The Nielsen mid-year music report is here, and it shows the reign of streaming services over the industry is far from over.
Nielsen is widely considered to be the authority on the business of entertainment, and their latest mid-year report reveals the music industry is in good standing. The recently published data found the first half of 2019 shattered previous 6-month records with more than 507 billion on-demand combined music and video streams and milestones led by singles and albums from Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Halsey, Khalid, BTS, and Bad Bunny.
The fall is widely considered the busiest time of the year for music, so it is likely the total on-demand combined streaming numbers will be equal to, if not greater than the statistics above. If true, that would mean 2019 is on pace to be the first year where streams of recorded music surpass one-trillion plays in the United States and Canada.
To date, many of this year’s most significant music moments were aided by exposure in popular films. The success of A Star Is Born, for example, gave Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s smash hit duet “Shallow” a major boost following the Acadamy Awards. The song has earned more than 684,000 track downloads, 316 million on-demand song streams, and over one-billion audience impression on the radio to date.
Nielsen sites other areas of entertainment as playing a very influential role in the rise of the year’s most popular songs. The music featured in film and television continued its upward trend from 2018 when soundtracks accounted for two of the year’s top 10 biggest sellers (The Greatest Showman and Black Panther: The Album). The impact good placement has on songs can be understood by looking at the success of Post Malone and Swae Lee’s “Sunflower” ( 47.6 million U.S. streams), which appeared in the equally popular animated film Into The Spiderverse, or through the continuing success of rock biopics such Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman.
There is a wide range of Global pop genres that made a sizeable impact in the U.S as well, including K-Pop and Latin. K-Pop’s global domination, which reached record peaks in 2018, continued to reach new audiences.
- 230,000 equivalent album units earned for BTS’ Map of the Soul: Persona, a career-best for the K-Pop group, during the week ending April 12.
- BTS and Halsey’s “Boy With Luv” reached 125 million on-demand streams so far this year, including spikes after their performance at the Billboard Music Awards on May 1.
- 18.6 million first week on-demand streams for BLACKPINK’s “Kill This Love,” which broke the band’s own record for highest-charting single by a K-Pop girl group on the Billboard Hot 100.
Nielsen Music’s Mid-Year 2019 Charts:
2019’s Mid-Year Top 10 Albums (Based on Overall Equivalent Album Units)
1. Ariana Grande, Thank U, Next (1,552,800)
2. Billie Eilish, When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (1,304,000)
3. Khalid, Free Spirit (929,000)
4. Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born (Soundtrack) (889,000)
5. A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, Hoodie SZN (810,000)
6. Post Malone, beerbongs & bentleys (756,000)
7. Drake, Scorpion (718,000)
8. Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody (Soundtrack) (705,000)
9. Juice WRLD, Death Race for Love (675,000)
10. Jonas Brothers, Happiness Begins (663,000)
2019’s Mid-Year Top 10 Selling Albums
1. Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born (Soundtrack) (404,000)
2. Jonas Brothers, Happiness Begins (374,000)
3. Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (343,000)
4. BTS, Map of the Soul: Persona (343,000)
5. Backstreet Boys, DNA (299,000)
6. Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody (Soundtrack) (253,000)
7. Ariana Grande, Thank U, Next (228,000)
8. Soundtrack, The Greatest Showman (181,000)
9. P!nk, Hurts 2B Human (158,000)
10. Lauren Daigle, Look Up Child (154,000)
2019’s Mid-Year Top 10 Selling Vinyl Albums
1. Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody (Soundtrack) (61,000)
2. Queen, Greatest Hits (49,000)
3. Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (47,000)
4. Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 (33,000)
5. The Beatles, Abbey Road (33,000)
6. Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon (32,000)
7. Bob Marley & The Wailers, Legend (30,000)
8. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (29,000)
9. Michael Jackson, Thriller (29,000)
10. Billie Eilish, Don’t Smile at Me (28,000)
2019’s Mid-Year Top 10 Selling Digital Songs
1. Lil Nas X, “Old Town Road” (958,000)
2. Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper, “Shallow” (684,000)
3. Post Malone & Swae Lee, “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” (488,000)
4. Ariana Grande, “7 Rings” (420,000)
5. Halsey, “Without Me” (388,000)
6. Post Malone, “Wow.” (381,000)
7. Jonas Brothers, “Sucker” (357,000)
8. Lauren Daigle, “You Say” (322,000)
9. Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie, “Me!” (322,000)
10. Ava Max, “Sweet But Psycho” (321,000)
2019’s Mid-Year Top 10 On-Demand Song Streams (Audio and Video Combined)
1. Lil Nas X, “Old Town Road” (1,337,995,000)
2. Post Malone & Swae Lee, “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” (850,194,000)
3. Ariana Grande, “7 Rings” (776,696,000)
4. Travis Scott, “Sicko Mode” (623,498,000)
5. Halsey, “Without Me” (599,335,000)
6. J. Cole, “Middle Child” (582,748,000)
7. Post Malone, “Wow.” (582,633,000)
8. Blueface, “Thotiana” (588,277,000)
9. Marshmello & Bastille, “Happier” (528,640,000)
10. YNW Melly, “Murder On My Mind” (498,806,000)
2019’s Mid-Year Top 10 On-Demand Audio Streams
1. Lil Nas X, “Old Town Road” (596,113,000)
2. Post Malone & Swae Lee, “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” (458,470,000)
3. Ariana Grande, “7 Rings” (433,904,000)
4. Post Malone, “Wow.” (416,231,000)
5. J. Cole, “Middle Child” (395,872,000)
6. Meek Mill featuring Drake, “Going Bad” (337,025,000)
7. Halsey, “Without Me” (319,879,000)
8. YNW Melly, “Murder On My Mind” (287,219,000)
9. Lil Baby & Gunna, “Drip Too Hard” (284,613,000)
10. Travis Scott, “Sicko Mode” (276,802,000)
