Americans love to rock, according to a music trade group report released Tuesday that found rock music led the $14.3 billion U.S. recording industry market in 2000, continuing a decade-long trend.
Making up nearly 25 percent of the market, consumers clearly and consistently have chosen rock as their predominant genre of choice, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reported in its 2000 consumer profile report.
While rock comprises more than double the market share of its closest competitor, rap/hip hop music made great strides in the past year, shooting to No. 2, the RIAA said.
Driven by hits like Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP” and “Dr. Dre 2001,” the rap/hip hop genre leaped to second place among music buyers with 12.9 percent of the market.
“It comes as no surprise to see the gain Rap/Hip Hop has made when you consider that all of our major record labels produced many successful multi-platinum albums of the genre throughout the year,” said Hilary Rosen, RIAA president.
Rap/Hip Hop replaced country, which had held the No. 2 slot throughout the decade. Country music’s market share remained steady at 10.7 percent from 1999 figures.
With just a handful of popular releases in 2000, pop music’s share dropped from 10.3 to 8 percent.
The mainstay of the recording industry, the full-length compact disc continues to dominate with an 89.3 percent share of the market, up from 38.9 percent in 1990.