In March 2025, YouTube Music surpassed 125 million subscribers, showing its increasing popularity worldwide. The platform attracts millions of users with its vast music library and premium features.
Young adults aged 18–34 make up nearly 60% of users, showing the platform resonates strongly with younger audiences.
In this article, we will show the top songs, leading K-pop artists, and key trends shaping YouTube Music in 2026.
Note: 125M subscribers include YouTube Premium too
YouTube Music Stats 2026: Top Picks
- By March 2025, YouTube Music reached 125 million subscribers.
- The platform is most popular in the US., Brazil, and India, leading global traffic.
- Young adults dominate, with users aged 18–34 accounting for nearly 60% of users.
- Male listeners account for 60.52%, and female listeners for 39.48%.
- K-pop dominates streams, led by DAY6 and aespa with over 564 million plays.
- YouTube Music paid over $8 billion to artists and songwriters.
YouTube Music Subscribers
In March 2025, YouTube Music had reached 125 million paying subscribers, showing how quickly the platform has grown in popularity. Streaming demand and YouTube’s premium features have made it a go-to choice for music lovers worldwide.
The growth has been steady, up from about 30 million in 2020. The table below highlights the number of subscribers over the past few years:
| Year | YouTube Music Subscribers |
|---|---|
| 2025 (Mar) | 125 million |
| 2024 (Feb) | 100 million |
| 2023 | 96–98 million |
| 2022 (Nov) | 80 million |
| 2021 (Sep) | 50 million |
| 2020 (Oct) | 30 million |
Source: Statista
YouTube Music User Demographics
YouTube Music draws listeners worldwide, with younger adults and men making up most of its audience. Let us look at the users based on different demographics:
YouTube Music Users by Country
YouTube Music attracts users globally, with the US leading with 17.22% of traffic. The US is followed by Brazil and India, which are key markets, contributing around 6% each.
Smaller but engaged audiences, such as those in Indonesia and South Korea, also help diversify the platform’s reach. The table below highlights these top countries and their traffic trends for March 2026:
| Country | Traffic Share | Change |
|---|---|---|
| USA | 17.22% | ↑10.15% |
| Brazil | 6.35% | ↑11.99% |
| India | 6.27% | ↑13.42% |
| Indonesia | 4.89% | ↑19.51% |
| Ukraine | 3.77% | ↑18.02% |
| Others | 61.5% | – |
Source: Similar Web
YouTube Music Age Demographics
YouTube Music is most popular with younger adults. The 18–24 age group has the most users, and a similar number are also in the 25–34 age group.
In March 2026, both groups account for almost 60% of total users, indicating that it appeals to people in their late teens and early 30s.
The table below shows how listening habits vary across different age groups:
| Age Group | Share of YouTube Music Users |
|---|---|
| 18–24 | 31.08% |
| 25–34 | 29.57% |
| 35–44 | 17.37% |
| 45–54 | 11.1 % |
| 55+ | 10.89 % |
Source: Similar Web
YouTube Music Gender Demographics
Most YouTube Music users are men, with roughly six out of ten users identifying as male. This shows that male listeners currently make up the majority of engagement on the platform.
The table below shows the share of male and female users:
| Gender | Share of YouTube Music Users |
|---|---|
| Male | 60.52% |
| Female | 39.48 % |
Source: Similar Web
Most Popular on YouTube Music
The most popular song on YouTube Music this week is “SWIM” by BTS, with over 52 million weekly streams.
The top 10 songs include both international stars and regional artists, showing YouTube Music’s wide appeal. They are as follows:
| Rank | Track Name | Artist Names | Weekly Views |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SWIM | BTS | 52.5 M |
| 2 | Bairan | Banjare | 43.6 M |
| 3 | Shararat | Shashwat Sachdev, Madhubanti Bagchi & Jasmine Sandlas | 39.3 M |
| 4 | Gehra Hua | Shashwat Sachdev, Arijit Singh, Irshad Kamil & Armaan Khan | 37.9 M |
| 5 | Jaiye Sajana | Shashwat Sachdev, Satinder Sartaaj & Jasmine Sandlas | 36.1 M |
| 6 | NO BATIDÃO | ZXKAI & slxughter | 34.0 M |
| 7 | Golden | HUNTR/X | 33.5 M |
| 8 | Sheesha | Mitta Ror & Swara Verma | 27.9 M |
| 9 | Lutt Le Gaya | Shashwat Sachdev & Simran Choudhary | 25.4 M |
| 10 | Bairi | Virat, Pradeep Solanki & Heena | 23.6 M |
Note: Data reflects YouTube Music Global Weekly Charts for 27th March to 2nd April, 2026, and may vary week to week.
Source: YouTube Charts
Top YouTube Music Songs of 2025
YouTube Music’s 2025 year‑end list shows big hits from both global stars and rising artists. At the top is “Die With A Smile” by Bruno Mars & Lady Gaga, followed by “APT.” from ROSÉ & Bruno Mars.
The top five tracks and their artists from 2025’s most-streamed YouTube Music songs are as follows:
| Rank | Artist | Song Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bruno Mars & Lady Gaga | Die With A Smile |
| 2 | ROSÉ & Bruno Mars | APT. |
| 3 | HUNTR/X (KPop Demon Hunters Cast) | Golden |
| 4 | Saja Boys (KPop Demon Hunters Cast) | Soda Pop |
| 5 | Saja Boys (KPop Demon Hunters Cast) | Your Idol |
Source: YouTube
K‑pop on YouTube Music
K‑pop on YouTube Music shows huge global popularity, with both veteran bands and rising stars attracting millions of streams.
Most Streamed K-pop artists on YouTube Music
YouTube Music Korea’s 2025 streaming data shows a mix of old favorites and newer stars.
DAY6 tops the list with about 564 million streams, followed closely by aespa with over 530 million, highlighting the strength of both the band and the girl group.
The table below lists the top K-pop artists streamed on YouTube Music:
| Rank | Artist | YouTube Music Korea Streams (2025) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DAY6 | 564 M |
| 2 | aespa | 537 M |
| 3 | IU | 458 M |
| 4 | BIGBANG | 444 M |
| 5 | G‑DRAGON | 429 M |
| 6 | IVE | 356 M |
| 7 | NJZ (NewJeans) | 321 M |
| 8 | Rosé (BLACKPINK) | 280 M |
| 9 | WOODZ | 212 M |
| 10 | BTS | 203 M |
Source: Koreaboo
YouTube Music vs Competitors
Spotify is the biggest music streaming platform with about 31.7% of subscribers, while Tencent Music follows with over 14.4%.
YouTube Music has a smaller share, around 9.7%, showing it’s growing but still behind the top platforms.
The table below showcases the subscriber shares across the main streaming services:
| Streaming Platform | Estimated Subscriber Share |
|---|---|
| Spotify | 31.7 % |
| Tencent Music | 14.4 % |
| Apple Music | 12.6 % |
| Amazon Music | 11.1 % |
| YouTube Music | 9.7 % |
| NetEase Music | 6.7 % |
| Yandex Music | 3.4 % |
| Deezer | 1.3 % |
| Others | 9.1 % |
Source: Exploding Topics
YouTube Music Market Share
In the U.S. streaming market, Spotify leads with the largest share, followed by Apple Music and Amazon Music, showing the dominance of the top three services.
YouTube Music’s share is smaller at about 7.2%, but it still reaches millions of listeners among many competitors.
The table below shows the subscriber market share:
| Streaming Platform | Subscriber Market Share |
|---|---|
| Spotify | 36.5 % |
| Apple Music | 31.0 % |
| Amazon Music | 21.5 % |
| YouTube Music | 7.2 % |
| Pandora Premium | 1.7 % |
| Tidal | 0.5 % |
| SoundCloud | 0.3 % |
Source: Digital Music News
YouTube Music Revenue Insights
YouTube Music paid over $8 billion to the music industry from July 2024 to June 2025. This comes from both ads and paid subscriptions.
Millions of listeners streaming songs contributed to this growth, supporting artists, songwriters, and brands. The “twin-engine” model shows how YouTube Music continues to grow its revenue and make a big impact on the global music industry.
Source: YouTube
