Which countries do the top songwriters come from?

In Blokur’s 2020 Songwriters’ Review, we looked at the top 100 songwriters on four major music streaming platforms; Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and Amazon Music. Using information derived from Blokur’s database, we analysed which countries have higher concentrations of top songwriters and the driving force behind this.

SPOTIFY

As stated in our 2020 Songwriters’ Review, the US took the lion’s share (57%) of the top songwriters. With less than half the number of songwriters (20%), the UK followed in second place. Quite notably, both Colombia and Puerto Rico had a combined percentage of 6%, with high ranking artists like Sky, J Balvin and Bad Bunny all featuring amongst the top 50. This could be related to the top three genres Pop, Rap and Latin music making up 71% of the top 200 songs on the Spotify charts.

Countries of origin Bad Bunny and J Balvin

Wiki Comms: Bad Bunny 2019 by Glenn Francis | J Balvin, Festival de Viña del Mar 2017 FESTIVALDEVINACHILE

APPLE MUSIC

As revealed in the Songwriters’ Review, Rap music made up 56% of the top 200 songs on Apple Music, a factor that likely contributes to the US taking an even greater share with 64% of the top songwriters, dwarfing the second-place UK with 17%. Ironically the only UK rap artist to feature amongst the top 20 was 808Melo, producer of the late US rapper Pop Smoke. Notably, Apple Music is also the only platform where Japanese artists feature amongst the top 100, with Ayase of Yoasobi just missing the top ten in 11th place.

top countries of origin for songwriters apple music map

Blokur 2020 Songwriters’ Review Apple Music Map (Countries of Origin)

YOUTUBE

As Google’s video platform, YouTube has access to the billions who use Google’s search engine every day. Google Search allows YouTube to find an audience wherever people are looking for music. The fact that YouTube is free to users also makes the journey from curiosity to consumption a very short one, allowing YouTube to capture casual listeners at scale. 

With only 26% of the top 100 songwriters coming from the US, YouTube stood out as an anomaly amongst all streaming services analysed. As detailed in our previous blog, approximately 60% of the top songs on YouTube were in a non-English language. This could explain why songwriters from English speaking nations are significantly less represented within the platform.

countries of origin YouTube Music top songwriters map

Blokur 2020 Songwriters’ Review YouTube Music Map (Countries of Origin)

In 2019, YouTube expanded its international reach further by launching YouTube Music in both South Africa and India. Closely following the US, Indian songwriters came in second, with 23% of the top songwriters hailing from the country. The rising number of Indian users on the platform has resulted in increased representation for Indian artists. 

Latin music is also highly represented on the platform, with Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Colombia taking a combined 17% of the top 100 songwriters. Latin music leads among the top genres on YouTube, with 30% of the top 200 songs falling under the genre. A reason for this could be Google’s incredible market share of search in major music markets, including 96% in Brazil and 97% in India.

AMAZON

The report revealed that Amazon Music is heavily dominated by country music, with 32% of the top 200 songs falling in the genre. A reason why this may be the case is demographics. Although Amazon Music has been expanding to more countries, the US still remains Amazon’s biggest market, with an estimated 112 million Prime members in the USA alone.

Amazon’s user base also appears to be older. According to a YouGov’s International Media Consumption report, Amazon Music’s popularity peaks in the 35–49 age range, and in 2019 Steve Boom, VP of Amazon Music, revealed that 14% of Amazon Music subscribers were aged 55 and older in comparison to 5% for Spotify.

countries of origin top songwriters Amazon Music

Blokur 2020 Songwriters’ Review Amazon Map (Countries of Origin)

Blokur 2020 Songwriters’ Review Amazon Map (Countries of Origin)Unsurprisingly this contributes to 74% of songwriters coming from the US. Aside from Sweden, Amazon is the only platform where the top 100 musicians are almost entirely from countries where English is spoken as a first language.

A closer look at the US

The maps below show a state by state breakdown of the top songwriters on Amazon and Apple (where US songwriters dominate).

countries of origin state of origin top us songwriters 2020 Amazon music
countries of origin state of origin top US songwriters 2020 Apple Music

Blokur’s State by State look at the top songwriters from the US

Blokur’s State by State look at the top songwriters from the USOn Amazon, where country music dominates, there is a higher concentration of songwriters from Southern states like Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Texas, where country music has its historical roots. As for Apple Music, where rap music dominates, there is a higher concentration of songwriters from states with established rap scenes, e.g. Georgia (namely Atlanta), California, New York and Illinois (Chicago).

Is this set to change?

Although in 2020, 60% of the top songwriters across all four platforms came from the USA, looking back at the results from YouTube, we could be witnessing a change. As music streaming platforms expand their reach into emerging markets, we could see more genres take up spaces in the charts, resulting in songwriters from different regions being given more opportunities to make their mark.


For a breakdown detailing the countries of origins of the top 100 songwriters on each platform, download a free copy of Blokur’s 2020 Songwriters Review today.