Image credit: Viktor Forgacs

The music trends of 2023 are in and it shows the incredible rise of some genres and how fans are connecting directly with artists.

Luminate have released their year-end music report for 2023. It reveals the music trends that defined how fans and listeners are listening to music in the US.

Unexpected genres leapt into the public consciousness showing evolving tastes. We also saw years-long favourites continue to grow as overall music consumption continues to rise, though some genres have begun falling off.

Country music takes the crown

Move over, Pop! Country music emerged as the fastest-growing genre in the US in 2023. Streams of Country music surged an astonishing 23.7%. Gaining 20.4 billion more streams than 2022, Country led the way for genre growth last year.

Whilst World music and Latin music grew a larger year-on-year percentage, Country took the lead for new streams by far. World music gained 5.7 billion streams, growing 26.2% in 2023. Latin music gained an additional 19.4 billion streams bolstering their 24.1% growth for the year.

Regional Mexican music breaks out

Regional Mexican music exploded in popularity in 2023. The genre gained 60% in growth last year, adding up to 21.9 billion US On-Demand Audio streams.

Luminate reveals that the genre is most popular on the West Coast with Southwest states like Texas also racking up streams of Mexican music. This aligns with Latin American populations in the regions.

Comedy is out, Alt-Rock is in

Whilst overall growth for the music industry continues rising, some genres saw a fall off in 2023. Comedy, New Age, and Children’s music all saw a dip in streams. Comedy was hit the hardest, dropping -10.2% for the year.

Alternative Rock however took the spotlight as the fastest growing sub-genre. Alt-Rock saw a 15.9 billion increase in On-Demand Audio streams. Alt-Rock fans also interact with the sub-genre more than most.

Alt-Rock fans are 42% more likely to discover music through movies and movie soundtracks compared to the average US listener. They’re also 44% more likely to purchase merchandise and, bizarrely, 93% more likely to use Reddit.

Spanish language music making its mark

The tide is turning against English-language dominance. While streaming of English content dipped slightly, Spanish music experienced a 3.8% surge since 2021.

Spanish music has solidified its place as the second most popular language on American playlists. Millennials and Gen Z are leading the charge, embracing the richness of foreign tunes.

Spanish language music still only equates for 8.1% of US music consumption in 2023. 88.8% of the music listened to in the US is English language music.

More music, more streams, more voices

The sheer volume of music in 2023 was staggering. Over 436,000 tracks hit the million-stream mark globally, highlighting how many artists get their chance to shine in the streaming age. this was up from 373.5k just in 2022.

The mass potential for musicians to get heard online also comes with the mass amount of content being added. In 2023, over 100,000 ISRCs were delivered to digital services a day on average. This overwhelming flow of content also meant that 45.6 million tracks in 2023 had 0 streams.

Artists take it directly to the fans

2023 saw a rise in direct-to-consumer (D2C sales), empowered by artists forging connections directly with their fans. D2C sales in the US were up 38.6%, boosted hugely in the week of Taylor Swift’s ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ release.

This shift towards D2C also saw vinyl and CD sales defying expectations, with current releases dominating the format. We recently reported that CD sales grew for their first time in over 20 years in the UK last year.

Spending on music streaming is split by generations

Music streaming continues to be a popular choice, with average spending on services increasing across Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers. Interestingly, Gen Z bucked the trend, spending slightly less on streaming but embracing other avenues like D2C purchases.

These are just some of the highlights from a year that redefined the music industry. One thing’s clear: 2023 was a year where unexpected voices rose to the top, genres collided, and fans took control. 2024 promises to be even more exciting, with the question on everyone’s lips: who will be the next breakout star, and what sonic surprises will lie in store?