Has hip-hop hit a wall? A new report points out a decline in market share. (Oh, and rock’s NOT dead, either.)

Hip-hop has been the driving musical force in culture in many parts of the world for years now. There are, however, signs that its dominance is beginning to weaken.

According to The 2022 Culture Report from Trapital, hip-hop’s market share of revenue in the US–the home of the genre–declined in 2021. Its share of streams has also declined.

Hip-hop revenues in the US (US$2.3 billion to US$2.7 billion) from 2020 to 2021, but its market share of total revenue was down to 27.7% from 28.2%. The rise of Latin American artists like Bad Bunny is one factor. That genre’s share of US revenue has increased to 5.4%, which is still far behind hip-hop, but it is increasing.

Some of the headwinds being encountered by hip-hop:

• The international growth of streaming. There are literally dozens of people outside the United States (a shock to many Americans) who listen to other types of music.
• There’s some weird categorization going on. Interesting that BB actually calls himself a rapper, but okay…
• Hip-hop fans were first movers on new things like streaming. Now everyone else is catching up.
• The vinyl shortage means that many artists have to wait months to have their vinyl orders filled.
• No more album bundles, a chart-beating tactic that was briefly a thing in 2020.
• There have been 25% fewer music festivals than in 2019. COVID, of course.

What about rock in the US? It’s not dead. Hardly. Look at this chart.