Hip Hop owned 29% of all on-demand streaming in 2014, according to data compiled by Buzzfeed. Behind Hip Hip was Rock (25%), Pop (21%), EDM (7%) and Country (6%). Paired with BuzzFeed News stats, Hip Hop took the first quarter of 2015, too.
Hip Hop claimed four of the five most streamed albums on Spotify in the last six months: If Youre Reading This Its Too Late, To Pimp A Butterfly, 2014 Forest Hills Drive and Dark Sky Paradise. Over a third of the 14 albums that topped the Billboard 200 this year were Hip Hop albums. The aforementioned projects made it, as well as the Empire soundtrack and Wale’s The Album About Nothing.
Youth is one factor. “According to a study by GMI Market Research provided to BuzzFeed News, the average age of users of major music platforms is as follows: Spotify, 28; Pandora, 32; iTunes, 34; SiriusXM, 42; terrestrial radio, 43.”
Secondly, Hip Hop heads like to talk music. “In a survey of over 2,500 music listeners, 27% of hip-hop fans strongly agreed with the statement ‘I often discuss music with my friends,’ compared to 28% of EDM fans, 21% of rock fans, and 17% of pop/top 40 fans.”
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Hip Hop has a strong tradition in gifting free music, too. “It’s worth remembering that Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late mixtape broke on-demand streaming records only after being pulled from traditional mixtape destinations like SoundCloud and LiveMixtapes.”
Backlash from labels could curve such trends. Sony Music recently snatched music off Soundcloud from some of its acts, including Adele, Hozier, Miguel, Kelly Clarkson, Passion Pit, Leon Bridges and MS MR.
For more on streaming services, watch the following DX Daily:
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