In many different ways, the modern era of recorded music in the US can be traced back to the year 2015. This was the year Apple Music and TIDAL debuted in the United States. the year streaming finally matured, taking over as the dominant revenue stream among all formats in the country. and the year that, after more than a decade of decline, the business finally began to see its first shoots of growth, starting an upward trend that still, 10 years later, has not abated.
This week, Luminate released its annual report on US business, providing a relatively handy binder of the first 10 years of what can reasonably be referred to as the official streaming era. The mid-year charts produced some surprises (the sustained success of Benson Boone's “Beautiful Things” led to it becoming the most-streamed song of 2024 so far) and some more obvious conclusions (Taylor Swift, of course, dominated the album chart with Department of Tormented Poets).
But it also revealed many milestones and achievements that didn't happen in the past 10 years of Luminate reporting (and, before that, MRC Data and Nielsen). So with the caveat that it's still in the middle, and release dates and other factors weigh more heavily on smaller sample sizes, here are five statistics that show the first half of 2024 was the most unusual year of the past decade.
The sheer scale of Taylor's dominance
by Swift Department of Tormented Poets easily surpassed every other album at mid-year, spending 12 of the 26 weeks of the year so far atop the Billboard 200. But at mid-year, its dominance could also be cited as historic compared to the last 10 years. With 4.66 million equivalent album units, TTPD surpassed Morgan Wallen's No. 2 album One thing at a timemore than double — and nearly triple — the latter's 1.776 million, a total that's 2.62 times higher than Wallen's album (which, to be fair, was released in March 2023).
This is the first time in a decade that a No. 1 album's first-half total has doubled, much less more than doubled, a No. 2 album. The difference between the two, 2.884 million units, is more than 1.5 million more than the difference between any other top two albums during the time period, with 2023 being the only other year the difference exceeded 1 million units. (Last year, by Wallen One thing at a time sold 3.312 million units, 1.33 million more than SZA's warning sign.) Closest match in 10 years? That would be 2017 when Kendrick Lamar DIME. beat Ed Sheeran divide with just 23,000 units at the midway point.
The No. 1 song did not reach No. 1 on the Hot 100
Boone's “Beautiful Things” was an early story this year, as the singer seemed to explode out of nowhere with the biggest hit of his career so far. The song got off to a good start, debuting at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January — and then spent all but two weeks in the chart's top 10, reaching No. 1 for the most streamed song of the year so far mid-year of Luminate.
The only oddity? “Beautiful Things” peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100, without ever reaching No. 1. Given this, it may seem odd that it ended up at No. 1 in streams midway through the year, though this may be explained by his sustained dominance of the top 10 and his debut at the start of the year, which gave him a full six months to rack up all those streams. What's strange, though, is that it's the only song in the past decade to hit No. 1 midway through the year and also never top the Hot 100. In fact, every other year since 2015, the top song halfway through the year it had spent at least five weeks in the top slot — ranging from Encanto 'We Don't Talk About Bruno' cast in 2022 (five weeks) at 'Uptown Funk!' by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. in 2015, which reached 14 weeks. (Lil Nas X's “Old Town Road,” No. 1 halfway through 2019, ended up spending 19 weeks at No. 1, though it was only halfway through the year.)
Midyear No. 1 Songs by On-Demand Streams (Weeks at No. 1)
2023: Miley Cyrus, “Flowers” (8 weeks)
2022: Encanto Cast, “We Don't Talk About Bruno” (5 weeks)
2021: Olivia Rodrigo, “Drivers License” (8 weeks)
2020: Roddy Ricch, “The Box” (11 weeks)
2019: “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X (19 weeks)
2018: Drake, “God's Plan” (11 weeks)
2017: Ed Sheeran, “Shape Of You” (12 weeks)
2016: Rihanna feat. Drake, “Work” (9 weeks)
2015: Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk!” (14 weeks)
Warner Records Lands Top 3 Songs
About these top songs? Boone was No. 1, followed by Zach Bryan. Kacey Musgraves' “I Remember Everything” and Teddy Swims' “Lose Control” at Nos. 2 and 3. All of those songs were released by Warner Records, giving the label a trifecta. No other record label had the top three mid-year songs in the past decade, giving Warner sole possession of the feat this season.
However, some companies have come close: in 2022, Atlantic Records had the top song (“We Don't Talk About Bruno”), the No. 4 song (“Super Gremlin” by Kodak Black), and had one of its stars , Jack Harlow, on the No. 2 song (Lil Nas X and Harlow's “Industry Baby,” which was released on Columbia's X label). In 2018, Republic Records had three of the top four, with one of its artists, Drake, on the No. 3 song: Blocboy JB feat. Drake, “Look Alive.” However, “Look Alive” was released on Drake's OVO Sound label, which was distributed by Warner at the time. In 2016, Def Jam had No. 2s and 3s (Desiigner's “Panda” and Justin Bieber's “Sorry,” respectively) and a distribution deal with Roc Nation, which released the No. 1 song, “Work ” by Rihanna featuring Drake — though Def Jam didn't technically release it.
Republic Records Lands Top 3 Albums
Not to be outdone, the mid-year albums chart topper also created a trifecta for one label: Republic Records, which released albums by Swift and Wallen (the latter in collaboration with Big Loud), as well as the No. .3 albums, Noah by Kahan Stick Season (in collaboration with Mercury). Surprisingly, given Republic's recent dominance of the market share rankings as well as the overall dominance of Wallen and Swift in recent years, this is the first time Republic has occupied the top three mid-year — and, in the last decade, the only time any company has held down the top three at this time of year.
The only time he was approached by another label was, unsurprisingly, Republic. In 2023, the label had four of the year's top five albums at the midway point, but prevented SZA from claiming the top three warning signwhich was released by Top Dawg/RCA.
Just five albums in the Top 10 have been released in the last 12 months
The Top 10 Albums by Equivalent Units chart featured plenty of big names this year: Swift, Wallen, Kahan, SZA and Bryan, as well as albums from Beyoncé (Cowboy CarterNo. 4) and Future & Metro Boomin (We Don't Trust You, No. 6). But incredibly, only five of the top 10 were released in the last 12 months: Swift's TTPDby Beyoncé Carter and Future & Metro's Confidenceall of which came out in 2024. Bryan's self-titled album, which finished at No. 8, was released last August, while Swift's No. 9 1989 (Taylor Edition), a re-recording of an album released in 2014, was released last October. This is the fewest titles in the top 10 of any mid-year consumption chart in the last 10 years that have been released in the previous 12 months (dating back to the previous year's mid-year), with no other year going back to 2015 serving fewer than six .
In fact, that number has been steadily declining for half a decade: Since 2019, when nine of the top 10 were released within the previous 12 months, there have been nine (2020), seven (2021), seven (2022) and six (2023) in the top 10. (In 2017, all 10 qualify.) The streaming era has done many things for the music industry, but one thing it's done more than any other is expose people's listening habits instead of despite them. buying habits. And consumption numbers of current (releases within the last 18 months) versus catalog (releases older than 18 months) have confirmed the long-established trend that catalog rules consumption: This year, Luminate estimated that catalog listening accounted for 72.8 % of listening share, a percentage that remained the same as half of 2023.
But the sheer staying power of some of these top 10 albums is what's most impressive. of Wallen One thing at a time is it over a year now? but the 2021 album, Dangerous: The Double albumstill sits at No. 7. SZA's warning signNo. 2 midway through last year, he came in at Kahan's No. 5 Stick Season originally released in October 2022. 1989 (Taylor Edition) is a collection of songs that, in their original form, date back over a decade. And at No. 10, by Swift Lover approaching its fifth anniversary in August.
Will the charts remain so static in the future? Is it a product of the maturation of the streaming era? Or just these albums are simple so dominant that they kicked everyone else out? It's something to watch.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/taylor-swift-benson-boone-midyear-2024-unusual-year-decade/
