FORBES writes, “For the first time since nielsen started measuring music consumption in the UNITED STATES, Rock is no longer the top genre in terms of overall consumption. Instead, the combined genre of R&B and Hip-Hop has taken the crown, and while the two styles are fairly close to one another when it comes to percentages, the latter has pulled ahead, and it seems like it will continue to distance itself from the competition in the coming months and years.”
The nielsen report NOTED THAT R&B and Hip-Hop are now gathering 25.1% of all music consumption in the U.S., while Rock claims 23%. FORBES writes, “Looking at the rest of the numbers listed that dissect how people are consuming these styles of music, it’s clear that streaming is to thank for the swap in ranking. Rock is far and away the winner when it comes to album sales�the genre claims 40% of all album sales in the country�but the total number of records actually purchased dwindles every year, so while that percentage may remain steady or even climbs, it’s not representative of how AMERICANS are truly consuming music.
“Hip-Hop/R&B, on the other hand, is responsible for just over 29% of all on-demand streams across the country, and that is the only field that is growing noticeably. In fact, R&B/Hip-Hop is almost as popular on streaming services like SPOTIFY and APPLE MUSIC than the next two genres (Rock and Pop) combined.”