Nielsen Music recently unleashed its usual mid-year report, which discusses the most popular songs, albums, and genres. The most popular song in the United States right now is Ed Sheeran's "Shape Of You," the most popular album is Kendrick Lamar's Damn. More importantly, and perhaps shockingly, is that for the first time since Nielsen began measure music metrics, rock music is not the most popular genres in the U.S.
According to Forbes, R&B and hip hop now account for 25.1% of United States listeners' consumption of music, while rock comes in second at 23%. The good news is, the report also states that rock still sells about 40% of all albums in the United States, pointing the finger at streaming leading the popularity for R&B and hip hop. The victory with sales might be short-lived as the report notes that physical sales have been dwindling every year.
The report states R&B and hip hop accounts for 29% of all streams across all services, and is as popular on Spotify and Apple Music as both rock and pop combined.
Maybe Kim Kardashian wearing Morbid Angel merch could skyrocket metal back to the top?
