Full Breakdown
Music Streaming in 2026: Latin and Country Rise as R&B/Hip-Hop Share Declines
7/16/2026, 12:30:47 AM
Core Findings from Luminate’s Midyear Report
Luminate’s 2026 Midyear Report, released in New York on Wednesday, shows global on-demand audio streams reaching 2.8 trillion in the first half of 2026, up from 2.5 trillion a year earlier. U.S. streams climbed to 732.7 billion, surpassing 696.6 billion in 2025. While R&B/hip-hop still accounts for roughly 30 percent of U.S. album-equivalent consumption, its share fell from 41 percent in 2023. Latin and country music are the primary growth drivers, each delivering 63 billion streams domestically.
Genre-Specific Shifts
- R&B/hip-hop generated 180.3 billion U.S. streams, down 1.7 percent year-over-year.
- Rock, pop, country and Latin followed with 137.2 billion, 87.8 billion, 63.8 billion and 63 billion streams respectively.
- Spanish-language tracks comprised 9.4 percent of all U.S. streams—the first time they approached one-in-ten.
- Latin music’s global streams hit 363.2 billion, a rise from 335.3 billion the prior year.
Official Commentary
Luminate vice-president of music insights Jaime Marconette described the market as moving toward a “more balanced, multi-genre ecosystem,” noting that R&B/hip-hop’s “standalone audio volume has dipped 1.7 % so far in 2026.” She highlighted “Casual U.S. listenership of Latin music has hit an all-time high, with 54 %… now reporting that they engage with the genre.” Marconette also said AI-generated tracks are “a small number of breakout tracks at the head of the curve” that can cause temporary spikes but have “yet to make a profound, long-term impact on consumption behavior.”
Impact of AI-Generated Music
A handful of AI-created songs entered the charts, such as Breaking Rust’s “Livin’ on Borrowed Time” (19 million U.S. streams) and Chill77’s “Papaoutai (Afro Soul)” (17.6 million U.S. streams). While these releases generated notable short-term attention, Luminate’s analysis suggests they remain peripheral to overall listening trends.
Verbatim Quotes
- “R&B/Hip-Hop remains a massive commercial force, but its historic dominance is leveling off as the streaming landscape diversifies. The genre was an early adopter of streaming, commanding nearly 30% of U.S. audio consumption by 2022, but the post-pandemic era has seen accelerated … growth from genres like Country and Latin,” — Jaime Marconette, Luminate VP of Music Insights
- “Casual U.S. listenership of Latin music has hit an all-time high, with 54% — or more than one in two music listeners — now reporting that they engage with the genre,” — Jaime Marconette
- “A small number of breakout tracks at the head of the curve can drive temporary conversational and streaming spikes,” — Jaime Marconette
- “At this stage, generative tools are actively transforming creative and production workflows, but individual AI-generated tracks have yet to make a profound, long-term impact on consumption behavior.” — Jaime Marconette
