We’re looking at 5.1 trillion audio streams last year, but most tracks barely made a dent. The numbers show a stark divide in what listeners are actually tuning into.
Luminate has released its year-end report for 2025, revealing impressive streaming figures that highlight both growth and disparity in the music industry. The total number of on-demand audio streams reached a staggering 5.1 trillion, marking a 9.6% increase from the previous year. These streams were distributed across 253 million individual tracks, identified by their International Standard Recording Codes (ISRCs). However, a significant portion of this music went largely unnoticed by listeners.
According to Luminate’s findings, 120.5 million tracks received just 10 streams or fewer in 2025. An additional 62.6 million tracks received between 11 and 100 streams, while 40.7 million were streamed between 101 and 1,000 times. In total, a staggering 88% of all available tracks garnered less than 1,000 streams, illustrating the ongoing challenge of visibility in today’s music market.
Luminate’s analysis also revealed a more detailed breakdown of these figures. The report indicates that among the 120.5 million tracks, there may be as many as 55.3 million that received no streams at all. On the other end of the spectrum, only 29 tracks achieved the milestone of over 1 billion streams, demonstrating the rarity of massive hits in contrast to the vast number of lesser-known tracks.
Interestingly, tracks with streaming figures between 1 million and 50 million accounted for nearly half (49.4%) of total consumption, underscoring their role as the backbone of global music. In terms of new releases, the number of available ISRCs has grown significantly. Luminate reported an increase from 202 million in 2024 to 253 million in 2025, with an average of 106,000 new ISRCs delivered to streaming platforms daily.
The report also dives into genre trends, the fastest-growing countries for premium streams, and rising interest in music documentaries. Additionally, it explores listener perceptions of AI-generated music and the impact of superfan engagement.
As a surprising footnote, the biggest track by on-demand audio streams in 2025 was ‘Die With A Smile’ by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, raking in 2.86 billion streams. However, when it comes to video streams, ‘Wheels On The Bus’ from Cocomelon took the lead with 2.02 billion views, outperforming Bruno Mars and Rosé’s ‘APT.’ by a hefty margin of 600 million views. Not bad for a kids’ song that debuted in 2018.