One of the biggest movie releases of 2025 so far has been Sinners, Ryan Coogler’s vampire-slashing, Southern Gothic horror-thriller. Given the key role music plays in the film, it’s no surprise that the Sinners Original Motion Picture Soundtrack has enjoyed big streaming numbers — and a few TikTok-viral songs, to boot.
But the most unique aspect of Ludwig Göransson’s soundtrack is its usage of real-life Blues, Folk and Country musicians, who have widely seen boosts in listenership thanks to their inclusion on the album.
In other words, Sinners is just the latest example of how a great movie soundtrack can introduce audiences to genres and artists they wouldn’t otherwise check out and, by extension, precipitate a turning point in a performer’s career.
Looking at weekly U.S. On-Demand Audio (ODA) streaming data via Luminate CONNECT, not only did several artists featured on the OST see spikes the week of Sinners’ theatrical release starting April 18, but they’re all enjoying a sustained rise in listenership even two-plus months since the film premiered.
Some of the names shouldn’t be surprising to those who have seen the movie. Indie Country artist Lola Kirke, who saw a 636% surge in streams the week of Sinners that has yet to drop off, played one of the main vampires in the film and sang several songs onscreen. Living Blues legend Buddy Guy’s cameo as a key character in the film’s ending, plus his onscreen performance of the song “Travelin’,” resulted in a 30% streaming jump.
However, musicians who didn’t appear personally but whose songs played as background in the film also enjoyed solid streaming growth that has spilled over into June. R&B singer Alice Smith, in fact, saw her listenership grow well beyond the initial spike, reaching 554K streams the week of June 13 — a massive 1,522% increase versus the week before Sinners.
These trends suggest viewers aren’t just checking out these artists and moving on — many are on track to becoming genuine fans. Results from Luminate’s U.S. Artist and Genre Tracker survey support this theory, as 42% of Blues fans reported discovering music from soundtracks, compared with 29% of the general population. Additionally, 86% of those Blues lovers said they regularly seek out more of an artist’s music after discovering a song they like (vs. 73% among gen pop).
Only time will tell if these surges will last or if we’ll just see another spike once Sinners hits HBO Max on July 4, but it’s worth noting that the Blues is one of the top five highest-growth genres so far this year. The Soundtrack genre, which is how the Sinners OST is classified, also saw a 14% year-over-year increase the week after the album’s release.
So maybe, as more people hear the soundtrack and gradually branch out to other Blues artists, we’ll indeed see a revival in the near future.
Source:
Luminate Music Consumption Data
Luminate Artist & Genre Tracker
