A new Music Radar report reveals staggering numbers in the music industry: more songs are released every day than were released in all of 1989. That year gave us iconic albums like Nirvana’s Bleach, Madonna’s Like a Prayer, and Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation. Today, the sheer volume of daily uploads—around 120,000 songs—overshadows even the most prolific music eras.
The report also highlights a 12% rise in music creators between 2021 and 2022, now totaling 76 million. This figure is projected to reach 200 million by 2030. The massive growth in creators and content is partly attributed to the low cost of music production, with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek noting, “Making music today costs almost nothing.”
Despite the influx of content, the industry faces challenges. Many tracks remain unheard, leading Spotify to remove royalties for songs with fewer than 1,000 streams. Ek poses an important question: “What of today’s creations will still be relevant centuries from now?”
The report underscores a dilemma in the digital age: while music creation is more accessible than ever, timeless artistry is harder to identify in a sea of new releases.