As the United States observes its 250th anniversary, data from Spotify underscores the global footprint of American music, podcasts, and audiobooks. The platform, available in 184 markets, reports that American artists and creators are among the most streamed worldwide.
In the U.S., 69% of all streams go to American artists, and American music accounts for 70% of the Spotify Top 50 chart in 2025. Outside the country, songs featuring at least one American artist were streamed 776 billion times in the past year.
Domestic Listening Patterns
Listeners in the South and Midwest stream the most American-made music. In a recent week, Mississippi led, followed by West Virginia, South Dakota, Alabama, and Louisiana.
Taylor Swift tops both domestic and global charts. Bad Bunny, Morgan Wallen, Kendrick Lamar, and Post Malone are among the most-streamed American artists in the U.S. Morgan Wallen has the highest share of U.S.-based listeners among American artists, at 74%.
Pop, hip-hop, rock, indie, and country are the most streamed American genres domestically.
Global Reach of American Music
The United States is the world’s top exporter of music. Beyond Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, and Eminem are among the most-streamed American artists of all time globally.
Internationally, pop, hip-hop, rock, dance, and indie lead. Over the last five years, streams of American country music have grown more than 94% outside the U.S.
Each Independence Day, listeners create more than 650,000 Fourth of July playlists. The top searched tracks during the holiday include:
- Bruce Springsteen – “Born in the U.S.A.”
- Lee Greenwood – “God Bless The U.S.A.”
- Katy Perry – “Firework”
- John Mellencamp – “R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.”
- Ray Charles – “America the Beautiful”
Podcasts and Audiobooks
U.S.-created podcasts have been streamed in more than 180 countries so far in 2026. The U.S. is Spotify’s number one podcast market globally. Leading shows include The Joe Rogan Experience, The Mel Robbins Podcast, This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von, Huberman Lab, and Call Her Daddy.
On the audiobook side, American author Sarah J. Maas is the most listened-to author of all time on Spotify. Works by Freida McFadden (The Housemaid), Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing), Jennette McCurdy (I’m Glad My Mom Died), and James Clear (Atomic Habits) all appear on the global all-time list.
Creator Investments and Royalties
Spotify paid music rightsholders more than $11 billion in 2025, which the company says is the highest annual payout by any single company. Royalties generated by U.S. artists from Spotify have more than doubled since 2019, with nearly half coming from listeners outside the U.S.
The platform offers tools such as Spotify for Artists, which provides listener data and promotional tools, and programs like EQUAL and Fresh Finds that highlight emerging American talent. Features like Reserved facilitate ticket access to live shows, while SongDNA lets listeners explore the writers, producers, and collaborators behind any song.
In podcasting, Spotify opened Sycamore Studios in Los Angeles earlier this year, a production hub that has hosted guests including Snoop Dogg and author Andy Weir alongside local creators.
Spotify’s audiobook investment has driven up to 30% annual growth in the U.S. and pays out hundreds of millions of dollars to authors and publishers annually, the company said.
AI and Content Protection
As artificial intelligence reshapes the creative landscape, Spotify has introduced initiatives to support new creative tools while guarding against misuse of generative AI. These include Artist Profile Protection, Verified by Spotify, and AI Credits, which the company says strengthen protections for American artists, podcasters, and authors and increase transparency for fans.
