Every day, nearly 100,000 new songs are uploaded to streaming platforms. Most of them will never be heard. Not because they are disliked, or criticized, or bad... They will just get lost out in the mass.
100,000Nearly half (93.2 million) of the 202 million tracks available on streaming services in 2024 were played no more than 10 times each last year. (1) (3)
Last year, there were 5.1 trillion streams (that is 5,1 followed by 11 zeroes - 5,100,000,000,000) worldwide (2).
Taking into account the total global population, each person on average streamed 616 songs in 2025.
38M
Approximately 38 million tracks received zero plays on streaming platforms in 2022 (4)
Short-Form Content
Drives Music Discovery
With attention spans shrinking and short-form video rising rapidly, listeners increasingly prefer bite-sized content. (8) Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are now dominating global internet traffic (9) and they reward quick engagement over sustained listening. In this environment, music creators may find greater reach by adapting to shorter, more dynamic formats tailored for these platforms.
Niche Focus Beats
Broad Targeting
In a saturated environment, broad targeting is weak targeting. Focusing on one genre and sticking to it may be a key to success. Currently, 1 in 4 audio streams on demand is R&B/hip-hop genre song (5)
Viral Trends Can
Revive Old Hits
Recognizing the potential for viral trends before it happens makes you stick out, example is Goo Goo Dolls song Iris was in the top 22 most streamed old songs globally. It was released in April of 1998, and popularized after a short video from the Deadpool & Wolverine movie went viral. Iris was part of the soundtrack for the movie. (2)
Music has never been more accessible, yet never more crowded, making attention the real challenge for every artist.
We live in the first era where almost anyone can publish a song. The democratization of distribution has created unprecedented opportunity and unprecedented invisibility. Each new author has to break through the noise.
PRODUCED BY GRAPHONAUT · 2026
INFOGRAPHIC CONCEPT & DESIGN: Boris Benko
ILLUSTRATIONS / GRAPHIC ELEMENTS / DATA VISUALIZATIONS: Boris Benko, Josip Dujmović
COPYWRITING & RESEARCH: Goran Koprenica
ANIMATIONS: Vedran Jevtović
CONTENT DIRECTOR: Colin Eldridge
COPY EDITOR / PROOFREADER: Jacob Roundy
FRONT-END DEVELOPER: Amy Evans
SOURCES:
