Rock Music Surged in 2025 with Record Streaming Growth and Live Tour Demand

Rock music, often labeled as "dead," showed significant growth in 2025, outpacing nearly every other genre in streaming, according to a report released by music analytics company Luminate.

The global music industry recorded 5.1 trillion streams in 2025, a 9.6% increase from 2024, according to Luminate's 2025 Year-End Report.

U.S. listeners streamed 1.4 trillion songs on-demand in 2025, a 4.6% rise from the previous year. However, Luminate reported that the majority of streams favored older songs, with only 43% of streams coming from music released between 2021 and 2025.

Notable recent releases such as Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl" and Morgan Wallen's "I'm the Problem" each surpassed 5 million album-equivalent units-a metric combining sales and streams.

Rock led genre growth in 2025 with a 6.4% increase in streaming activity.

"Rock is the largest growth genre this year, meaning it grew its share of the streaming pie the most," Jaime Marconette, Luminate's vice president of music insights and industry relations, told ABC News. "Though rock streaming in general leans catalog-tracks older than 18 months-the genre posted the second-highest total of new current streams this year."

Rock accounted for 260.5 billion streams in 2025, up from 234.22 billion in 2024. While classic tracks continue to dominate, both longtime fans and new listeners are contributing to the genre's resurgence.

Rock's popularity extends beyond streaming. According to Billboard, top-grossing rock tours in 2025 included Iron Maiden, Eagles, Metallica, Paul McCartney and Guns N' Roses, each securing high rankings and demonstrating sustained demand for live performances.

Despite rock's growth, the most-streamed songs globally in 2025 remained dominated by pop, hip-hop and K-pop.