at YouTube and TikTok but lost 10.2% of its on-demand audio streams in 2023. New age fell 6.9% and children’s music dropped 6.2%.  

Led by Peso Pluma, Regional Mexican grew 60% to 21.9 billion U.S. on-demand audio streams, with Peso ranking No. 43 overall in U.S. on-demand audio streams with 1.9 billion. Another rising Regional Mexican artist, the group Eslabon Armado, amassed 1.3 billion U.S. on-demand audio streams — good for No. 71 overall.  

J-pop totaled 1.67 billion on-demand audio streams (of J-pop tracks ranked in the top 10,000 world music songs). J-pop’s success comes from a youth movement: Fans are 95% more likely than the general population to be Generation Z and 94% more likely to identify as LGBTQ+, according to Luminate. 

Direct-to-consumer album sales increased 38.6% to 11.8 million units as record labels put greater resources behind selling albums to their fans from artist and label websites. Rock was the D2C leader with a 38.6% share, followed by pop with 18.3% and R&B/hip-hop with 13.2%. D2C vinyl sales grew by 1.9 million to 6.8 million, up from 4.8 million in 2022. D2C CD sales rose 400,000 units to 3.9 million, up from 3.5 million.

The average U.S. monthly spend on music increased to $116 in the third quarter of 2023 from $96 in the prior-year quarter. That was about even with the $117 average monthly spend seen in the full-year 2021. Live music accounted for 62% of average monthly spend.  

Globally, on-demand song streams — both audio and video — reached 7.1 trillion, up 33.7% from 2022. Global audio on-demand streams totaled 4.1 trillion, up 22.3%. 

The United States ranked first globally in total streaming volume with 1.45 trillion, approximately 40% ahead of No. 2 India’s 1.04 trillion and nearly four times No. 3 Brazil’s 374 billion. But India ranked No. 1 in new net streams with 463.7 billion, an increase of 81% from 2022, while the United States ranked No. 2 with 184 billion net new streams and Indonesia was No. 3 with 93.1 billion net new streams (and No. 5 in total streams with 235.5 billion).

Morgan Wallen’s 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 album’s lead single, “Last Night,” was the year’s most-streamed song by on-demand audio streams, while Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” was the most-heard song on the radio. Total music consumption in the U.S. – as measured in equivalent album units – increased by 12.6% in 2023. (View the U.S. 2023 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 industry 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 reflect U.S. consumption 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 of Dec. 30, 2022, through Dec. 28, 2023.

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 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 Luminate’s 2023 year-end data:

Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time was Luminate’s top album of 2023. It’s the second time Wallen has led the year-end list. He also was tops in 2021 with Dangerous: The Double Album.

On Luminate’s 2023 U.S. year-end top 10 most popular albums ranking, Taylor Swift has five of the top 10 titles – 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 – inclusive of the Korean pop (K-pop) genre – had the largest percentage gain year-over-year.

Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” tallied 1.015 billion U.S. on-demand audio streams in 2023 — 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.

Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s 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 – 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. – across all configurations, physical & digital combined – 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%.

Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) sold 1.975 million in traditional album sales in the U.S. in 2023 – 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 Adele’s 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 Luminate’s year-end No. 1 album, after his previous release, Dangerous: The Double Album, in 2021. Wallen is the first artist to have Luminate’s 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 Time’s 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 album’s 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 Luminate’s year-end top album is by a solo male artist. The last time a solo male didn’t finish at No. 1 was in 2015, when Adele’s 25 ruled.

One Thing at a Time’s 5.362 million equivalent album units earned in 2023 is the largest sum for any album measured in a calendar year since 2015, when Adele’s 25 tallied 8.008 million and was the year’s top album.

One Thing at a Time spun off the massive multi-format chart hit “Last Night,” 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 (Taylor’s 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 (Taylor’s 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 Luminate’s 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 Luminate’s year-end top 10 – the first time any act has placed that many albums among Luminate’s year-end top 10 since the company began tracking data in 1991. Previously, the most titles any single act had among the year’s top 10 was three, achieved by Garth Brooks in 1993.

On Luminate’s year-end top 10 albums ranking, Swift is found at No. 2 (Midnights, 3.209 million units), No. 4 (1989 [Taylor’s Version], 2.872 million), No. 6 (Lover, 1.875 million), No. 8 (Speak Now [Taylor’s Version], 1.775 million) and No. 9 (Folklore, 1.612 million). Just two of those albums were released in 2023: Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version). Midnights was issued in late 2022, while Folklore bowed in 2020 and Lover arrived in 2019. All of Swift’s 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 year’s top 10-selling vinyl albums and three of the top 10-selling CD albums. She’s 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 – 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 – equating to 25.3% of total volume (1.097 billion units) last year across all of Luminate’s 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-hop’s 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.)

2023’s 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 Luminate’s core genres, year-over-year, the world music genre had the biggest increase in 2023. The genre’s 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 Luminate’s 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 SWIFT’S ‘1989 (TAYLOR’S VERSION)’ IS 2023’s TOP-SELLING ALBUM: Taylor Swift’s most recent release, and her fourth re-recorded project, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), was 2023’s 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 (Taylor’s Version) (1.975 million)2. Taylor Swift, Midnights (973,000)3. Taylor Swift, Speak Now (Taylor’s 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 (Taylor’s Version) is the biggest-selling album of any year since 2015, when Adele’s 25 sold 7.441 million copies. An album by Swift has been the year’s top-seller in six of the last 10 years: 1989 (Taylor’s 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 (Taylor’s 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 (Taylor’s 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 (Taylor’s 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 (“Sweeter Than Fiction”). The set was also issued in two download editions – a standard 21-song version and a deluxe 22-track edition which adds a re-recorded version of the album’s “Bad Blood,” 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 (Taylor’s Version) (1.014 million)2. Taylor Swift, Speak Now (Taylor’s 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 There’s 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 Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s 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 – the most of any artist. (Lana Del Rey was the second-biggest selling act on vinyl in 2023, with 646,000 sold.) Swift’s vinyl sales accounted for 7% of the industry’s 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 vinyl’s 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 – 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. Swift’s 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 (Taylor’s 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 (Taylor’s 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 Swift’s 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. Swift’s 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 – 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 artist’s webstore and in collectible editions. In 2023, the Billboard 200 chart saw No. 1 albums that boasted a cassette configuration from Blink-182’s One More Time, Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts and Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Speak Now (Taylor’s 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 Luminate’s core genres, with 26.6% of the year’s 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 Luminate’s 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 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.

‘LAST NIGHT’ SURPASSED 1 BILLION ON-DEMAND AUDIO STREAMS: Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” was the most-streamed song of 2023 in the U.S. by on-demand audio streams (inclusive of UGC), with 1.015 billion – the most U.S. on-demand audio streams a song has earned in a calendar year.

“Last Night” is the second song to surpass 1 billion on-demand audio streams in a calendar year in the U.S., following Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” (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, “Last Night” (1.015 billion)2. SZA, “Kill Bill” (802.60 million)3. Zach Bryan, “Something in the Orange” (656.07 million)4. Miley Cyrus, “Flowers” (634.42 million)5. SZA, “Snooze” (550.83 million)6. The Weeknd, “Die for You” (539.29 million)7. Eslabon Armado x Peso Pluma, “Ella Baila Sola” (526.34 million)8. Luke Combs, “Fast Car” (525.51 million)9. Morgan Wallen, “You Proof” (517.58 million)10. Taylor Swift, “Cruel Summer” (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 Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” 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, “Try That in a Small Town” (497,000)2. Miley Cyrus, “Flowers” (428,000)3. Oliver Anthony Music, “Rich Men North of Richmond” (358,000)4. Morgan Wallen, “Last Night” (302,000)5. Jimin, “Like Crazy” (296,000)6. Luke Combs, “Fast Car” (251,000)7. Jung Kook featuring Latto, “Seven” (228,000)8. Jelly Roll, “Need a Favor” (181,000)9. Jung Kook, “Standing Next to You” (163,000)10. Rema & Selena Gomez, “Calm Down” (159,000)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022 through Dec. 28, 2023.

CYRUS’ ‘FLOWERS’ BLOOMED ON RADIO: Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” 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 – 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, “Flowers” (3.919 billion)2. Rema & Selena Gomez, “Calm Down” (3.643 billion)3. Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage, “Creepin’” (3.529 billion)4. The Weeknd, “Die for You” (2.628 billion)5. SZA, “Kill Bill” (2.623 billion)6. Taylor Swift, “Anti-Hero” (2.491 billion)7. David Guetta & Bebe Rexha, “I’m Good (Blue)” (2.448 billion)8. Morgan Wallen, “Last Night” (2.435 billion)9. Luke Combs, “Fast Car” (2.358 billion)10. Harry Styles, “As It Was” (2.199 billion)Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2022, through Dec. 28, 2023.

Universal Music chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge has released his annual New Year’s memo to staff today (Jan. 9), and used the moment to largely congratulate the world’s largest music company on what was, by many metrics, a huge year for the label and publishing conglomerate.
In his 2,500 word note, obtained by Billboard, Grainge went over many of the points that he raised in his New Year’s note in 2023, when he called for an “updated model” for the music industry, calling for streaming royalty reform in the face of increased fraud and a flood of non-artist music on platforms, and a forward-looking policy in confronting the challenges and opportunities brought by AI, including government protections for copyright and creators. And in this year’s letter, he touted UMG’s achievements on those fronts in the past year, citing the “several global platforms, including the world’s largest music platform, have already adopted artist-centric principles that will transform the way artists are compensated for their work,” referencing new royalty models proposed by Deezer, Spotify and others.

And on the AI front, Grainge cited UMG’s Responsible AI initiative, which lobbied the U.S. Congress on behalf of creators in protecting their works, as well as UMG’s partnership with YouTube to allow artists to develop tools to be able to utilize the advances that AI has brought. Grainge also mentioned UMG’s efforts in the spaces of health and wellness, climate change, sustainability and societal change, through its many task forces and foundations that have fought to promote and donate to coalitions that have helped feed the homeless, promote initiatives that use music to contribute to improved mental and physical health and other initiatives, including increased health care opportunities for musicians and their families.

And he also touted the massive success of UMG’s artists, publishing clients and labels, which dominated year-end charts, including Billboard’s. “To put it succinctly: UMG is the most successful company in the history of the music industry and every one of us should be enormously proud of what we have accomplished together, let alone what I know we will accomplish going forward,” Grainge wrote.

In shifting towards the future, Grainge first noted that UMG had continued its global expansion in the past year, particularly through the expansion and restructuring of distribution company Virgin Music Group, in the Middle East/Northa Africa, Thailand, India and China, to name a few. That is a plan that Grainge says promises to continue: “We will keep growing our presence around the world by doing just what we do in more established music markets: signing and developing local artists; providing local labels and entrepreneurs with global promotion, distribution, and a full suite of artist services; and acquiring local labels, catalogs and artist services businesses.”

In terms of other plans for 2024, Grainge notes that “both the pace of change and our industry leadership will increase significantly.”

In his 2023 note, Grainge wrote about the importance of addressing streaming royalty reform and making sure artists get their deserved share of the royalty pie; in 2024, he’s focused more on “grow[ing] the pie for all artists, by strengthening the artist-fan relationship through superfan experiences and products.” Grainge says that will be accomplished both through internal improvements and through partnerships with various platforms. And he promised to continue their already-underway push in protecting and promoting creators’ voices in the AI discussion.

“In short,” Grainge writes, “We are creating the blueprint for the labels of the future.”

What that blueprint may look like is still to come, however; Grainge also notes that the company will “further evolve our organizational structure,” suggesting that changes to how the overall company operates are on the horizon.

“As you know, over the past several years, we have been investing in future growth, not just expanding geographically and leveraging new technologies, but building our e-commerce and D2C operations,” Grainge writes. “In 2024, as we continue our industry-leading investments in A&R and artist development, we will further evolve our organizational structure to create efficiencies in other areas of the business, so we can remain nimble and responsive to opportunities as they arise, while also taking advantage of the benefits of our scale. In the face of so much change and opportunity, standing still is never an option.”

Read Grainge’s full New Year’s note to staff below.

Dear Colleagues,

Happy New Year! I want to express my deepest gratitude to every one of you for all of your hard work and also to take a few moments to review with you some of the highlights of 2023 and preview some of what’s to come in 2024.

Once again, 2023 saw Universal Music lead the industry in all major financial and competitive performance metrics, at the same time our artists broke records and topped the charts around the world. To put it succinctly: UMG is the most successful company in the history of the music industry and every one of us should be enormously proud of what we have accomplished together, let alone what I know we will accomplish going forward.

In fact, even beyond our artists’ extraordinary achievements and our financial results, there was so much more to be proud of this year.  

By the beginning of 2023, it had become obvious that if the industry were to continue to thrive and the value of our artists’ work respected, a number of critically important issues would have to be confronted. As the industry leader we had a clear vision of how to address these issues. And then we went out and took bold steps to turn that vision into reality.

Last January, for example, I wrote to you about the streaming royalty model. A new model was needed, one that would properly reward the artist-fan relationship and disincentivize fraud and gaming the system. Because artists are at the center of everything we do, we called it the “Artist-Centric Model.” 

I’m proud to say that in just a matter of months, several global platforms, including the world’s largest music platform, have already adopted artist-centric principles that will transform the way artists are compensated for their work. In the coming months, I believe you will see more platforms adopting these principles. Why? Because it is the right thing to do both for artists and for the wider music ecosystem. As this new model becomes widespread, the impact will be profound: a healthier, more equitable and more vibrant music ecosystem that rewards all artists — be they major, indie or DIY — at all stages of their careers. 

In the same way, we showed the industry the way forward when it came to confronting the challenges and opportunities of AI.

Early on in 2023, many “experts” viewed AI as a looming threat. Our view? Just as we had done with so many other previous proclamations of doom, we rejected that short-sighted appraisal. On the contrary, we saw AI as presenting opportunities. And then, just as we did with streaming, we went out to turn those opportunities into reality.

We launched our Responsible AI initiative this year with two goals in mind. First, to lobby for “guardrails,” that is public policies setting basic rules for AI. In the U.S., for example we are lobbying for legislation that would establish a federal right of publicity to harmonize the protections of artists’ image, likeness and voice from AI deepfakes. We were the first music company to call upon the U.S. Congress to protect artists against unethical uses of AI.

Our second goal was to forge groundbreaking private-sector partnerships with AI technology companies. In the past, new and often disruptive technology was simply released into the world, leaving the music community to develop the model by which artists would be fairly compensated and their rights protected. In a sharp break with that past, we formed a historic relationship with our longtime partner, YouTube, that gives artists a seat at the table before any product goes to market, including helping to shape AI products’ development and a path to monetization.

Because we fundamentally believe the best way to ensure responsible AI development is through partnership and market-led solutions, in addition to YouTube, we are collaborating with several platforms on numerous opportunities and approaches — always with artists at the forefront of our thinking. In addition, our artists have begun working with some of the latest AI technology to develop tools that will enhance and support the creative process and produce music experiences unlike anything that’s been heard before. And to leverage AI technology that would benefit artists, we continue to strike groundbreaking agreements with, among others, Endel and BandLab.

We also advanced our initiatives in areas from health and wellness to sustainability and the environment.

The intersection of music and health is another exciting area about which I am especially passionate. We’ve all had experiences in which music changed our mood or comforted us in times of emotional crisis, or even helped us physically. In fact, it’s one of the reasons why so many of us have chosen to spend our careers in music. I’ve long wanted the powerful relationship between music and health to be more than a handful of subjective observations and anecdotes so that it could become a key component of our strategy.

Building upon our success in creating a robust commercial category in fitness, we’re now leading the industry in music and health. In September, we produced the first-ever Music + Health Summit where we brought our artists together with health entrepreneurs and leading neuroscientists to advance this new category. This came on the heels of us entering into a series of more than 40 license agreements to amplify the possibilities in this space. For example, we are pioneering a new category that we call “prescription music,” an evidence-based health technique built on scientific and medical research. What excites me is that it’s cost-effective, non-invasive and drives truly beneficial results. While it’s a field still in its infancy, this area will become an increasingly important component of our strategy.

In the same spirit of promoting positive change in society, our employees also accomplished amazing things. Throughout 2023, our All Together Now Foundation, Task Force for Meaningful Change, Green Team, Unhoused Coalition, and Employee Matching Program contributed to more than 500 organizations around the world, and supported over 1.2 million meals for those in need.

Moreover, in the more than three years since we established a groundbreaking relationship with the non-profit Music Health Alliance (MHA), 500 UMG and UMPG recording artists, songwriters and their families in the U.S. have received life-changing medical care. With this year’s dramatic jump in the need for mental health care within the artist and songwriter community, the MHA partnership significantly increased its support in that area.

Our efforts to move the industry on issues concerning sustainability and the environment led UMG and Bravado to host the first music industry sustainability summits in L.A., London, and New York. The series brought together industry leaders and innovators who made commitments to institute sustainable solutions across a range of categories including events, merchandise, touring and more. We co-founded the Music Industry Climate Collective, the new music industry alliance to address global climate change. And we became the first standalone major music company to win the approval of its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets by the Science Based Targets initiative, the gold standard for establishing corporate climate goals.

All of these initiatives are of course ultimately powered by the success of our artists and songwriters and the support that our employees around the world provide them. So let’s turn to the achievements of our artists and songwriters which were nothing short of astounding in 2023. Here are just a few examples.

Globally in 2023, UMG had:

On Spotify: Six of the Top 10 global artists: Taylor Swift (at No. 1), The Weeknd, Drake, Feid, Karol G and Lana Del Rey. 

On Apple Music: 13 of the Top 20 most-streamed songs globally, with Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” at No. 1.

On Deezer: The three most-streamed artists worldwide with The Weeknd, Taylor Swift and Imagine Dragons. 

On YouTube: Three of the Top 5 songs, with Toosii’s “Favorite Song” at No. 1.

On Vevo: Karol G was the ‘Most Watched Artist’ for the third consecutive year.

On Amazon: The top two artists (Taylor Swift and Morgan Wallen), three of the Top 5 songs and albums, and the world’s most requested artist on Alexa (Taylor Swift).

And to break it down by region:

On Spotify: The four most-streamed artists in the U.S.: Taylor Swift, Drake, Morgan Wallen and The Weeknd.  

On Apple Music:  Five of the top seven songs in the U.S., with Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” (at No.1), and “You Proof”; Drake & 21 Savage, “Rich Flex” and “Spin Bout U”; and Lil Baby “Freestyle”.

On the Billboard 200: Six of the Top 10 albums—Morgan Wallen’s One thing At A Time (No. 1), Taylor Swift’s Midnights (No. 2), Drake, 21 Savage’s Her Loss, Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains, Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album and Taylor Swift’a Lover;

Republic Records was named Billboard’s top label for the third consecutive year.  

In the UK, according to the Official Charts Company, UMG had seven of the Top 10 artists, including Taylor Swift at No. 1, Drake and The Weeknd in the top five. 

Also in the UK, UMG had all of the three nominees for the prestigious 2024 BRITs Rising Star award, with Island’s The Last Dinner Party taking the award, marking the third consecutive year a UMG artist has won.

In Germany, after having ALL of the Top 10 albums for a week in mid-November, a feat never before accomplished by any company; UMG finished the year with six of the Top 10 albums. 

In Japan, UMG had five of the Top 10 albums according to Billboard Japan, including King & Prince at No. 1, while Ado’s single “Show” held the top spot on the weekly streaming chart for 14 consecutive weeks to finish the year.

In France, UMG had five of the Top 10 tracks overall, and three of the Top 5 tracks on Apple Music. 

In Australia, UMG had the No. 1 album for 34 weeks this year, with albums from Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, Morgan Wallen, Lana Del Rey, Metallica, Peach PRC, Lewis Capaldi, Niall Horan, G Flip, Powderfinger, Olivia Rodrigo, Drake, Troye Sivan and The Rolling Stones.

In Canada, UMG had eight of the Top 10 albums, including albums from Morgan Wallen at No. 1, Taylor Swift, Metro Boomin, and The Weeknd, and held the No. 1 album for 33 weeks this year.

UMG Sweden’s Loreen won the Eurovision Song Contest with her single “Tattoo” and UMG Sweden had five of the Top 10 artists on Spotify.

At the Latin Grammys, Karol G swept three major awards, including Album of the Year, and Juanes won Best Pop/Rock Album, marking his 25th Latin Grammy award. 

Feid continued his massive rise in 2023, as the third most-streamed Latin artist on Spotify, while Sebastián Yatra was recognized as “Artist of the Year” at the 2023 RIAA Honors.

In China, Wu Qingfeng’s Mallarme’s Tuesday won “Album of the Year” at the Golden Melody Awards. 

In Indonesia, “Tak Segampang Itu” by Anggi Marito was the top song of the year on Spotify. 

Juan Karlos became the first artist from the Philippines to enter the Top 100 Global Spotify Charts with his song “Ere,” which was No. 1 in the Philippines for 10 weeks.

Our Universal Music Publishing Group songwriters also performed spectacularly: 

On Spotify’s 2023 most-streamed artists globally, we had four out of the Top 5 (Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, The Weeknd and Drake) and seven out of the Top 10.

On Spotify’s most-streamed albums globally, we had four of the Top 5 (Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, SZA, The Weeknd) and seven of the Top 10.

On Apple Music: UMPG had an interest in seven of the Top 10 most-streamed songs in the U.S.

On Billboard’s Hot 100 Songwriters in the U.S., UMPG had three of the Top 5 with Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff and SZA.

In total, a spectacular performance. We should all be so proud of our artists and songwriters and the work we do to bring their music to the world.

In 2023, we also continued our strategy to expand our presence in high growth markets around the world — both through the strength of our companies in those regions as well as the expansion of Virgin Music Group. 

We acquired Chabaka Music, a leading MENA-based company, as well as a majority stake in RS Group in Thailand.

In India we strengthened our position domestically with an exclusive partnership with Represent, a leading management company. 

In China we signed new long-term agreements with superstar Eason Chan and with 2022’s No. 1 IFPI global album seller Jay Chou, that includes his JVR Music label. 

Looking to 2024, both the pace of change and our industry leadership will increase significantly. We’ll be moving quickly and meaningfully on many different fronts.

Our pioneering artist-centric strategy will extend its reach. We first focused on a fairer way to allocate the streaming pie among real artists by addressing fraud and other aspects that deprive artists of their just compensation. The next focus of our strategy will be to grow the pie for all artists, by strengthening the artist-fan relationship through superfan experiences and products. We are already in advanced discussions with our platform partners regarding this phase and will have more to announce in the coming months. In addition, we will be building our in-house capabilities through groundbreaking partnerships that will accelerate our artists’ ability to create experiential, commerce and content offerings for their fans. In short, we are creating the blueprint for the labels of the future.

As for AI, we will continue building opportunity for our artists, while also leading the fight to protect them from unethical uses of this technology. And all around the world, we will continue to prioritize and fight for policies in the service of artistry — not at the expense of it. We also expect to announce more real-world commercial applications for artist-driven, ethical AI.

We will keep growing our presence around the world by doing just what we do in more established music markets: signing and developing local artists; providing local labels and entrepreneurs with global promotion, distribution, and a full suite of artist services; and acquiring local labels, catalogs and artist services businesses.

As you know, over the past several years, we have been investing in future growth, not just expanding geographically and leveraging new technologies, but building our e-commerce and D2C operations. In 2024, as we continue our industry-leading investments in A&R and artist development, we will further evolve our organizational structure to create efficiencies in other areas of the business, so we can remain nimble and responsive to opportunities as they arise, while also taking advantage of the benefits of our scale.

In the face of so much change and opportunity, standing still is never an option.

We must continue to fight for our artists and songwriters and stand up for the creative and commercial value of music.

Our vision of the future is filled with possibilities, and acting on our strategy will make those possibilities real — for our artists, our employees, our shareholders and the entire music ecosystem. 

I promise 2024 will be an extremely exciting and transformative year for our company.

Lucian

Did You Get the Memo? Read Last Year’s Note From Lucian Grainge

SoundCloud has been eyeing a sale — and actively pursuing initiatives internally “that would increase the valuation of the company” — since the second half of 2022, according to two former employees who spoke to Billboard on the condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, COO and CFO Drew Wilson is preparing to leave the company after nearly three years in the role, according to a staff memo obtained by Billboard. 
Sky News reported on Sunday that SoundCloud was planning to pursue a sale in 2024. This has been in the works “for some time,” one former employee tells Billboard. “A lot of decision making has been based on this.”

SoundCloud announced it was slashing 8% of its workforce last May — less than a year after a 20% cut — to achieve “profitability this year,” as CEO Eliah Seton wrote in an email to staff at the time. “The ambition to reach profitability was not just for the obvious reason of being profitable,” the former employee continues. “The bigger need was for this, to sell the company. The stakeholders have major investments; it’s time.” (SoundCloud previously secured a $170 million investment led by The Raine Group and Temasek in 2017, and an additional $75 million investment from SiriusXM in February 2020.) 

A rep for SoundCloud declined to comment. The Raine Group also declined to comment.

SoundCloud leadership had previously tossed around the idea — a best case scenario — of reaching a $2.5 billion valuation for the company, sources said. (The company likes to aim big: In internal meetings, executives also expressed a hope that one of the artists SoundCloud signed to deals in 2022 would have a major chart hit, one of the employees said; this has not happened.)

The more commonly cited valuation goal, the sources say, was around $1 billion. “There’s a billion-dollar-plus opportunity in front of us,” Tracy Chan, who joined SoundCloud as senior vp of creator in 2022, said at an all-hands meeting that year. One of SoundCloud’s former employees said most of the interest in the company came from private equity firms, not music companies. 

For comparison’s sake, when Square acquired TIDAL in 2021, the streaming service was valued at around $375 million. Though SoundCloud is not just a streaming service — it also provides tools to creators to help them distribute, market, and monetize music. Creator tools and services brought in more than $26 million for the platform in the first quarter of 2023, according to screenshots from an all-hands meeting shared with Billboard, nearly as much as subscriptions ($29.9 million).

Those screenshots indicate that SoundCloud had a gross profit of around $22 million in the first quarter of the year. But it spent around $4 million on marketing and another $23 million on staffing and general and administrative expenses, leaving it around $5 million short of breaking even. 

In May 2023, SoundCloud aimed to reduce that headcount cost through a second round of cuts. (Profitability has been a goal since 2022, if not before: “Investors are looking for companies that are a little more stable right now,” former CEO Michael Weissman told staff during an all-hands meeting that followed the first round of layoffs in 2022. “Investors are looking for companies that are very profitable.”) The company said it finally reached profitability in December. 

“Now that we have achieved profitability and are making progress on our strategic plan, we have nothing but opportunity in front of us,” Seton wrote in an email to staff on Monday (Jan. 8) that was obtained by Billboard. “As we have mentioned in previous All Hands [meetings] and AMAs, we will explore a range of options for our capital structure, but there is nothing to report right now, nor will there be any time soon.”

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Murder and intrigue are at the center of director Justine Triet’s film Anatomy of a Fall, which took home a pair of awards during the 2024 Golden Globes for best non-English film and best screenplay. Whether you’ve already seen the movie or not, you have some streaming options to watch or rent the film online.

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With blockbuster films like Barbie, Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon as some of the Golden Globes’ biggest contenders, the foreign film ended up providing one of the night’s major surprises as it took home not one, but two awards.

The psychological thriller centers around the destruction of a marriage, as a novelist (played by Sandra Hüller) goes to trial as the main suspect for her husband’s mysterious death at their secluded chalet in the French Alps. The court must attempt to uncover the truth, but to do so, they must rely on the only other witness there: the couple’s blind son.

Other cast members include Milo Machado Graner, Swann Arlaud, Antoine Reinartz, Samuel Theis and Jehnny Beth.

Keep reading to learn more about the film and how to watch it online.

What Language is Anatomy of a Fall in?

While a French film, the movie features multiple languages including French, German and English. You have the option to purchase the film dubbed in English through Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudo and other video-for-purchase retailers. There’s also the ability to turn on subtitles, which you can customize within the movie’s settings through your chosen streamer.

Is Anatomy of a Fall On Netflix?

A streaming date has yet to be announced by the foreign film, but since it’s distributed by Neon, it’s likely that it will eventually land on Hulu as the platform has exclusive streaming rights. For now, you can rent Anatomy of a Fall or buy it VOD through Prime Video and Apple TV.

How to Watch Anatomy of a Fall

You can purchase Anatomy of a Fall to rent or own VOD through Prime Video or Apple TV starting at $5.99 to rent and $14.99 to buy. You don’t need a membership for either streaming platforms in order to stream the film online. Just choose whether or not you want to rent or purchase the move in HD or standard definition, then it will automatically be added to your library to watch at your leisure.

Rentals are only available for 48 hours, which means once you start the movie you’ll have two days to watch it before your rental expires. If you choose to purchase it through Apple TV, you can watch it through the app on your phone or smart device after purchasing it.

Check below to watch the trailer for Anatomy of a Fall.

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Focus Film’s highly praised dramedy The Holdovers made its streaming debut on Peacock just before 2023 ended, then kicked off the new year as an award winner. Whether it’s your first time seeing the film or you want to rewatch it from the comfort of your couch, you now have streaming options to watch it online.

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Awards season kicked off on Sunday (Jan. 7) with the Golden Globes, and by the end of the night, the heartwarming film had racked up two Golden Globe wins for actor in a musical or comedy (Paul Giamatti) as well as supporting actress in a motion picture (Da’vine Joy Randolph).

Taking place in 1970, the film follows Paul Hunham (Giamatti), a grouchy instructor at a New England prep school who remains on campus during Christmas break to supervise a handful of students with nowhere else to go. What he doesn’t expect is to form an unlikely bond with the school’s brainy yet troublemaking student Angus (Dominic Sessa), as well as the school’s head cook Mary Lamb (Randolph), who just lost her son to the Vietnam War.

Other cast members include Carrie Preston, Brady Hepner, Ian Dolley, Jim Kaplan, Michael Provost, Andrew Garman, Naheem Garcia, Stephen Thorne, Gillian Vigman and Tate Donovan.

Keep reading to learn how to stream the movie online.

How to Watch The Holdovers

The Holdovers premiered on Peacock on Friday (Dec. 29), which means you can finally watch the movie at home whenever you want. If you already have a Peacock subscription, you can stream the movie anytime — just log into your account and you’ll find it under new releases.

Don’t have a Peacock subscription? The streaming platform doesn’t have a free trial, but Peacock offers some of the most affordable plans on the market, starting at $5.99/month or $59.99/year. Click here or the button below to start a subscription.

There are two different plans for you to choose from, depending on your budget or needs: Peacock Premium or Peacock Premium Plus. The cheapest plan is Peacock Premium, which is $5.99/month, or you save 17% off with an annual plan for $59.99/year. You’ll gain access to more than 80,000 hours of new and hit TV shows, movies, originals and more, as well as live sports and events, current NBC and Bravo content, and more than 50 live channels.

Peacock Premium Plus is $11.99/month or $119.99/year, and comes with everything in the Premium plan along with no ads, your local live NBC channel and the ability to download and watch eligible content offline.

Besides The Holdovers, you can look forward to streaming all the content in the Peacock library including originals, movies, TV shows as well as programs on NBC and Bravo such as Yellowstone, Willie Nelson & Family, America’s Got Talent, Based on a True Story, Bel-Air, Love Island Games, Five Nights at Freddy’s, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, The Real Housewives of Potomac, The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, Vanderpump Rules, Below Deck and more.

Watch the trailer for The Holdovers below.

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U.K.-headquartered TV-based music streaming service Roxi, backed by such investors as Simon Cowell, Kylie Minogue and Sheryl Crow, is gearing up to launch in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2024 via partnerships unveiled on Sunday.

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The company, founded in 2017, has deals with all major labels, touting that it offers its partners “a unique full-catalog music video service – all the original music videos plus over 100 million Roxi virtual music videos.” It said that in the U.S. it would soon become available “on Samsung, LG, Vizio, Sony Bravia, Roku, Comcast, Fire TV, Google TV, Android TV, NVIDIA Shield TVs and set-top boxes.”

It vowed that its free music streaming app would “change the way millions of Americans enjoy music at home with free access to 100 million music videos, hundreds of curated music video channels, music video karaoke, music games and more.”

In the U.K., consumers can use the Roxi app free under the Roxi Standard plan with ads or for £6.99 ($8.85) per month after 30 free days. In the U.S., the company said it would also offer the Roxi Standard service for free, with ads, including “unlimited music videos, exclusive music channels, essential karaoke catalog and essential music games.” The $8.99 a month (after a free 30-day trial) Roxi Premium plan in the U.S. promises consumers to “play anything and everything, with no limits and no adverts.” Roxi TV app users can also claim a free Roxi Karaoke Microphone when taking up a 30-day premium trial or otherwhise purchase it from roxi.tv for $29.99.

With smart TV and pay TV vendors working with Roxi to add voice- and remote-powered on-demand music video search and play, “smart TVs will leapfrog smart speakers with free and instant voice-activated music videos,” the company predicted in announcing its move into the U.S. “Consumers will be able to command their TV to ‘play Taylor Swift’ with their voice – the TV will then automatically turn on and start playing Taylor Swift’s music videos.”

Roxi CEO Rob Lewis touted that the service provides more than audio-only music. “Our partnerships with the world’s biggest smart and pay TV companies brings free and instant access to Roxi’s 100 million music videos on tens of millions of TVs,” he said. “Consumers will be able to use their voice or TV remote to instantly play all their favorite music, all in a music video format.”

The company sees its service as helping TV sets replace the role of audio speakers in many homes. “Music represents 80 percent of listening on smart speakers today; but that’s audio-only listening and audio-only is ridiculous on a TV and when there is a TV in every home,” said Lewis. “The TV will overtake the smart speaker as the preferred music player in the home, not only because an audio-visual experience is better in the home than audio-only but also because a TV provides for a much superior browsing experience.”

Roxi cited results of a survey that it commissioned to highlight its market potential. It found that more than 75 percent of U.S. consumers would want to try Roxi’s free TV app on their smart TVs and 60 percent are “interested in switching their home music listening from audio-only smart speakers to full music videos playing on the TV.”

Matthew Broughton, director, LG smart TV content & services, said: “Roxii’s full catalog of 100 million original and virtual music videos will be integrated directly into the search function on all new LG TVs from 2024, enabling LG TV users to search for music, as well as TV and movies.”

Cowell, Minogue and Crow are celebrity shareholders in Roxi and also serve it as music curators. Other investors in the company include the likes of Robbie Williams, Alesha Dixon, Stephen Fry, former Formula 1 and McLaren executive Ron Dennis, former U2 manager Paul McGuinness and others.

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

The modern music industry may run on subscriptions — streaming, satellite radio, Peloton, et al. — but it still depends greatly on the advertising business. Indeed, non-subscription-based streaming, along with social media and broadcast radio, continues to produce important royalties and licensing income for record labels and music publishers.  

Unfortunately, 2023 was a lackluster year for advertising-based businesses, as brands held back due to economic pressures. The slowdown extended into the fourth quarter: Trade Desk, a digital advertising platform, warned in November that expectations for revenue growth in 2024 “may be premature.” 

So, can people expect improvements in 2024? According to a new report by Mediaocean, the outlook is mixed: While some advertising-based businesses can expect more demand this year, others may not witness a rebound.  

In November, Mediaocean surveyed nearly 1,100 marketers, ad agencies, media companies and tech platforms, among other companies, about how they expect to spend on various types of advertising in the coming year. The survey revealed that advertising dollars will continue to flee from legacy media — namely print and television — in favor of social media, digital display and video and connected TVs.  

Social platforms such as TikTok top the list of predicted ad spending in 2024: 69% of respondents said they expect to increase their spend in 2024 on social media, while only 28% said they will maintain social media spending and just 3% plan to decrease spending. Social media has taken the biggest jump in the last two years. When surveyed at the end of 2021, 56% of respondents — 13 percentage points less than the latest survey — said they expected to spend more on social platforms, while the percentage of people who planned to maintain spending in 2022 was 10 percentage points higher at 38%.  

Digital display and video advertising showed a similar breakdown to social media: 65% of respondents expect to increase, 30% plan to maintain and 5% expect to decrease their spending. Most respondents also expect to increase their spending for connected TV and search. These categories were little changed from the prior year.  

Radio and audio advertising will fare about the same as last year: 24% of respondents expect to increase spending on radio and audio in 2024, down from 25% in 2023, while 54% of respondents plan to maintain their spending levels and 22% expect to decrease their spending. Going into 2023, 51% of respondents expected to maintain radio and audio spending and 24% planned to spend less. However, those numbers mark a distinct downward trend from 2022, when 61% of respondents said they expected to maintain radio ad spending while just 15% expected a reduction. 

Given that data, radio companies that have both digital and broadcast businesses should fare better than those without a digital component – and they may already be seeing a recovery. Speaking at the Wells Fargo TMT Summit on November 29, iHeartMedia chairman and CEO Bob Pittman said the company’s digital advertising “seems to have already recovered” and that radio advertising will recover when brands see an economic recovery on the horizon. “Advertising tends to be a leading indicator,” he added. The same trend can be seen, albeit in a more negative direction, at Audacy, which faces a possible bankruptcy caused in part by lagging broadcast revenue: In the third quarter of 2023, spot and network advertising was down 8.9% year over year while digital revenue rose 3.4%.   

TV advertising has taken the biggest fall over the last two years. Going into 2022, only 15% of respondents expected to spend less on local TV and 13% planned to spend less on national TV. Two years later, 33% expect to spend less on local TV and 27% expect to reduce spending on national TV.  

Although audio streaming has eaten into the time people spend listening to radio, about 90% of Americans still listen to the radio each week. The same can’t be said for video, however, as video streaming has sharply reduced the audience for cable television. In the third quarter, the penetration rate of traditional pay TV — cable, telco and satellite — fell to 54.8% after those companies lost nearly 2 million subscribers, according to MoffettNathanson. That marks the lowest penetration rate since 1989.  

That can be chalked up to the swift rise of video streaming platforms. In the third quarter, YouTube TV surpassed satellite company Dish Network to become the fourth-largest multi-channel video programming distributor. MoffetNathanson believes YouTube TV could surpass satellite company DirecTV for third place in less than a year. 

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The Michigan Wolverines will officially take on the Washington Huskies during the final game of the college football season for 2024. After some exciting semi-final matches during their respective New Year’s games, the top two teams will now face off against one another for the championship title. You can watch the game live on ESPN and ESPN+ on Monday (Jan. 8) starting at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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Michigan has previously won nine football championships, making this the third season in a row that the team has made it to College Football Playoff.

Both teams will head to Houston, TX, to the NRG Stadium where the championship game will take place for the first-time ever. With various travel deals going on, you might be able to snag last-minute tickets to watch the game live and in-person. Can’t make it this year? You’ll still be able to livestream the college national championship online at home.

Keep reading to see the streaming options available.

How to Watch Michigan vs. Washington

The college football championship game will be taking place at 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday (Jan. 8) on ESPN and ESPN+. If you have cable, you’ll be able to watch the game live on any channel that offers ESPN. Don’t have cable? You might be able to watch Michigan vs. Washington through a HD antenna like one here from Amazon.

ESPN+ is also the official streaming platform for ESPN and its affiliates, which will be streaming the game live. If you have a subscription already, just log into your account and you’ll gain access to the livestream for no additional cost.

New to ESPN+? The sports streaming platform doesn’t offer a free trial, but it does offer budget-friendly plans starting at just $10.99/month or you can save over 15% with an annual plan for $109.99/year. Click here to start your membership or the button below.

Along with having access to the live Michigan vs. Washington game, having a subscription will also grant you access to the entire ESPN+ library including other live sports such as NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB, soccer, UFC, PPV events as well as exclusive ESPN+ programs, documentary specials and originals such as Al Davis vs. The NFL, Vick, Be Like Water, Breakaway, Man in the Arena with Tom Brady, The Captain, More Than An Athlete with Michael Strahan and Our Time Baylor Basketball.

Looking for more affordable streaming options? You can also watch the through live TV streaming options like Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, DirecTV Stream and Fubo. Most of the streaming options come with free trials and promos for less than $80/month.

For less than $75, DirecTV Stream and Fubo both offer free trials as well as a mix of live TV channels including ESPN.

Hulu + Live TV will offer you the most content offerings with live TV channels and the entire Hulu library as well as a 30 day free trial.

Before you get comfy on the couch or jet off to the stadium, don’t forget to stock up on Michigan merch or Washington merch to show you pride and support for your team during the big game.

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard is finally telling her side of the story in a new docuseries titled The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard that’s coming to Lifetime Friday (Jan. 5). Multiple TV series and documentaries have attempted to tell the true-crime story that landed Blanchard in prison, including the Hulu drama series The Act, but now the 32-year-old is opening up through a three-part docuseries.

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“After a lifetime of silence, I finally get to use my voice to share my story and speak my truth,” said Blanchard in a press release. “As a survivor of relentless child abuse, this docuseries chronicles my quest for liberation and journey through self-discovery. I am unapologetically myself and unafraid to expose the hidden parts of my life that have never been revealed until now.”

Blanchard was released from prison on Dec. 28 after being convicted for her role in the murder of her mother, “Dee Dee” Blanchard, back in 2015 with her then boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn. Now, she’s finally free from prison, and with her freedom comes the premiere of her side of the story. Within each two-hour episode, which airs Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 5-7) at 8 p.m. ET/PT, viewers will see Blanchard recount her story through phone and in-person interviews from prison leading up to her parole hearing.

Keep reading to learn the streaming options available.

How to Watch The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard

Lifetime will be airing the three-part docuseries Friday (Jan. 5) to Sunday (Jan. 8) at 8 p.m. ET/PT. If you have cable, you’ll be able to watch The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard on the Lifetime channel for no additional cost. Check your cable provider’s channel guide to see what channel Lifetime’s on. Don’t have cable? You might be able to watch the docuseries through an HD antenna like this one from Amazon.

Cable-cutters can stream the docuseries online through live TV streaming platforms such as Philo, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, Fubo and DirecTV Stream. Plus, most of these come with free trials ranging from five days to 30 days, which means you can stream The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and more for free.

For those on a budget, we recommend Philo, which is only $25/month and comes with a seven-day free trial. You’ll gain access to the Lifetime channel as well as more than 70 channels. Click here or the button below to start your free trial.

If you’re watching outside the U.S., you can use ExpressVPN or NordVPN to stream online internationally.

Check out the trailer for The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard below.

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