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The rise of World Music: Young listeners in the US are falling for non-English speaking artists
Euronews ^ | 11/01/2024 | Anca Ulea

Posted on 01/16/2024 12:56:21 PM PST by nickcarraway

Music lovers in the US, the world’s biggest music streaming market, listened to more music in other languages than English in 2023, according to a new report.

The times sure are a-changin’… The days when global music artists had to sing in English to sell records internationally appear to be far behind us, if the latest streaming data is anything to go by.

Listeners on music streaming platforms are increasingly embracing music in languages other than English, according to the 2023 Luminate Year-End Music Report.

The genre known as “World Music,” once a niche label reserved for (Western) music snobs, is gaining popularity with younger listeners in the United States, the biggest music streaming market in the world.

It's become a catch-all term that encompasses every genre that's not considered Latin music or English-language music, like K-Pop, J-Pop and Afrobeats.

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Luminate’s report found that English-language streaming content in the US was down 4.8% in 2023, with interest growing in Spanish- and Japanese-language music in particular.

The changes are accelerating as the music marketplace becomes more international, with more people around the world listening to music on streaming platforms.

Last year, the global music industry surpassed 4 trillion streams, marking a new single-year record, with global streams up 34% from 2022.

Unsurprisingly, Spanish is the second-most popular language in music streaming, buoyed by the wildly popular Latin genre with its blockbuster artists including Bad Bunny and Karol G.

In 2023, Spanish-language content saw a 3.8% uptick on music streaming platforms in the US.

Regional Mexican music – which encompasses mariachi, banda, corridos, norteño, sierreño and other styles – was one of the year’s biggest breakout genres, with a 60 percent increase in plays.

Mexican artists Peso Pluma, Eslabon Armado, Junior H and Fuerza Regida each hit more than 1 billion streams last year, as the genre saw a meteoric rise in popularity.

English is still the top language for music globally, accounting for 54.9% of the top 10,000 global tracks in 2023. But other languages are gaining ground.

The top global languages in music streaming after English, according to the report, were Spanish (10%), Hindi (7%), Korean (2.4%) and Japanese (2.1%).

Gen Z and Millennials are looking abroad

The interest in international music mostly comes from younger listeners – the report found that 63% of Gen Z and 65% of Millennials agree they “listen to new music to experience new cultures and perspectives.”

That shows in the listening figures for popular non-English genres – 95% of J-Pop fans in the US said they were Gen Z. Multilingual music listeners were also more likely to use community-based social media, like Reddit and Discord.

Afrobeats, one of the fastest-growing music genres in the world, was up 26.2% last year. The report found it’s hugely popular in Europe – with Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the UK, France and Portugal leading global streams of the genre.

The international market for music streaming is expected to keep growing next year – with analysts estimating global revenues will hit a record €27.06 billion in 2024.


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment; Society
KEYWORDS: foreign; music; worldmusic
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To: KarlInOhio
Well, if you could go back 60 years, there's Connie Francis. She's not German, but she fakes it well:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Me4PS8n3Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Me4PS8n3Q
21 posted on 01/16/2024 1:49:06 PM PST by Dr. Sivana ("If you can’t say something nice . . . say the Rosary." [Red Badger])
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To: Daveinyork

Opera was the original “world music”.

“Don Giovanni”, in Italian, opened in Prague.


22 posted on 01/16/2024 1:55:20 PM PST by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: Daveinyork

Opera: The *original* multimedia artform.


23 posted on 01/16/2024 1:56:49 PM PST by Republican in occupied CA (We had enough government in 1789)
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To: ComputerGuy

Volare before Sukiyaki. Dominique. La Bamba. Macarena. Most had English versions, but still somewhat hits in foreign languages.


24 posted on 01/16/2024 1:58:15 PM PST by jjotto ( Blessed are You LORD, who crushes enemies and subdues the wicked.)
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To: ComputerGuy

👍👍👍👍


25 posted on 01/16/2024 2:10:33 PM PST by justme4now (Our Right's are God given and I don't need permission from politicians or courts to exercise them!)
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To: jjotto
Dominique was #1 for four weeks in December, 1963. It amazes me that a French-language ballad of Domingo Felix de Guzmán, a Spanish crusader, persecutor of heretics, evangelist, and diplomat, could fly past all of the songs about surfing, hot rods, dancing and romantic love to make it to the top and then sit there for a month. Perhaps it was a precursor to a massive upheaval in the Top 40 world that was just weeks away.
26 posted on 01/16/2024 2:16:01 PM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: Daveinyork

Would you settle for a Slovakian Soprano singing German music? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzF3ubtimGE


27 posted on 01/16/2024 2:16:19 PM PST by EvilCapitalist (81 million votes my ass.)
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To: ComputerGuy

Translates to “I look up as I walk” nice song I have it on my playlist.


28 posted on 01/16/2024 2:18:49 PM PST by ABN 505 (Right is right if nobody is right, and wrong is wrong if everybody is wrong. ~Archbishop Fulton John)
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To: nickcarraway
Seemann, deine Heimat ist das Meer (sailor, your home is the ocean) by Lolita, better known in this country as "Sailor," was a Top 10 hit in 1960. Interestingly, it comes from Austria, which has no seacoast.
29 posted on 01/16/2024 2:20:32 PM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: Sirius Lee

Check out the link at post 27.


30 posted on 01/16/2024 2:21:14 PM PST by EvilCapitalist (81 million votes my ass.)
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To: nickcarraway

Bkmk


31 posted on 01/16/2024 2:24:40 PM PST by sauropod (The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly.)
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To: ABN 505; ComputerGuy
The Blue Diamonds were a duet from Indonesia--I believe they were based in Holland. Their English version of "I Look Up as I Walk" is about a girl named Sukiyaki. They also did it in German, and that version is about beef stew.

Sukiyaki--The Blue Diamonds (1963)

32 posted on 01/16/2024 2:28:06 PM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: Fiji Hill

My brother lived in Japan for 7 years , he never heard of the song till he heard it in my truck one day and he brought it back to Japan with him, he made it popular again in the 90’s over there.


33 posted on 01/16/2024 2:35:23 PM PST by ABN 505 (Right is right if nobody is right, and wrong is wrong if everybody is wrong. ~Archbishop Fulton John)
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To: KarlInOhio
How about this one?

Liebling, mein Herz lässt dich grüßen (darling, my heart sends its greetings to you)--Lilian Harvey & Willy Fritsch (1930)

Or this?

Glutrote Rosen (shiny red roses)--Rudi Schuricke (1942)

34 posted on 01/16/2024 2:36:31 PM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: ABN 505
Ue O Muite Arukō (I look up as I walk), aka Sukiyaki, was a hit in Japan in 1961, so when your brother was living over there, it had probably long since faded from the charts.

The singer was killed in a plane crash in 1985 that killed more than 500 passengers and crew.

35 posted on 01/16/2024 2:43:35 PM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: Dr. Sivana
I actually prefer when my son plays stuff from anime in Japanese, no concerns about lyrics.

My two youngest sons are into it as well. I have a nephew who has foresworn all American pop because of it's vacuous and immoral lyrics and is now into Portuguese folk music. Mrs. fidelis listens to some K-pop, mostly as an outflow from her obsession with K-dramas.

36 posted on 01/16/2024 2:51:58 PM PST by fidelis (Ecce Crucem Domini! Fugite partes adversae! Vicit Leo de tribu Juda, Radix David! Alleluia!)
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To: fidelis

Introduce then to classical music. It imbues a methodical way of thinking and increases intelligence.


37 posted on 01/16/2024 2:55:00 PM PST by Publius
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To: Publius

See the link at post 27.


38 posted on 01/16/2024 2:56:46 PM PST by EvilCapitalist (81 million votes my ass.)
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To: Skywise

I can attest. Have a neice hooked on Korean and Japanese pop.


39 posted on 01/16/2024 2:58:45 PM PST by reviled downesdad (Some of the lost will never believe the Truth and will hate you for it.)
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To: Fiji Hill

That’s it. I’ll bm it.


40 posted on 01/16/2024 2:59:44 PM PST by ComputerGuy (Heavily-medicated for your protection)
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