aDownload here: https://luminatedata.com/reports/yearend-music-industry-report-2025/ What surprised me most in this report at first was the biggest hit per decade. When it comes to the sixties, it's Creedence Clearwater's "Fortunate Son." I'm not saying that Creedence was not huge in the sixties, but I would have expected a Beatles song, something different. Now this report says chart position was driven by short form video... That's not ringing a bell in my head, then again, we all get different social media feeds. Now if you listen to the lyrics of "Fortunate Son," you will see that they're as apropos today as they were back in 1969, when the record first came out. Sure, it's antiwar, but it's also anti-rich, anti-blind patriotism...you'd think that the Democrats would adopt this as their theme song. Then again, that would require them to be smart. As for the following decades, that's less surprising. For the seventies, it's Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams,' then again, that viral video, that broke back in 2020, but the song has sustained. The eighties are "Don't Stop Believin'." Nineties Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris," which has been pointed out by many, and the story of its sustainability was well-documented by the "Wall Street Journal": "How a ’90s Goo Goo Dolls Hit Became the Song of the Summer - 'Iris' has been a top global hit on Spotify for most of the last three months" https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/music/iris-goo-goo-dolls-spotify-charts-tiktok-0b3e20a9?st=q4MGSg&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink Mr. Brightside owned the aughts, which is strange in a world where rock is seen as a second-class citizen. And the teens... Chris Stapleton's "Tennessee Whiskey"? Which did make it to number one on the Hot Country Songs chart, but only number 57 on the Country Airplay chart and number 20 on the Hot 100... Not only is the biggest streaming song from the decade a country song, it wasn't a hit in the way "Choosin' Texas" is today. As for this decade... It's Alex Warren's "Ordinary." Now wait just a second, where the f*ck is TAYLOR SWIFT! Didn't we experience Swiftmania just a couple of years back with the Eras Tour? Isn't she the biggest act in the world, far above all comers? Isn't that what the press has said over and over... After all, we've got Taylor and Travis, it's all Swift all the time... Except in the hit parade. Now if you scroll down in the report, you'll find that Taylor Swift does not occupy one spot in the 2025 Global Top 10 Songs On-Demand Audio streams chart. Nor does she appear in the Global Top 10 Songs On-Demand video streams. Now her "Life of a Showgirl" is the number one album, but the devil is in the details. When it comes to On-Demand Audio Streams, she's got less than everybody in the Top 10 other than Tate McRae. That's right, Taylor Swift has 2.030 billion On-Demand Audio Streams. The big winner? Morgan Wallen, who has got 6.049 billion, three times as many. Wallen's "I'm the Problem" is number two in the top ten. Let's count down the rest. SZA? She's got 3.219 billion. "KPop Demon Hunters"? 2.605 billion. Bad Bunny? 2.963 billion. Kendrick Lamar? 2.359 billion. Sabrina Carpenter? 2.114 billion. And here comes the kicker at #8...it's Morgan Wallen's "One Thing at a Time," which came out in 2023! It had 2.458 billion streams, more than Taylor Swift's latest. Drake? Who was supposedly neutered by Kendrick Lamar in their diss war? With PARTYNEXTDOOR their "$ome $exy $ongs 4 U" has 2.192 billion streams. And the aforementioned Tate McRae finished up the list with 1.889 billion. But Taylor Swift owns video, right? Once again, the only person who has fewer On-Demand Video Streams is Tate McRae. Taylor's got 63.4 million Morgan has 246.6 with his latest album. SZA has 141.3. "KPop Demon Hunters" has 205.9 million. Bad Bunny has 197.7 million Kendrick Lamar 150.3 million. Sabrina Carpenter? 81.7 million. Morgan Wallen's 2023 album? 120.9 million PARTYNEXTDOOR & Drake? 97.8 million. Tate McRae? 52.2 million. Now as you can see, the numbers don't add up. How can Taylor Swift's "Life of a Showgirl" be the number one album if the numbers say it's #9? WELCOME TO BIZARROLAND! Taylor wins because of physical album sales. Yes, all those zillions of variations, they sold 3,985,000 copies! No one else in the Top Ten even broke seven figures (that's a million for the math-challenged.) As a matter of fact, no one else even sold 500,000! I'd recite all the numbers, but I think you get it. Well, just to add some flavor, three of the albums didn't even cross the SIX FIGURE (i.e. a hundred thousand) threshold. But, but, BUT, the public overwhelmingly CONSUMED eight of the other albums more. In some cases WAY MORE! But in the bizarre math of the music business, where physical sales are overweighted, where some buy vinyl but don't have a turntable, some buy CDs without possessing a deck, a new stat has been created, TOTAL ALBUM-EQUIVALENT CONSUMPTION! Now that's pretty stupid, because that's not how people listen anymore. They pick and choose tracks. Sure, some people listen to the album through and through, but most don't. This is easily observed on Spotify where the numbers are public. Usually certain tracks have stratospheric streams and others are anemic. But having said that, the streams on "Life of a Showgirl" are evenly spread when it comes to the album tracks as opposed to the hits. In other words, not only is the industry telling everybody Taylor is #1, the press repeats this info. But really, look at the statistics above... It's like saying you're number one at the country club because you beat the scratch golfer with your 36 handicap! But, but, BUT you say... One must factor in release date and the number of cuts on an album and... I hear you, but that doesn't account for all of the wide disparities here. Let's go to U.S. Top 10 Songs On-Demand Audio + Video streams. Taylor Swift is nowhere to be seen. Nor is she in the U.S. Top 10 Songs On-Demand Audio streams or the U.S. Top 10 Songs On-Demand Video Streams. I mean one of her songs should have triumphed, right? NO! Hell, Taylor Swift isn't even in the U.S. Top 10 Songs Programmed Audio Streams! Nor is she in the U.S. Top Radio Songs Based on audience impressions. Now I'm not judging Taylor Swift on her numbers, she's a huge act with a huge fan base that consumes her music in volume. And quantity is not a definitive representation of quality. But when it comes to statistics... Hell, it's not only in straight news that the public ends up misinformed. I guarantee you, if you ask almost anybody in America over ten, they'll say that Taylor Swift is the biggest act in the country, if not the world, that it's a slam dunk. But is this really true? First and foremost we've got to stop overweighting physical sales, which are manipulated by artists for chart position. But we also have to point out that at this late date, the music business is still spewing falsehoods and the media and therefore the public are buying them. Draw your own conclusions. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
