Hip Hop Is The Most Streamed Music Genre

Nielsen's 2014 music report has good news and bad news for Hip Hop.

The good news is that it was the most streamed music genre. 28.5% of all streams were R&B/Hip Hop, topping rock (24.7 %) pop (21.1), EDM (6.8) and country (6.1).

But that good news also contributed to the bad news: Hip Hop and R&B fans aren't buying very many albums. On that score, rock dominates at 33.3%, with Hip Hop/R&B at 13.9 , country at 11.8 and pop at 10.8.

This disparity has a lot to do with age: Hip Hop/R&B's audience is younger and likes to stream, preferably for free.

This posses a challenge for Hip Hop's future, as the the economics of streaming are still being worked out, and don't look to be as lucrative as the old album-sales model.