Music has always had the ability to unite people, whether it’s over their love or hatred of a specific genre or individual song.
Every generation has adopted its own sound, making it easier for future generations to complain that “it’s not really music”.
However, as the following music streaming statistics show, it’s hard to deny that listening to music has changed dramatically in recent years.
Key Statistics
- 84% of the music industry revenue now comes from music streaming
- Music streaming services saw a 10.3% growth in 2022
- In 2022, the music streaming industry revenue in the US was over $17 billion
- 23% of all music consumed comes from paid music streaming
- 80% of people listen to music on a music streaming service
- Over 1 trillion songs were streamed on demand in the US during 2022
- A quarter of Americans use a premium streaming service
- Over 50% of 16-34 use an audio-subscription service
- On average, subscribers will listen to 20 hours of music a week
- Spotify dominates the music streaming market
- On average, a music streaming service costs $10 a month
- Harry styles song ‘As it was’ streamed 1.5 billion times
- The most popular music genre in the US is R&B/Hip-Hop
- In 2021 2.74 trillion songs were streamed across the globe
- Consumers choose streaming services based on sound quality and price
A Quick History Lesson
MusicNet is considered to be the first music streaming service.
It was launched in 2000 and, for a monthly fee, members could listen to an array of music options.
It should be noted that, prior to this, MusicNow had been released.
It was 1996 and this is considered the first streaming platform.
It gave free music to the masses.
Spotify, perhaps the most famous of the modern music streaming services, was launched in 2008 and now has millions of users.
Before that, perhaps the most famous music streaming service was Napster.
It was created in 1999 but sadly closed down permanently in 2001 after being found guilty of copyright infringement.
This is one area that even the mighty Apple has struggled with.
Despite selling millions of iPods and iPhones capable of streaming music, their attempt at providing a music streaming service failed.
iTunes Radio was launched in 2007 but closed down in 2014, the competition was simply better.
Of course, Apple subsequently launched Apple Music which has proved a success and giving Spotify a run for its money.
There is little doubt music streaming has transformed the music industry.
Let’s take a look at some of the statistics.
Top Music Streaming Statistics in 2025
1. 84% Of The Music Industry Revenue Now Comes From Music Streaming
The music industry has been forced to evolve and adapt.
When music streaming was first introduced the music industry felt like it was losing control of its products.
After all, plenty of music streaming and sharing services make it easy for users to break copyright laws.
Naturally, the music industry fought the process of streaming, even managing to close some streaming services down, such as Napster.
However, it quickly became apparent it wasn’t the best way forward.
Instead, the biggest businesses in the music industry built their own streaming platforms and monopolized the industry, effectively taking ownership of streaming.
It was a wise decision.
Today, it’s estimated that 84% of the music industry’s revenue comes from music streaming.
The industry has been growing by approximately 9-10% every year for the last ten years, illustrating how lucrative and important music streaming is.
(Forbes)
2. Music Streaming Services Saw A 10.3% Growth In 2022
The music streaming industry hasn’t finished growing.
As mentioned, it’s been growing steadily for much of the last decade.
In 2022, the industry saw growth of over 10%, illustrating the potential for future growth.
It’s worth noting that the music industry as a whole only grew 9%, streaming is clearly a major part of the ongoing growth.
That’s impressive for an industry which was struggling to deal with streaming when it first arrived.
(IFPI)
3. In 2022, The Music Streaming Industry Revenue In The US Was Over $17 Billion
To illustrate just how successful the music streaming industry has become you only need to look at the revenues earned.
Records of the music streaming revenue levels go back to at least 2005.
However, at that point, the industry was even earning a billion a year.
By 2010 the figure was still sitting at $0.4 billion.
A sizable amount but nothing compared to the $17 billion revenue it produced in 2022.
Revenue has increased dramatically from 2015 onward, moving from a little over $3 billion in 2015 to $13.6 billion in 2020.
In fact, the music streaming industry revenue multiplied approximately 34 times between 2010 and 2020.
As the figures show, it’s grown another $4 billion in just two years.
The future is definitely looking good.
According to the latest estimates the revenue from music streaming is likely to surpass $30 billion by 2025.
However, experts also predict that the market will stagnate at this revenue level.
(IFPI)
4. 23% Of All Music Consumed Comes From Paid Music Streaming
There are many different ways to enjoy music.
According to the latest statistics, nearly a quarter of all music is listened to via a paid streaming service.
That’s a significant market share.
In fact, it has the largest share of the market.
Video streaming, specifically of music videos, is a close second at 22%.
These two types of streaming are incredibly competitive, other forms of listening are falling behind.
For instance, radio only commands a 16% share of the market.
Fifteen years ago it was the main source of music for many people.
Short videos, such as those produced on TikTok take an 11% share of the market and this percentage is growing.
Other popular music listening options are ad-supported streaming with a 9% share of the market, and buying CDs and downloads still has a 9% share.
Social media doesn’t feature well for music streaming, with just 3% of the market.
However, surprisingly, live shows do even worse with just 2% of the music-listening market.
(IFPI)
5. 80% Of People Listen To Music On A Music Streaming Service
The use of music streaming services has been steadily increasing in recent years.
According to the latest studies, as many as four out of five people listen to music via a streaming service.
That doesn’t mean it’s their only way to listen to music.
Simply pause to consider how you listen to music.
It’s surprising how many people will turn to YouTube or a similar channel to watch the latest videos.
Even more people will pay a subscription to access the music they want when they want it.
That’s why music streaming has become so popular, it puts you in charge of the content.
According to the latest IFPI report, the number of subscribers to music streaming services has increased nearly tenfold since 2015.
In numbers, that’s an increase from 68 million to 616 million.
The number of subscribers passed 200 million in 2018 and reached 341 million by the end of 2019.
Growth slowed a little in 2020 and 2021, reaching 523 million.
An impressive 17.6% increase in 2022 saw the figure come up to 616 million.
It’s not clear how much of the increases in recent years were pandemic-related.
(IFPI)
6. Over 1 Trillion Songs Were Streamed On Demand In The US During 2022
Music streaming isn’t just another fad or something popular with the younger generation.
It is becoming the norm for most generations.
Streaming means you can access the song or type of music you want when you want it.
The figures have grown steadily in recent years.
For example, in 2015 142.9 billion songs were streamed on-demand.
By 2016 that figure had increased to 252.3 billion, and in 2017 it hit 400 billion.
Fast-forward a few years and the figure doubles. In 2020 875 billion songs were streamed on-demand.
But, the industry is still growing.
2021 saw 988 billion streamed, and 2022 saw the figure pass one trillion for the first time.
It’s estimated a staggering 1.1 trillion songs were streamed on-demand during 2022.
(Music Business Worldwide)
7. A Quarter Of Americans Use A Premium Streaming Service
There are several premium music streaming services.
The best-known are Spotify Premium, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and TIDAL.
Subscriptions to these services are increasing.
Each service charges customers but allows them access to a wide range of audio, making it much more desirable than the free streaming platforms.
Equally, using a premium streaming service means you’re less likely to get malware or some other issue.
The numbers have increased steadily.
In 2014 there were 7.9 million subscribers. It increased by just 1.2 million in 2015.
However, between 2015 and 2020 it increased by an average of 12.5 million a year.
By 2020 there were 72.63 million US subscribers to premium streaming services.
This figure increased further in 2021, reaching just over 82 million.
That’s approximately a quarter of the American population.
This figure doesn’t just illustrate the popularity of premium streaming services, it also illustrates there is plenty more room for growth.
(RIAA)
8. Over 50% Of 16-34 Use An Audio-Subscription Service
Music streaming is undertaken by all generations.
However, as it involves digital technology the take-up in the younger generations is significantly higher than in older generations.
According to the latest research, 55% of all 16 to 34-year-olds have already signed up to an audio streaming subscription service.
Here’s a more detailed look at the figures.
According to the IFPI music subscription services figures 54% of those aged 16-24 are subscribed and 56% of people aged between 25-34.
The figures drop as you move up the generations.
Just 44% of those aged 35-44 are subscribed and 36% of people between 45-54 years old.
Naturally, the older generation fares even worse.
Figures show only 26% of those aged 55-64 use an audio subscription service.
(IFPI)
9. On Average, Subscribers Will Listen To 20 Hours Of Music A Week
It’s estimated that 98% of US Millennials listen to a music streaming service.
That’s more than any other country.
For example, just 79% of Millennials in the UK use a music streaming service.
That figure drops to 68% for French Millennials, perhaps the lowest usage of any Western country.
However, regardless of where people live, studies suggest the average listener will spend 20 hours and 6 minutes listening to streamed music every week.
That’s nearly 3 hours a day!
This is an increase from 2021 when the average listening time was 18 hours and 24 minutes a week.
The statistics suggest that listening to music is becoming increasingly popular.
Of course, part of this is the advancement in mobile technology which allows you to stream music virtually anywhere.
The figure is further broken down to show that it represents listening to 58 three-minute songs every day, or a staggering 406 a week.
The only question is how often is a song repeated?
(IFPI)
10. Spotify Dominates The Music Streaming Market
There are several well-known music streaming services, including the perhaps infamous Napster which appeared on the scene in 1999 and closed in 2001.
Its failure to adapt to technological changes and copyright laws created a base for all other streaming services to operate from.
Today, one of the oldest, and perhaps best-known streaming services is Spotify.
Its longevity suggests it’s good at what it does, the figures agree.
According to the latest research, Spotify has a 30.5% share of the music streaming market.
It’s a comfortable lead over its competitors.
For example, Apple Music is the second biggest player in the industry and only has a 13.7% market share.
It is directly competing with Tencent Music which has a 13.4% share, and Amazon with a 13.3M share of the market.
YouTube Music is also performing well with an 8.9% share, while Netease has a 6.1% share, Yandex controls 2.2% of the market, and Deezer just 1.5%.
There are various smaller players which together have a 10.2% market share.
One thing is clear, Spotify doesn’t just have the biggest market share, it dominates the market and this doesn’t seem likely to change.
(MIDiA)
11. On Average, A Music Streaming Service Costs $10 A Month
Music streaming is an important part of life for a large majority of the population.
Fortunately, despite Spotify’s market dominance, it still remains a competitive marketplace.
As Apple, Amazon, and others battle for additional market share, they can’t afford to outprice each other.
That’s why the cost of music streaming services is the same for most providers.
This encourages subscribers to decide based on the service offered.
Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and YouTube Music all charge $10 a month for their music streaming service.
AmazonMusic Unlimited charges the same unless you already have a Prime membership.
If that’s the case you can get the music streaming service for $9.
(Forbes)
12. Harry Styles Song ‘As It Was’ Streamed 1.5 Billion Times
Every artist longs to have the most popular song, hitting number one in the charts and earning themselves a small fortune, as well as a boost in publicity.
In 2022 Harry Styles achieved 1.5 billion streaks with his wong ‘As It Was”.
This was the highest-streaming song of the year.
In fact, it is the highest-streaming song of all time.
“Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X came close in 2019 with 1 billion streams.
Drake managed to get 918 million streams in 2018 with “God’s Plan” and Roddy Rich got 920 million in 2020 with “The Box”.
Interestingly, the top streaming song in 2021 was “Levitating” by Duo Lipa but only managed 626 million streams.
In regards to long-term success, Drake had a total of 36.3 billion streams between 2010 and 2020.
He was the most successful streaming artist for this period.
(Nielsen)
13. The Most Popular Music Genre In The US IS R&B/Hip-Hop
Streaming music makes it much easier to see what songs are being listened to and which genres have become the most popular.
It’s natural for different generations to like different genres of music.
After all, every generation wants to be different from the one that came before it.
It’s probably not surprising that R&B/Hip-Hop is the most popular genre for streaming.
It fits with the younger generation being more avid streamers and their taste in music.
According to the latest Nielsen study, 29.9% of all songs streamed in the US are considered R&B or Hip-Hop.
Surprisingly, rock takes the second slot with 17% of all songs streamed.
This is followed by pop music, taking 13.3% of streamed music.
Other genres which have significant shares of streaming include country (7.9%), Latin (6.1%), and dance (3.5%).
All other genres are minor players totaling 6.4% between them.
(Nielsen)
14. In 2021 2.74 Trillion Songs Were Streamed Across The Globe
The statistics already show that stealing isn’t just popular, its popularity has been growing steadily.
This is confirmed by the number of songs downloaded across the planet.
According to the latest MRC Reports data 2.74 trillion songs were streamed in 2021.
That was a 26.3% rise on 2020.
In 2020 2.17 trillion songs were streamed by consumers.
What’s interesting is that there was a 22.6% rise on the 1.8 trillion streamed in 2020.
It suggests the figure will surpass 3 trillion in 2022 and potentially reach 4.5 trillion by 2025.
It’s worth noting that, in 2021, the US accounted for 988 billion songs streamed, a significant proportion of all the songs streamed in the world.
However, this was only a 12.6% increase from 2020, suggesting that stealing is becoming increasingly popular in other countries.
(MRC Date Reports)
15. Consumers Choose Streaming Services Based On Sound Quality And Price
As we’ve already seen, the major music streaming providers match each other on price.
This is to ensure they all remain competitive as a recent survey by Statista found price is one of the key factors when choosing a streaming service.
In fact, 54% of people look at the price of a streamlining service before choosing.
However, the most important feature which 56% of consumers consider before subscribing, is the sound quality.
That’s obviously important.
Other things which matter to subscribers include the ease of making a playlist, downloading music, and discovering new music.
A smaller proportion of subscribers, 24% are interested in whether they gain access to exclusive music and 19% want to feel they can trust the brand.
While just 12% worry about the availability of music videos, 10% of subscribers want a service that integrates with a smart assistant.
These are all factors that music streaming services need to take into consideration.
(Statista)
Summing Up
What is perhaps most interesting about the music streaming statistics isn’t the dramatic increase in popularity.
This isn’t that surprising as the world becomes increasingly digital.
Instead, the statistics show that streaming has become one of the most important parts of the music industry.
This is a sector that many music industry giants fought against as there was a fear of losing control of the music.
Today, it appears that this isn’t the case as an increasing number of people subscribe to music streaming services, boosting the overall music industry revenue.
