It’s no secret that Black people run the culture, and the latest report on music streams is proof.

Over 30% of all on-demand audio and video streams in the U.S. last year were tracks recorded by R&B and hip-hop artists, Music Business Worldwide reports. The new stats were from industry monitor MRC Data — compiled with Billboard.

“In the case of on-demand video streams, the ‘R&B/hip-hop’ category actually claimed over a third of all plays, at 33.9%,” according to Music Business Worldwide.

This breakdown finds that the “R&B/hip-hop” category increased its market share of total “album-equivalent sales” here in the U.S. during 2020.

One of the most popular tracks for both on-demand audio and video streaming platforms in the U.S. last year was Roddy Ricch’s “The Box.” The song garnered 920.4 million on-demand audio plays and 399.2 million on-demand video plays during 2020.

In second place was The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” at 691.5 million followed by DaBaby’s “Rockstar” featuring Roddy Ricch.

With the numbers there and the proof that Black culture continues to be a force in the world as we know it today, the only question left is: Will the music industry begin to give Black artists the credit they deserve along with all of the adequate resources to thrive and survive moving forward?

For more on the findings, read the full MRC Data/Billboard year-end report here.

The Box

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