Rap overtakes rock as most popular genre in the US
Genre represented almost a quarter of all music consumption in the US
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Rap has surpassed rock to become the biggest music genre in the US, according to the end-of-year report published by Nielsen Music.
R&B/hip hop represented 24.5 per cent of all music consumption in the US - the largest share and the first time it had led the measurement for a calendar year. Rock came in second place, with a share of 20.8 per cent.
Eight out of 10 of the most listened to artists of the year fell into the R&B/hip hop category, as did seven out of 10 of the top albums.
While Ed Sheeran still ruled with his third album Divide - shifting a whopping 2,764,000 album equivalent units - albums by Kendrick, Drake, Bruno Mars, Post Malone, Migos, The Weeknd and Khalid also made the list.
Kendrick's DAMN. - recently ranked in a BBC 'poll of polls' as critics' favourite album of 2017 - was also the second most-popular among music fans, only a little behind Sheeran in sales with 2.747m album equivalent units.
Taylor Swift's sixth album reputation topped Nielsen Music's list as the top-selling album of the year. The pop star managed to sell 1.9m in just seven weeks; 1.217m in its first week, making it the biggest sales week of the year and the 10th largest for any album since Nielsen Music began tracking sales electronically in 1991.
Music consumption increased in both the US and the UK last year. Nielsen Music reports that total US music consumption climbed 12.5 per cent in 2017, while in the UK, the annual BPI report showed the fastest growth this millennium.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments