SoundCloud's new Intelligence report was released today, with some interesting findings, both platform-specific and indicative of general listening culture, taking center stage. This report sheds light on how listeners are engaging with music now versus in previous years, how artists are breaking rules and forging new paths, and how tastes are becoming less dominated by top-down trends in the music industry.
We took a look through the report and have some pieces of advice of our own, for any independent artist making and releasing music in 2026. Read on for our data-driven tips.
Read the full 2026 SoundCloud Intelligence report here:
Key Results & Findings
1) Scenes transforming outside of genre boundaries
Evolutions of genre, taking the form of hybridizations and deconstructions of previously anchored sonic identites, are exhibited on SoundCloud in the culminated release activities between artist and fan communities sharing similar interests but paving new aesthetic ground.
This includes:
- An Eclectic New “Indie”: A genre-blurring wave of artists releasing multiple styles side by side, from indie folk to alt trap. Stats include: an 80% Gen Z fanbase and streams up 2.5× since 2023.
- Mexican Reggaeton: A rapidly evolving trend blending reggaeton, trap, plugg, jerk, and regional influences. Specifically, a sound called “chugg” (an evolution of plugg music) is up 78% year over year.
- Hard Techno: A scene accelerating both culturally and sonically, average BPMs in this trend now exceed 180; and in the US, listens to hardtekk are up 75%.
2) Listening is also no longer constrained by genre or time
Despite the fast-paced weekly new music release market that dominates news cycles and listener attention within the music industry, in 2025, on SoundCloud, tracks older than 18 months rose in the wider share of listening. This sheds light on the maturity of the platform's exploration algorithm as well as its listener ecosystem.
Listeners also branched out more. According to the report: listeners now spend 4% less time within their most-played genre than they did in 2019, while still diving deep into music they love.
3) Hip-Hop continues its evolution
Gen-Z has taken the reigns of hip-hop's uknown future and begun to shape its contours. UK underground rap streams have increased four-fold and has been co-opted by a predominantly Gen Z listenership. And new localized genre hybrids — like DMV Rap (rooted in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area) — combines the familiar beats of Southern trap and drill with regionally clustered creator networks.
4) Discovery remains largely social and participatory
Whereas on other streaming platforms, discovery is driven by algorithms, AI, and trends infuenced from the top down, on SoundCloud, one's community and activity habits help to determine and shape what happens in a listener's feed both personally and globally, more often than not. Listeners who play a track via another user’s “Liked By” section are over three times more likely to like, repost, or comment themselves. It's a socially derived model that mimicks (and now preempts) offline listening culture.
Here's What We Think Is Actually Important
We here at Hypebot are huge fans of SoundCloud, but we recognize that not all artists are active members of this platform. And that's okay! These findings present a pretty platform-specific view of digital listening and music sharing culture, so we wanted to try to extrapolate these points as soft items of advice for any independent artist operating in 2026.
Here's what we think are the true, actionable takeaways from this report:
1) Listeners don't feel boxed in by genre — and neither should you.
The data suggests fans are increasingly comfortable engaging with artists and tracks that fall outside the lines of neatly developed music genres. This should be a green flag for you and your band to try new things you may have previously thought were dangerous or risky. Hybrid sounds, innovative mashups of taste, and offering a unique perspective on rigid styles, are now welcomed by a growing audience demographic.
2) Don't give up on your release after its initial promotional cycle.
Since community drives listenership online more than ever, it's more important than ever to invest in strengthening (rather than widening) your fan base. Try to create social media content and engage with fans at live shows in a way that deepens their understanding of your work and artistic persona, because listeners are more likely than ever to come back to an old work in your catalog. Don't fret if your new release didn't make it onto all the top playlists, there's still an opportunity to get your tracks heard if you continue to give people a reason to return to your work.
3) Your local flavor is everything.
With new genres and localized scenes providing more momentum in the digital space than ever before, it's important to recognize that where you come from is a huge part of your artistic draw. And it's time to embrace that. Invest in your local artistic network, build ties and collaborations, support one another in your local scene, and make efforts to embellish your fan base locally. It will work wonders for your national game soon enough, believe us.
4) Promote active listening and participation.
Wherever possible, while you're on tour, on social media, or when you're releasing new music, try to get creative in the ways you're asking your fans and community to support you. Active participation leads to more discovery within fan communities, and more appreciation for an artist's full catalog. Try out some contests, giveaways, songwriting or lyric analysis challenges, and anything relating to fan-designed merch artwork. Or, just ask that anyone who likes your new single tell one friend or family member about it and send them a link. That alone could lead to growth, and that's just the beginning.
