Rock twice as popular as pop

Rock music is more popular than any other genre in the US, according to latest figures.

Music Business Worldwide reports that data collected by Nielsen Music shows that rock claimed 29% of total consumption across album, individual track purchases and streams in 2014. R&B/hip-hop was second, taking 17.2%, while pop finished a distant third claiming 14.9%.

In terms of pure album sales, rock music was also the clear winner, claiming 33.2% of the market compared to 13.9% for R&B/hip-hop. However, when it came to streamed music, R&B/hip-hop was out in front with 28.5% compared to rock’s 24.7% of the total market.

The annual report also shows that while vinyl purchases are on the up, sales of CDs and digital downloads declined from 2013, with more people now choosing to stream their favourite artists.

Nielsen’s David Bakula says: “Music fans continue to consume music through on-demand streaming services at record levels, helping to offset some of the weakness that we see in sales.

“The continued expansion of digital music consumption is encouraging, as is the continued record setting growth that we are seeing in vinyl LP sales.”

Many rock and metal acts have criticised streaming services like Spotify, including Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge and Soil, while Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx recently urged bands to stand up for themselves and fight for a fairer income from online services.

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.