On-demand music streams topped 1 trillion in 2019
Post Malone, Billie Eilish and Lizzo dominated, according to Nielsen.
- Carrie has lived on both coasts and can definitively say that Chesapeake Bay blue crabs are the best.
Post Malone performs during the Times Square New Year's Eve 2020 Celebration on Dec. 31, 2019.
Couldn't get enough of Sunshine by Post Malone or Old Town Road by Lil Nas X last year? You weren't the only one. Music streams in the US on services like YouTube , Spotify and Amazon Music topped 1 trillion for the first time in 2019, according to Nielsen Music's annual report.
Old Town Road was the top-streamed on-demand song in 2019, with 2.5 billion total streams, according to Nielsen. Post Malone also had a big year, with the top-streamed album as well as 1.5 billion streams for his hit song Sunflower. Other popular streaming artists of 2019 were Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift and Lizzo, according to Nielsen.
YouTube was the top-used music streaming service globally, according to Nielsen, with Spotify in second in most markets. The report also noted that popular apps like TikTok helped "usher in a new wave of viral hits," in the US.
The data emphasizes the rapid rise of music streaming, which in just a few years has overtaken digital downloads as the music industry's main business model. It's also led to a shift in consumers' relationship with music. Rather than buying music outright, we're increasingly paying monthly fees for all-you-can-access tunes on services like Spotify or Apple Music, or listening for free by sitting through advertising on sites like YouTube.
Nielsen Music's report covers music consumption for the 12-month period from Jan. 4, 2019 through Jan. 2, 2020.
Originally published Jan. 10, 7:14 a.m. PT.
Update, 7:41 a.m.: Adds more details from the Nielsen Music report.