The Rise of US Listeners Engaging with Foreign Content

In recent years an eclectic mix of artists have made huge musical impacts across the globe. This is highlighted by artists like Karol G, who earlier this month set a new record as the first woman — and Colombian — to have a Spanish-language album reach №1 on the Billboard 200 (week ending 03/02/2023) with her new release, Mañana Será Bonito.

Looking specifically at music listening in the US, artists originating from outside the United States are achieving new levels of success. According to Luminate Research’s upcoming 2023 U.S. Music 360 study, 66% of American music listeners listen to music from artists originating outside the country. Millennials and Gen Z were the top generations to report listening to foreign artists, both at 69% (+5% more than the average U.S. music listener).

According to Luminate Research’s 2023 U.S. Music 360 study, 30% of American music listeners listen to music originating from outside the country. Millennials and Gen Z were the top generations to report listening to foreign artists, at 36% and 38% respectively (+20% and +27% more than the average U.S. music listener respectively). And while Gen Z remains effectively even between 2022 and 2023 (36.7% and 36%, respectively) in their listenership, Millennials demonstrate a growing lean into foreign content year-over-year as the percentage listening to foreign content jumps from 34.5% in 2022 to 38% in 2023.

While American music listeners engage with English-language songs the most (93%), Luminate data also shows that 24% engage with Spanish, 8% with French and 7% each with Korean and Japanese. Additionally, nearly 2-in-5 (39%) American music listeners report listening to music that is in a language other than English.

The trend toward more foreign-language content has been increasing in recent years. In 2022, 19 of the Top 50 tracks in Total On-Demand Streaming (audio and video) were from artists originating outside the United States, amassing 8.54B Total On-Demand streams. This is an 85% increase compared to 2021’s 4.62B Total OD streams. Artists entering 2022’s Top 50 tracks for the first time include Japanese artist Joji, whose song “Glimpse of Us” ranked #43 with 334m Total OD streams, and Nigerian artist CKay, whose song “Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah)” ranked #44 with 333.6m Total OD streams.

Written by Memunatu Mansaray
Director, Customer Success, Luminate

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