Luminate’s 2025 annual report highlights a paradox at the heart of the global music industry. While the volume of music available on streaming platforms has reached unprecedented levels, actual listening remains extremely concentrated.
By the end of 2025, 253 million tracks were available worldwide — an increase of nearly 38 million songs in one year, or 106,000 new uploads per day. At first glance, this growth suggests creativity and diversity, but the data tells a far less optimistic story.
Nearly half of all tracks (120.5 million) received fewer than ten streams in 2025. Overall, 73% of songs had fewer than 100 listens, and 88% failed to reach 1,000 streams annually. In practice, almost nine out of ten tracks have no real economic impact in the streaming ecosystem.
Listening is also highly concentrated. Just 0.2% of tracks accounted for almost half of all global streams, confirming that streaming strongly favors a tiny elite of songs and artists. While major record labels represent only a small share of releases, revenue remains heavily skewed toward a limited number of hits.
The report warns that this imbalance may worsen as AI-generated music accelerates the flood of new releases. As the number of tracks continues to grow faster than audience attention, the industry faces a critical question: can hundreds of millions of songs be fairly compensated when listening remains focused on a tiny minority?
Ultimately, the music market appears trapped in excessive growth, raising concerns not only about artist remuneration but also about the cultural value of music itself.
(summary of a post by Radio FG: link )
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