Around the World in a Day
U.S. listeners spent time enjoying more sounds from Mexico, South Korea, and Nigeria in 2020
U.S. listeners spent time enjoying more global sounds from Mexico, South Korea, and Nigeria in 2020.
While most of our feet have been planted firmly in the U.S. for the past year, due to pandemic restrictions on international travel, streaming data shows that our ears, at least, were wandering the globe in 2020. Figures from Alpha Data indicate that U.S. listeners gravitated toward global genres much more than they did the prior year, with particularly notable streaming increases for Afrobeats, K-pop, and regional Mexican music.
What about the overall picture for 2020 streams by genre? It probably comes as no surprise, given the school closings and existential anxiety and all, that among major genres, it was easy listening (up 39 percent), children’s music (up 28 percent), and New Age (up 27 percent) that saw the biggest lifts compared with 2019. But the next biggest increase was for Latin music, which rose 25 percent in on-demand audio streams over the previous year — substantially more than the same period’s overall increase in on-demand audio streams.
By comparison, rock rose 12 percent, hip-hop increased 11 percent, and R&B jumped just seven percent. Pop and dance, meanwhile, failed to see much increase at all: Dance music rose one percent, while pop actually dipped a bit, down two percent. The only other genres to outpace the overall growth in streams were country, jazz, and musicals.
From Regional to International
Within Latin music, the subgenres that experienced the biggest leaps weren’t reggaeton or Latin pop — two crossover sounds that have historically appealed to large U.S. audiences — but regional genres steeped in traditions from throughout Latin America.
Regional Mexican music, in particular, rose in on-demand audio streams.
Ranchera climbed by 54 percent, while narcocorridos (or drug ballads) saw a 41 percent increase compared with 2019. Regional Mexican artists reached the upper ranks of the charts more than ever, and some became crossover stars: Eslabon Armado, a trio who formed in California but play traditional Mexican sierreña music, reached Number 24 on the Rolling Stone 200 chart with their album Vibras de Noche, the highest ranking for a regional Mexican group. And Natanael Cano, a leader in corridos tumbados — a hip-hop take on corridos — increased his streams fivefold in 2020, reaching Number 70 on the Artists 500 chart.
Other increases included a 37 percent rise for merengue, a sound that began in the Dominican Republic, and a 27 percent lift for cumbia, whose roots are in Colombia.
Afrobeats Heats Up
America is a little late to Afrobeats, but over the past few years, U.S. listeners have been playing catchup — especially, it seems, in 2020. Streams for Afrobeats and Nigerian music more than doubled in the U.S. compared with 2019, according to Alpha Data. Year over year, streams for Afrobeats rose 129 percent.
This meant that more Nigerian artists reached the U.S. charts than ever before. All told, five African artists hit the Breakthrough 25 chart in 2020; Burna Boy and Davido, who were already established stars in Nigeria, both launched albums onto the RS 200 and reached Number 128 and 263, respectively, on the Artists 500.
K-pop Keeps Up the Pace
K-pop’s streams have been growing steadily and quickly in the U.S. over the past few years, and in 2020, the genre kept that momentum going, with streams rising 31 percent year over year. And it wasn’t just BTS, though the group did top the RS 200 for the first time, making them the second K-pop act to do so. The girl group Blackpink reached Number Two on the RS 200 with their debut, The Album, and also had a collaboration with Selena Gomez, “Ice Cream,” that hit the Top 10 on the RS 100.