NEW YORK (AP) — Midway by 2025, a couple of music developments have turn into clear, in accordance with Luminate’s 2025 Midyear Report, which was launched Wednesday:
— Within the U.S. and globally, extra music is being streamed than ever earlier than…
— However development has slowed.
— And within the U.S. particularly, there’s been a resurgence in Christian music and “recession pop.”
In its midyear report, Luminate, an business knowledge and analytics firm, gives perception into altering behaviors throughout music listenership.
A lower in development, a rise in quantity
Music streams continued to develop globally and stateside within the first half of 2025. World on-demand audio streams reached 2.5 trillion within the first half of 2025 — up from 2.29 trillion in the identical interval final yr.
And within the U.S., on-demand audio streams grew to 696.6 billion in 2025, in comparison with 665.8 billion in 2024.
However regardless that extra music is being streamed than ever earlier than, in comparison with previous years, the speed of development is slowing down. In 2024, U.S. and international on-demand audio streams grew 8% and 15.1%, respectively. In 2025, these numbers have dropped to 4.6% and 10.3%.
Within the US, Christian music and recession pop are making a comeba
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Within the U.S., streaming accounts for 92% of all music consumption. On-demand streams have been up in 2025 as bodily and digital album gross sales dropped.
R&B/hip-hop stays the most well-liked style when it comes to on-demand audio streaming quantity, adopted by rock, pop, nation and Latin. The identical was true in 2024. What’s attention-grabbing are the highest-growth genres: Rock leads stateside, adopted by Latin, nation, and Christian/gospel music.
Although streams of latest music — music launched within the final 18 months — are barely down from the identical time final yr, new Christian/gospel music has defied that development, mentioned Jaime Marconette, Luminate’s vp of music insights and business relations. It’s led by acts like Forrest Frank, Brandon Lake and Elevation Worship.
He attributed the style’s development to “younger, streaming-forward fanbase,” which is 60% feminine and 30% millennial.
“Recession pop” — the time period for upbeat hits like Kesha’s “Tik Tok,” Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.” and different carefree pop music that emerged in 2007-2012 across the time of the Nice Recession — has additionally seen a bounce this yr. Luminate discovered that U.S. on-demand audio streams of pop music from that period have elevated 6.4% in 2025. Songs from Cyrus, Bruno Mars, Woman Gaga and Rihanna lead the shift.
“We’re actually seeing pop music from those years outpace the growth of the industry at-large,” provides Marconette. “When efficiency of all genres from that interval, listeners are gravitating towards pop specifically, highlighting a way of nostalgia and probably greater themes of escapism.”
