US music consumption grew 11.3% in 2021 due to continued growth in audio streaming, a milestone year for vinyl and a changing of the guard for ‘Catalogue vs. Current music’ consumption according to MRC Data. In their Year End Report U.S. 2021 they highlight a number of changed behaviours accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall consumption grew 11.3% year-on-year (YOY) in 2021, thanks to a 12.6% increase in on-demand audio streaming. Part of that increase is due to new albums from Adele, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift and the controversial Morgan Wallen – but those releases only tell half the story of music listening in 2021. For the first time since MRC Data began tracking streaming music in 2008, the audio streaming of Current music (music released less than 18 months ago) actually declined. This led to a significant increase in Catalogue’s share of the audio on-demand streaming universe, with 76% in 2021 vs 66% in 2020, as consumers reconnected with old favourites or discovered them for the first time through platforms like TikTok.
Vintage music formats took on new relevance in 2021 too, as vinyl album sales outpaced CDs for the first time since 1991. Vinyl album volume increased by 50.4% YOY and finished the year with 41.7 million versus CD album volume at 40.6 million. This included the first week in MRC Data history that saw vinyl sales in excess of 2 million copies, with 2.11 million albums sold the week ending 23rd December 2021 as consumers stocked up for the holiday season.
Globally, red-hot genres like Afro-Pop and K-Pop continued to crossover to the US and other territories in an even bigger way, led by hits from artists like Wizkid, CKay, BTS and BLACKPINK’s Lisa and Rosé. Many international territories continued ramping up their adoption of streaming services, too, led by Japan, Colombia, Poland, Turkey and the UK.
Other key metrics from the report
| 2020 | 2021 | % change | |
| Global On-demand Audio Song Streams | 2.17 Tn | 2.74 Tn | +26.3 |
| US On-demand Song Streaming | 1.03 Tn | 1.13 Tn | +9.9 |
| Global Digital Song Sales | 427.7 m | 365.2 m | -12.3 |
| US Total Album Consumption | 802.5 m | 893.1 m | +11.3 |
| US Total Physical Album Sales | 102.5 m | 109.0 m | +6.3 |
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