The Role of Hip-hop in the Global Music Market
Explore the cultural and historical roots of Hip Hop across the world.

For many artists, music started as a hobby, something they would do to escape boredom. For others, it's a way to express their emotions and escape from their reality. To the most successful artists in the world, however, music is most importantly a business. A 25 billion-dollar business.

If you're about to protest what I just said, consider this. In 2022, the US alone generated over 7.7 billion dollars in music revenue. That's more than the annual budget of many small countries. So you see, there's no denying that music is a beautiful art form that lets creatives express themselves, but it's also a massively profitable business.

Back in the 1970s, music could hardly crack a billion dollars in annual sales worldwide. Today, there are massive amounts of money floating around. Part of that is due to the technological advancement in the music industry. That said, however, is the birth and growth of the hip-hop community. That huge impact is what we'll talk about today.

The World's Biggest Genre

RnB/Hip-hop is arguably the biggest genre in the world. And with huge stars like Eminem, Drake, and Beyonce dominating charts across the globe, that's no surprise. What may come as a surprise, however, is that they don't make so much money from streaming. In the pre-internet days, they would just get sumptuous royalties off their album sales.

Today, streaming services have cut those profits by a mile. It's been estimated that if you play one song about sixty times, the artist receives something like 38 cents in royalties. Yeah, I know, it doesn't look good. But how is it, then, that music generates more income today than ever?

Well, an estimated twenty-four million people listen to hip-hop every single day. Twenty-eight million people buy hip-hop from stores every year. And about five hundred thousand people go to a hip-hop concert every month. Hip-hop has grown so big that even with reduced physical sales, the profit keeps going up. Not only has it become a big deal in the US, but hip-hop has also become one of its biggest exports.

Hip-hop as an Export

Understanding of the significance of Hip Hop on the global stage can help expand your appreciation of the music genre on the whole.

“Americans are a bit spoiled by Hip Hop because it grew up here. It’s like a local celebrity who comes back home and everyone is like, ‘He ain’t shit; I know his mama’…Hip Hop outside of the States is imported. When something is foreign, you have to study the rudiments to appreciate it fully. So international Hip Hop fans and audiences are often more nuanced.”

This is a quote from HipHopDx by a Brooklyn native named Talib Kweli in 2012.

Mr. Kweli believed that American hip-hop is more appreciated outside the country than in it. And while you may disagree with him, he makes a solid point, and time has proven him right. Fans from other countries must study hip-hop to a deeper level otherwise they wouldn't understand a thing. But what about the business side of things?

The Cardi B Example

Cardi B once posted an image of the income she made touring. It's forgivable to think it was just a flex. Hip-hop, after all, consists of a lot of boasting. But it wasn't a boast, it was a clap back to the people who'd been calling her out for not touring more. Cardi essentially used the numbers to prove why it was profitable for her to perform at festivals. It's since been deleted, but the internet never forgets. Have a look for yourself...

If you manage to peel your eyes off those juicy amounts, you'll notice something very interesting. The highest-paying festivals were all outside the US! And she's not the only one.

Jay Z and Kanye West did more shows in London than in New York for his Watch the Throne tour in 2011.

Nicki Minaj ditched the US side of her tour and only focused on Europe. Many people felt she did that because of low ticket sales and one source seemed to confirm it on Page Six. This source claimed that none of her booked venues had up to half the full capacity in ticket sales. In New York, her hometown, the Barclays sold only 5,050 tickets out of a possible 19,000. Nicki Minaj denied it, of course, but the suspicions remain strong. In all this drama, one thing is certain.

The demand for hip-hop is much bigger outside the United States than inside.

More than Just Music

We can all rap along to our favorite verses from our favorite rappers, but hip-hop is more than just music. Hip-hop artists have realized that making music is not the only way to make money, not even the best way to make money. More and more, we see hip-hop artists investing in music, sports, and just about any profitable venture you can think of. The best example of a hip-hop businessman is a man named Shawn Carter. You might know him better by his rap name, Jay Z.

Jay Z would not be a billionaire today if he only depended on album sales and he realized that. So he switched from being only a rapper to being a businessman. He took over Def Jam in 2004 and helped bring stars like Rihanna to the limelight, making a fortune in the process.

Most of the biggest Hip Hop artists have extended beyond just releasing music.

Then he left Def Jam and started his label, Roc Nation, home to artists like Rihanna, J Cole, Gucci Mane, and several others. He then moved into the technology side of things by acquiring the Norwegian company that runs Tidal. He's also owned top-notch venues and runs several clubs.

Outside music, Jay Z has invested in everything. In the fashion industry, he started a brand called Rocawear and eventually sold it for over $200 million. In the beverage industry, he owns two alcoholic drinks and is a brand director for Budweiser. How about sports?

He owns a sports company called Roc Nation Sports and was once reported to be weighing up a bid for English football club, Arsenal, alongside other investors. This is by no means the end, but I feel too intimidated to even continue listing out his investments and business moves. The point has already been made.

Hip-hop affects more than just music.

Final Thoughts

Music is a business, and there's no genre bigger than hip-hop. You might say hip-hop makes such a big impact because there are more aspects to it than just music, but that's exactly the point. It's so wide that it's become an entire culture. And parts of this culture have been turned into a product. Many products. I daresay music and entertainment is one of America's biggest exports, and none more massive than hip-hop.