(January 31, 2025). For the past couple of decades, music historians and journalists alike have been pondering the state of rock and roll, focused mainly on its decline from being the most popular and commercially successful genre for much of the second half of the 20th century to where it stands today.
People have speculated that the “rock-and-roll era,” which unofficially began in 1955, has passed and that we now live in the hip-hop age. How true that is often depends on a person’s perspective and how he or she feels about either genre, regardless of what sales and consumption numbers might indicate.
But those numbers are suggesting a pretty bleak state of affairs for rock music, particularly “current” rock music — defined as any recording that is 18 months or less in age.
According to a 2024 year-end report from Luminate — the music industry’s sales/streaming and radio airplay data provider to Billboard magazine — rock music is still the second-most consumed genre in America behind hip-hop. That’s the good news.
The bad news for the genre is that a staggering 88% of the rock music consumed in this country between January and December 2024 was either “catalog” (more than 18 months old at the time it was streamed) or “deep catalog” (more than five years old). That means just 12% of rock music streamed last year was considered “current.”
What’s more astounding is that about 73% of the rock music streamed in 2024 was of the “deep catalog” variety — translation: albums that were recorded before the current decade.
The charts bear out this not-so-surprising statistic as well. Of the year’s top 100 albums as ranked by Billboard, only eight were rock albums and only one of those began the year as “current”: Noah Kahan’s Stick Season, which was released in October 2022. Even that album, which delves as much into Americana and folk-pop as it does rock, moved into “catalog” status when it reached the 18-month mark in April 2024. It ranked as the year’s No. 4 album behind two “current” releases by Taylor Swift and one by Morgan Wallen.
The other seven rock albums that made the year’s top 100 were all “deep catalog” sets: Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (No. 34), Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits (No. 40), Queen’s Greatest Hits (No. 47), Hozier’s self-titled debut (No. 72), The Best of Nickelback Vol. 1 (No. 75), Nirvana’s Nevermind (No. 93), and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ Greatest Hits (No. 94). The only album among those seven that featured songs recorded during the 21st century were the ones by Nickelback and Hozier. All others were comprised of songs released between 1968 and 1991.
Further punctuating this is the fact that the top five on-demand streamed rock artists last year were Kahan, Hozier, Linkin Park, The Beatles, and Fleetwood Mac. According to Luminate, those five acts accounted for one in every 17 on-demand streams of rock songs in 2024.
Some of this could be chalked up to the sheer volume of old music out there versus what’s new. With the passage of time, it stands to reason that there would be tons more 18-month-or-older product on streaming platforms than current releases, notwithstanding recent reports that upwards of 90,000 new releases hit streaming platforms every day.
So, to put rock’s generation gap in even better context, none of the other major genres of music — R&B/Hip-Hop, pop, country, Latin, dance/electronic, or world music — had more than 50% of their streaming from “deep catalog” releases in 2024 vs. rock’s 73% in that age category. When combining “catalog” and “deep catalog” product, the other genres each had 75% or less of their consumption from old music, versus rock’s combined 88%.
Here’s a table ranking genres by least-to-highest percentage of current music streamed:
| Genre | Current | Catalog (18 months to 5 years) | Deep Catalog (>5 years old) |
| Rock | 12% | 15% | 73% |
| R&B/ Hip-Hop | 25% | 26% | 49% |
| Pop | 28% | 22% | 50% |
| Dance/ Electronic | 31% | 23% | 46% |
| Country | 33% | 24% | 43% |
| Latin | 35% | 26% | 39% |
| World Music | 37% | 26% | 37% |
| Total Industry | 26% | 25% | 49% |
While rock’s overall streaming volume (233 billion, second only to hip-hop’s 337b and ahead of pop at 165b) is still high, it would be reasonable to conclude that the genre isn’t blazing any new trails and is instead clinging to its storied past to sustain itself. Or at least, that seems to be all that mainstream consumers and rock purists are willing to explore beyond the occasional curiosity click of newer artists’ music.
Genres like hip-hop, the clear cultural force of the 21st century, thrive on new voices and, to a dubious degree, innovation (again, a judgment call), while rock seems stuck in reverse.
Take The Beatles, Queen, Nirvana, and Fleetwood Mac, for example. Despite none of those Rock and Roll Hall of Fame acts having released a new studio album in over three decades, they ranked among the most-consumed rock acts of 2024. This isn’t just a testament to their timeless appeal; it’s an indictment of the state of new rock, where few modern acts can match the staying power of legacy giants like those.
One explanation for new rock’s diminishing commercial relevance could be its resistance to adapt. While hip-hop, country, and pop embrace cross-genre experimentation and the streaming era’s shorter attention spans of listeners, rock often clings to traditional structures and aesthetics that feel increasingly out of step. Either that, or fans just aren’t hip to the more experimental and alternative rock music that hits streaming platforms daily. Except for Kahan and a few others that have blurred rock’s lines with a hybrid Americana/folk-pop approach, there’s a number of rock musicians that have not been able to get over the proverbial hump and cross into the mainstream. There are some 2024 pop upstarts like Benson Boone and Chappell Roan that have infused rock elements into their albums, but those two primarily belong in the pop music category.
All of this begs the question: Is rock music destined to become a museum piece, sustained by nostalgia? Or can it find a way to reinvent itself and regain relevance in an era defined by change?
That we’re even thinking this about a genre of music that built itself on rebellion, revolution, and reinvention, is telling. But in 2024, rock finds itself at a crossroads: Will it continue to lean on its storied past, or will a new generation of artists rise to reclaim the spirit that once made it unstoppable?
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.
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