Latin music takes the lead in the U.S. as streaming figures hit record highs in 2024

MIAMI - The latest mid-year report from prestigious chart analysis company Luminate shows a significant increase in musical streams so far this year, fueled by the incredible popularity of Latin music around the world, particularly in the U.S.

The Luminate report shows the music industry has reached over a trillion streams faster than ever before—ten days ahead of the same milestone in 2023. Overall, global streams increased by 15.1%, totaling 2.29 trillion on-demand audio streams, up from 1.99 trillion the previous year.

Latin Music's Rapid Rise in the U.S.

The U.S. has seen a notable rise in Latin music, which grew by 15.1% compared to 2023. A substantial portion, 35%, of all Latin streams in the U.S. are from releases within the last 18 months. In contrast, 70.5% of rock music streams come from works that are over five years old.

While no Latin artist has yet cracked the top 10 albums or songs of the year, many are gaining significant attention. Bad Bunny, Peso Pluma, Fuerza Regida, Karol G, Rauw Alejandro, Aventura, and Carín León rank among the top 200 streamed artists in the U.S. for the first half of 2024. Jaime Marconette, Vice President of Music Insights and Industry Relations at Luminate, emphasized that Latin music consistently ranks among the top three fastest-growing genres in the U.S.

The regional Mexican music scene has significantly contributed to this growth, with over 13 billion on-demand audio streams recorded in the U.S. so far. Bad Bunny remains the most-streamed Latin artist in the country, but Mexican regional artists like Peso Pluma, Fuerza Regida, and Junior H have each surpassed 100 million streams in the first half of the year.

Resurgence of Physical Album Sales

Physical album sales have also seen a resurgence. The trend of releasing multiple versions of the same album, each with unique bonus tracks or designs, has been growing since 2020. In 2024, physical album sales in the U.S. rose by 3.8%, reaching 24.7 million units. This compares to 23.8 million last year.

Top-selling albums often feature numerous physical variants. Artists such as Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Beyoncé, and K-pop groups like Tomorrow x Together, Ateez, and TWICE have embraced this approach. A typical top-10 selling album offers an average of 22 variants, including seven different vinyl editions, 13 CDs, and two cassettes. Albums ranked between 101 and 500 typically offer five variants, while those between 501 and 1,000 have an average of four.

Marconette noted that the increasing use of physical variants in album releases is driving sales. However, he acknowledged the environmental concerns associated with producing multiple physical products, indicating a growing call for sustainability within the industry.