Hip-Hop/R&B Is The Dominant Genre In The U.S. For The First Time

The fact that streaming is generally changing the music industry is no longer shocking, yet this new model has given some genres of music more power than ever before.

The best-performing songs and albums are listed in Nielsen Music's annual mid-year report, which was just issued. The research examines the state of the music industry at this point in the year. This time, the study included some quite predictable statistics, such as the fact that streaming is still growing rapidly, that Ed Sheeran's "Shape Of You" is the most well-liked song, and that Kendrick Lamar's DAMN is the album that people in America can't seem to get enough of. While all of those may have been anticipated, one particularly noteworthy and perhaps unexpected piece of information is buried in the paper.

Rock has lost its position as the most popular genre overall for the first time since Nielsen began tracking music consumption in the US. Rather, the amalgamated genre of R&B and hip-hop has emerged as the dominant force. Although the percentages of the two genres are very similar, the latter has gained momentum and appears set to further separate itself from the competitors in the upcoming months and years.

The survey states that rock accounts for 23% of all music consumed in the United States, with R&B and hip-hop accounting for 25.1%. Upon examining the remaining figures that analyze the manner in which various musical genres are being consumed, it is evident that streaming is the reason behind the change in position. When it comes to album sales, rock dominates—40% of all album sales in the nation are attributed to the genre. However, the total number of records actually purchased declines annually, so even though that percentage may stay constant or even rise, it doesn't accurately reflect how Americans are actually consuming music.

All other on-demand streams combined in the nation come from slightly over 29% of the hip-hop/R&B genre, which is the only one that is experiencing significant growth. Actually, R&B/hip-hop is more popular than the next two genres combined on streaming platforms like Apple Music and Spotify.

The number of songs streamed in the United States will continue to climb as fans of the biggest stars in hip-hop and R&B—Drake and The Weeknd, for example—continue to hit play on their hit singles and recently released albums. As a result, those genres will continue to gain ground.