Music Intelligence Report 2026

MUSIC

INTELLIGENCE

REPORT 2026

You might have seen the broad strokes of what’s going on in music as 2025 wrapped up, but the Music Intelligence Report isn’t that.

The goal is to reveal meaningful insights through data, so we can plot the direction that music is heading this year. 

In the report, you’ll find out how listening habits are changing, and you’ll get to know a wide variety of scenes rooted on SoundCloud that are worth keeping an eye on. You’ll see why the headlines about hip hop’s decline are misleading — and what’s actually happening. And you’ll leave with an understanding of where electronic music is heading.

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SCENES
TO WATCH

Scenes on SoundCloud shape the future of music.

Formed through social interactivity on the platform, they reflect shared cultural and sonic inspiration and are hotbeds of creative collaboration. They are beacons for fans looking for what’s next in music.

From a new wave of indie that blends alt rock and hip-hop and has nearly tripled in streams the past year, to a fast growing reggaeton scene out of Mexico that taps into the sounds of underground hip-hop in the US, get to know some of the scenes making their mark.

GENRE

BREAKING

Drawing from diverse styles, places, and eras, hip-hop artists on SoundCloud are forging new sounds and reshaping the foundations of the genre itself. Social discovery fuels this shift, and recommendations from tastemakers are broadening the horizon for artists and fans alike across the genre spectrum:

‍Listeners who discover tracks via Liked By playlists are over 3x more likely to engage on the track themselves.

CONSUMPTION
TRENDS

PSA to emerging artists:

‍Listeners on SoundCloud listen to new music nearly twice as much as listeners across the industry.

top growing
genres us / uk

The big picture:

See the genres dominating the landscape today and shaping the foundations of tomorrow.

RISING ELECTRONIC

TIDES

Electronic music continues to call SoundCloud home. Uploads rose from one in four tracks in 2020 to over one in three in 2025. From a dubstep comeback in the US, where electronic is the fastest growing genre, to UK garage and minimal tech house catching on across borders, DJs and producers are driving the energy. With a new wave of DJs coming up on the platform, we see a

‍39% increase in the hashtag #DJset year over year, setting the stage for a new kind of music discovery.

top artists
us / uk

From SoundCloud trailblazer to household name, some of the most-streamed artists of today started right here.

‍See who made the top artists list and get to know the new artists putting a stamp on the next generation.

top tracks
us / uk

The top tracks of 2025 included fresh heat from some of SoundCloud’s reigning royalty as well as breakthrough tracks from exciting new artists in the industry.

UK UNDERGROUND

RAP FAMILY TREE

After its spotlight in the 2025 Music Intelligence Report, UK underground rap surged globally. Artists like EsDeeKid and fakemink—who started their careers and built early momentum on SoundCloud—became the hottest acts in hip-hop Rooted in community and cross-scene influence, the movement blends rap and gritty electropop and is shaping what comes next. Overall,

‍UK underground rap streams increased nearly 300% in 2025—this year, the scene is set to shape the mainstream.