The Luminate 2025 Midyear Music Report will be released tomorrow, featuring some of the most impactful trends from the first half of this year along with the comprehensive music metric analysis you’ve come to expect from us each summer.
In anticipation of the report, we wanted to share the five covered trends with you, as well as the key focus of each section.
• STREAMING ATLAS
Recession Pop: It’s Not Just the Vibe That’s Back
When analyzing the growth of U.S. tracks released in the Great Recession that impacted 2007-12, Pop songs from those years grew 6.4% in On-Demand Audio volume in 2025, outpacing the U.S. music industry’s overall rate of 4.6%. The corresponding Pop sharepoint increase of all tracks released during that time is also more than twice that of the next closest genre, showing 2025 audiences are gravitating to Pop from this period.
• IMPORT/EXPORT
Luminate Export Power Score
While the U.S. retains the top spot in Luminate’s Export Power Score, which measures countries’ ability to export music globally, Brazil moves up one spot, to #9, jumping ahead of Sweden, as Alok remains Brazil’s most exported artist.
• ENGAGEMENT HORIZON
U.S. Fan Engagement Funnel
There are more levels to the fan engagement funnel than just the average music listener or super fan. Audience survey data from Luminate in Q1 2025 counts 18% of music listeners as super fans, while 80% are casual fans, 66% are active fans, and 36% are engaged fans.
• ARTIST SPECTRUM
Defining Artist Thresholds Through Data
Performers including Sabrina Carpenter and Fuerza Regida are part of a new class of superstars identified by the Luminate Index, a quantitative ranking of music’s most influential talent. This composite ranking combines streaming volume and other factors to gauge how strong the fandom is among U.S. consumers for hundreds of chart-topping artists.
• FUTURE IN FOCUS — TRENDS TO WATCH
Generative AI for Music Creation
1 in 3 U.S. music listeners report being “somewhat” or “very” comfortable with the use of gen AI to create song instrumentals, according to Luminate Insights survey data, with younger listeners showing higher levels of comfort. Still, 44% report being “somewhat” or “very” uncomfortable with the use of the tech for creation of a new original song performed by an AI voice.
