VIDEO. How has streaming changed the way of rapping? Investigation of a growing phenomenon

In recent years, rap has established itself as the most popular genre in France. Evidenced by the list of the biggest sellers of albums of the year 2021. In the top 10, there are five rap albums, twelve in the top 20, and 28 in the top 50. hasn’t always occupied the top positions in the rankings. But that’s not the only change. Rappers have also changed the way they rap.

The switchover is at the beginning of the new century. In the 2000s, rap was not in its best shape. Young people who mostly listen to it don’t really have the means to afford a CD. But there is a solution to listen to your favorite artist without paying anything: downloading. Illegal, of course. “From 2002, record sales began to fall. And rap is the first victim of this record crisis“, explains Paco Garcia, a researcher specializing in rap.

Little by little, CDs gave way to accessible dematerialized music on the Internet via platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Amazon, Youtube, Soundcloud and many more. These digital music distributors allow users to have access to unlimited playback of titles.

“Rap having been somewhat abandoned in the major record companies, rappers had structured themselves in a very autonomous way. So when the streaming arrived, they said to themselves: we will go to Deezer, we will go to Spotify, we will try to reach the public on this“, analysis Sophian Phanen, co-founder of the media Days and streaming specialist. This evolution will ring the economic renaissance of rap, which will succeed in adapting like no other genre to these new uses.