{"id":112276,"date":"2021-07-15T21:24:16","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T20:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=112276"},"modified":"2022-02-03T11:02:30","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T11:02:30","slug":"are-we-witnessing-the-death-of-the-streaming-megahit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/are-we-witnessing-the-death-of-the-streaming-megahit\/","title":{"rendered":"Are we witnessing the death of the streaming megahit?"},"content":{"rendered":"

MBW\u2019s Stat Of The Week is a series in which we highlight a data point that deserves the attention of the global music industry. Stat Of the Week is supported by Cinq Music Group<\/a>, a technology-driven record label, distribution, and rights management company.<\/p>\n

\n

For decades, the record industry has turned its attention and investment to one thing above any other: the hit record.<\/p>\n

Yet new figures out of the US this week suggest that hits \u2013 as in blockbuster, industry-dominant megahits \u2013 are increasingly becoming a lesser-spotted beast.<\/p>\n

Despite millions more people playing music on streaming services each year, the industry’s biggest streaming hit at the mid-year point of 2021 is significantly smaller than its biggest streaming hit at the mid-year point of 2020, of 2019, and of 2018.<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div> <\/div> \n

To illustrate this point, we must turn to MRC Data’s new half-year industry report<\/a>, covering the US record industry in the first six months of 2021.<\/p>\n

MRC’s numbers show that the biggest hit of H1 2021 in the US was Olivia Rodrigo’s drivers license<\/em>, which attracted 460.2 million on-demand audio streams during the six months.<\/p>\n

That’s a lot of plays.<\/p>\n

But 460.2 million is the smallest amount of on-demand audio streams collected by the USA’s No.1 hit at the mid-year point for four years:<\/p>\n