Last year was a bountiful one for music streaming, with global numbers increasing into the trillions in 2025. According to data from Luminate’s Year-End Report, via ABC News, streaming numbers went up 9.6% from 2024.
Previously, 2024 held the record for the highest single-year streaming numbers. But that record has since been broken with the increased listening data. In 2025, the music industry saw 5.1 trillion streams globally.
In the U.S. specifically, streams went up by 4.6% from 2024, hitting 1.4 trillion. Additionally, there was a focus on older music in the U.S. last year. Only 43% of streams were of songs released in the last five years. That’s a lot of repeat listens of “Gasolina”.
However, there were several genres where new music reigned. U.S. listeners were strongly drawn to Christian and gospel songs released in the last 18 months, according to the data. Compared to 2024, this genre saw an 18.5% increase in streaming popularity.
Global Streaming Numbers Set New Records in 2025, Growing Gospel, Rock, and Latin Genres
Based on the U.S. data, a couple of other genres saw significant growth as well. With all the discourse surrounding rock music, it might seem surprising that the genre saw a 6.4% increase in streaming in 2025. According to the Luminate data, rock had the second-highest total number of new streams.
Clearly, rock music is still alive and well, despite what the Yungblud versus The Darkness beef would like us to believe. Alt-rock bands like Geese dominated year-end lists, as did new albums from the more punk-leaning Maruja and indie-rock icon Hayley Williams. The numbers don’t lie: Rock isn’t dead.
Meanwhile, Latin music has Bad Bunny to thank for a 5.2% streaming increase. As the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime performer, a lot of listeners have flocked to his albums. But even before that, the Puerto Rican artist was rapidly climbing the charts after breaking through in the U.S. with his 2022 album Un Verano Sin Ti. In 2025, he released his latest album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, which helped him earn 5.3 billion on-demand streams. That’s 4.38% of streams for the entire Latin genre, which means it’s time for Pitbull to drop a new album.
Photo by RICCARDO MILANI/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
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