Forbes: Hip Hop and R&B Dominates America’s Soundscape

The nature of the music industry has changed and the advent of streaming has catapulted hip-hop and R&B beyond Rock music which previously held the top spot. It is important to note that Rock is still the leader in album sales making up a whopping 40.1% of total album sales in the United States. But as streaming cuts into physical album sales on an annual basis, this statistical category could become obsolete.

Conversely, hip-hop is beginning to take hold of the streaming scene making up 29% of total streams across the country. Kendrick Lamar boasts the most popular album to this point highlighting the dominance of hip-hop across the country. Hip-Hop and R&B are also the most popular genres on the leading streaming services (Spotify, Apple Music) and holds seven of the top ten songs across these platforms.