At SoundCloud, we’ve always been at the forefront of music discovery. From first uploads to chart-topping success, every major music movement has a starting point – and more often than not it starts here.
For the first time ever, we’re pulling back the curtain and sharing SoundCloud’s Music Intelligence Report with the world. This report is more than just a collection of numbers; it’s a powerful tool that reveals the pulse of emerging trends, cultural movements, and seismic shifts in music. It tells us which artists and tracks are resonating with fans right now, but more importantly, it helps us spot the earliest signals of what’s next – the genres, sounds, and scenes that are about to break.
At SoundCloud, we don’t just track trends – we identify them before they happen. By combining our unique engagement data with cultural and musical context, we can recognize when a niche sound is evolving into an unstoppable force, when a micro-movement is turning into a global wave and when an emerging artist is on the path to becoming the next superstar.
Key Insights from the 2024 SoundCloud Music Intelligence Report:
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Thriving Music Scenes
A rising wave of young country and folk artists are gaining momentum on SoundCloud, driving a 15% increase in streams across the scene over the past year. More broadly, uploads of #country and #folk tracks have surged by over 50% in the last two years, signaling strong growth in the genre. Additionally, SoundCloud continues to lead the way for underground and emerging scenes. Plugg/Pluggnb/Rage, Cloud Rap, and Reggaeton are making waves on the platform, redefining the future of their respective genres. At first glance, these small scenes might appear identical, but as you move closer, the finer details emerge. What starts as a tight-knit community on SoundCloud can expand into a global cultural force.
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Top Growing Genres in the U.S.
Electronic, Long-Form, and Rock & Metal are all seeing significant growth on SoundCloud, with emerging artists pushing boundaries and experimenting with new sounds. We’re not just highlighting the movements shaping music today – we’re tracking the ones set to take over tomorrow.
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Current Music Thrives on SoundCloud
46.5% of listening on SoundCloud is devoted to tracks released in the last 18 months—nearly double the industry average of 26.7% (Luminate 2024 Year-End Report). This reinforces what makes SoundCloud unique: our listeners value current music, helping emerging artists and new sounds take off faster! We don’t just track what’s trending, we help define it.
SoundCloud isn’t just where music is discovered – it’s where music movements are born. The insights in SoundCloud’s Music Intelligence Report captures what’s defining music today and what’s about to shape the future. What’s next in music starts first on SoundCloud.
