Metal is the Fastest Growing Genre of Music on TuneCore
Update, 1:36pm: It’s been brought to our attention by MetalSucks reader Corey M. that Believe Digital, which merged with TuneCore in 2015, acquired Nuclear Blast in 2018. So there’s your rise in metal streams. Like I said, context is everything.
Original Post:
Independent digital music distribution, publishing and licensing service TuneCore has released a report detailing growth on the service in 2018, and the numbers paint a flattering picture of metal as the fastest-rising genre of music.
TuneCore, a distribution service that helps artists post their music to Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music and Google Play (among others), shared the following genre-based numbers for streaming and downloads (together) in 2018 vs. the previous year:
Heavy metal – 154% increase
J-Pop – 133% increase
R&B/Soul – 68% increase
K-Pop – 58% increase
World music – 57% increase
Instrumental – 42% increase
A word of caution: I see reports like these and I’m always slightly skeptical, because context is everything. Metal was notoriously slow to jump on the streaming bandwagon, and as such maybe it’s the “fastest growing” now simply because it had so much ground to make up now that fans are finally embracing the format. It could also be the case that TuneCore is particularly popular among independent metal artists for one reason or another, the way electronic music tends to cluster on Soundcloud. Still, numbers like these are positive any way you slice them, because more people listening to / streaming / buying / consuming metal is always a good thing. I’d just hesitate to take these numbers as a sign of metal’s pending worldwide takeover or whatever.
TuneCore also revealed that their artists received $308 million in distribution payouts in 2018, a 28% increase year-over-year. This year is already off to a strong start, with $83 million in payouts in the first quarter of 2019, a 21% increase over Q1 of 2018. Overall artist revenue, including all income streams (not just distribution), topped $1 billion in 2017.
TuneCore also revealed the following statistics showing growth by continent in 2018:
Africa – 146% growth
Asia – 52% growth
Oceania – 38% growth
Europe – 35% growth
South America – 32% growth
North America – 31% growth
