Luminate released its new Midyear Music Report, revealing significant shifts in consumption patterns and genre preferences across the music industry. In the report, the company analyzed data across 50 artists, 990 shows, and 129 U.S. markets.

Among the key findings, global on-demand audio streaming has increased by 15.1% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Latin music emerges as the fastest-growing genre, with its share of U.S. on-demand audio streaming increasing by 0.51%. The genre experiences a 15.1% growth in on-demand audio streaming, outpacing other core genres.

The report highlights changes in artist distribution across streaming tiers. In the first half of 2024, independent artists comprised 62.1% of those, accumulating between 1 million and 10 million U.S. on-demand audio streams. The share of independent artists earning over 500 million on-demand audio streams increased by over 2% compared to the second half of 2023.

Luminate’s data shows that 43 out of 46 artists with over 1 billion U.S. on-demand audio streams in the first half of 2024 have major distribution listed on their most-streamed track. However, the number of artists entering mid-tier streaming categories is growing, with 1,414 more artists reaching the 1 million to 10 million streams tier compared to the second half of 2023.

The report also examines the impact of live music events on local streaming consumption. Analysis reveals that the median event yields a 42% growth in local DMA on-demand audio streaming during the week of an event. Genre differences are notable, with Dance/Electronic seeing the highest median growth at 143%, followed by Rock at 63% and Pop at 53%.

Physical music sales continue to play a significant role in the industry. So far, the top 10 best-selling albums of the year have an average of seven different vinyl variants per title. Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” leads album sales with 2.474 million copies sold in the U.S., including 988,000 vinyl records.

The report notes changes in consumer behavior, particularly among younger demographics. For the first time, Gen Z surpasses Millennials in reported monthly concert spending, with Gen Z spending 23% more per month than the average U.S. music listener.

Short-form video platforms are becoming increasingly important in music consumption and promotion. The report finds that 76% of music listeners have watched short-form videos, while 22% have posted to short-form platforms. Genre preferences influence engagement, with J-Pop and K-Pop listeners 59% more likely to have posted short-form videos than the average music listener.

Global streaming patterns show shifts in artists’ countries of origin. While artists from the U.S. still hold the highest global on-demand audio streaming share, it decreased by 0.53 percentage points in the first half of 2024. Artists from Mexico, Brazil, and France show the largest growth in their share of global audio streaming.

The report also addresses sustainability concerns in physical music production. Compared to the average U.S. music listener, physical music purchasers are 26% more likely to cite sustainability/re-usability as a cause they care about.

The report offers insights into consumer preferences for streaming features as streaming subscription prices continue to rise. High-quality audio has become less of a priority for paid music streamers since 2021, with 31% stating it as a priority in 2024 compared to 37% in 2021.

The full report is available here.