Over 30% of all on-demand audio and video streams in the United States last year were of tracks recorded by R&B and hip-hop artists.
That’s according to new stats from industry monitor read the full MRC Data/Billboard year-end report through here.
The most popular track on both on-demand audio and video streaming platforms in the US last year was The Box by Roddy Ricch, which accrued 920.4m on-demand audio plays, and 399.2m on-demand video plays across 2020.
The US’s second most popular audio streaming track of the year was The Weeknd with Blinding Lights (691.5m) followed by DaBaby feat Roddy Ricch with Rockstar (674.0m).
The MRC report shows that total on-demand audio streaming volume in the United States grew by 126.7bn plays in 2020 compared to the prior year – up by 17% annually.
The US saw 872.6bn on-demand audio plays on music streaming services in pandemic-hit 2020, up on 745.9bn in 2019.
This meant that annual audio streaming volume growth slowed in the US last year, but only slightly: that 126.7bn increase in 2020 couldn’t quite match the 134.9bn jump seen in 2019.
Despite the 17% YoY rise in on-demand audio streams, the total number of audio streams needed to crack the US’s Top 10 biggest streaming hits of 2020 fell compared to the previous 12 months.
Combined, the top 10 audio on-demand streaming tracks in the US in 2019 — led by Lil Nas X with Old Town Road — attracted 6.218bn plays, according to MRC Data.
The top 10 in 2020, led by Roddy Ricch’s The Box, pulled in the lesser figure of 5.968bn plays.Music Business Worldwide
