Christian, Latin Tunes Lead Surge in US Streaming

The global music industry hit 5.1 trillion streams in 2025—a new single-year record, up 9.6% from 2024, which held the previous record, according to a 2025 year-end report from industry data and analytics firm Luminate. In the US, on-demand audio streams hit 1.4 trillion, a 4.6% increase from last year, per the AP. But attention is on older music. Less than half of all US on-demand audio streams—43%—were from tracks released in the last five years (2021-2025). One exception? Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl and Morgan Wallen's I'm the Problem, both of which surpassed 5 million album equivalent units in a single year. That's a combination of sales and streaming combined.

• Christian tunes: Although Luminate's report revealed that streams of new music—i.e., music released in the last 18 months—were slightly down from the same time last year in the US, new Christian/gospel music defied the trend, says Luminate's Jaime Marconette, led by acts like Forrest Frank, Brandon Lake, and Elevation Worship. Christian/gospel music has continued to grow stateside, up 18.5% in on-demand audio volume change compared to 2024.
• Latin music: For this genre, which grew 5.2%, Bad Bunny is mostly responsible. His on-demand audio streams totaled 5.3 billion—4.38% of all Latin on-demand audio streams. "The Latin genre continues to be one of the highest growth-genres in the US," says Marconette. "Bad Bunny was a key driver of the growth this year with his new album Debi Tirar Mas Fotos, generating 2.97 billion US on-demand audio streams in 2025."
• Rock: This category grew 6.4%. "Rock is the largest growth genre this year, meaning it grew its share of the streaming pie the most," notes Marconette. "Though rock streaming in general leans catalog (tracks older than 18 months), the genre posted the second highest total of new current streams this year."
• Artificial intelligence: The introduction of high-profile AI artists became a leading music story in 2025. Those include Xania Monet and the rock band the Velvet Sundown. Monet went on to become the first AI act to debut on a Billboard radio chart, reaching No. 3 on the organization's Hot Gospel Songs chart and No. 20 on the Hot R&B Songs list. There've been quite a few AI country artists as well, including Aventhis, Cain Walker, and Breaking Rust.

Here are the top songs globally, as determined by on-demand audio streams:

1. "Die With a Smile," by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars; 2.9 billion
2. "Golden," by HUNTR/X (Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami), from K-Pop Demon Hunters; 2.4B
3. "Ordinary," by Alex Warren; 2.4B
4. "APT.," by Rose and Bruno Mars; 2.2B
5. "Birds of a Feather," by Billie Eilish; 2.1B
6. "DtMF," by Bad Bunny; 1.7B
7. "Luther," by Kendrick Lamar and SZA; 1.7B
8. "Beautiful Things," by Benson Boone; 1.6B
9. "Back to Friends," by sombr; 1.6B
10. "That's So True," by Gracie Abrams; 1.5B