Global Music Streams Surge Nearly 10% To 5.1 Trillion In 2025, New Report Shows

Global music streaming continued its strong growth in 2025, with total on-demand audio streams reaching 5.1 trillion worldwide, marking a 9.6 per cent increase from the previous year, according to the latest Luminate 2025 Year-End Music Report.

The data underscores the continued dominance of streaming as the primary way audiences consume music, even as overall listening patterns reveal a widening gap between hit tracks and the vast majority of catalog. Only a small fraction of songs account for a large share of global streaming: roughly 541,000 tracks, out of an estimated 253 million available, make up the “backbone” of music consumption, each garnering between 1 million and 50 million streams in 2025.

Despite the huge volume of content on streaming platforms, most releases receive minimal engagement. According to Luminate’s estimates, over 120 million tracks logged 10 streams or fewer last year, while just 29 tracks surpassed one billion global streams.

In regional trends noted by the report and corroborated by additional industry analysis, the United States remained the top exporter of music globally, with the United Kingdom following closely behind. Pop music led U.S. exports, while rock was the UK’s most internationally streamed genre.

Platform behaviour also varied by genre, with electronic and dance music listeners more likely to use services such as YouTube and Spotify, and R&B and hip-hop performing strongly on Apple Music and YouTube.

The figures reflect the ongoing expansion of the streaming ecosystem, where a massive catalogue coexists with concentrated mainstream consumption, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges of discovery and engagement in the digital music age.