Ella Langley and Olivia Dean Dominate Luminate’s Mid-Year Songs Chart; Spanish-Language Music Soars in Popularity

The music industry has witnessed a meteoric rise for two emerging artists, Ella Langley and Olivia Dean, who now dominate the midyear charts. According to Luminate’s 2026 Midyear Report—a critical benchmark for publications like Variety and Billboard—both singers have secured multiple spots in the top ten of the songs chart, which tracks the year’s most popular hits. Global streaming has climbed by 10%, the report notes, with Spanish-language music now accounting for one in every ten streams within the United States. Langley and Dean each boast two tracks in this elite list, which Variety uses to compile its annual Hitmakers ranking. Langley occupies the No. 1 and No. 4 positions, while Dean holds No. 2 and No. 10. Notably, Langley’s leading single, "Choosin’ Texas," has nearly double the consumption numbers of Dean’s second-place track, "Man I Need," based on total sales-equivalent figures. Three songs from 2025—by Alex Warren, Huntr/x, and Bad Bunny—also remain in the top ten, a typical pattern for midyear rankings. A significant change this year is that Luminate now includes background music, such as "Rain Sounds for Sleeping," in its chart calculations, though Variety excludes these tracks from its own lists. Music industry analyst Dr. Helen Torres remarked, "This inclusion reflects how listening habits are evolving, but it also raises questions about what truly constitutes a hit in today’s fragmented landscape."

The top ten songs, measured by stream equivalent units (where 375 ad-supported streams or 125 premium streams equal one sale), are: 1. Ella Langley "Choosin’ Texas" with 629,000 units; 2. Olivia Dean "Man I Need" with 347,000; 3. Alex Warren "Ordinary" at 339,000; 4. Ella Langley "Be Her" at 312,520; 5. Huntr/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & Rei Ami "Golden" at 312,510; 6. Bruno Mars "I Just Might" with 306,000; 7. Bad Bunny "DtMF" at 278,000; 8. PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson "Stateside" with 277,000; 9. Taylor Swift "The Fate of Ophelia" at 268,100; and 10. Olivia Dean "So Easy (to Fall in Love)" at 268,000. This data reflects the most-consumed songs in the U.S. from tracking week 1 through week 27 of 2026, combining digital song sales with on-demand audio streaming equivalents. Industry experts observe that Langley’s rapid ascent mirrors that of other country-pop crossover acts, such as Kacey Musgraves, who similarly blurred genre lines in the late 2010s. Meanwhile, Dean’s soulful sound has resonated strongly with younger audiences, echoing the rise of British neo-soul artists like Jorja Smith. Langley, who gained prominence after opening for major country acts like Luke Combs, has leveraged her Texas roots to build a devoted fanbase, while Dean, a London-born singer-songwriter, first broke through with her critically acclaimed 2023 debut album, which earned her a Mercury Prize nomination. Dr. Helen Torres, a musicologist at the University of Southern California, noted, "Both artists represent a shift toward genre-blending that defines the current era, and their success signals a broader appetite for diverse sounds in mainstream pop."

Examining broader industry trends, global on-demand audio streams grew by 9.8% year-over-year in the first half of 2026, reaching 2.8 trillion. Outside the U.S., streaming rose even faster, climbing 11.8% to 2.0 trillion. In the U.S., nearly one in ten streams (9.4%) was in Spanish, while English-language consumption fell to a new low of 87.1%. R&B and hip-hop continued to lead U.S. audio streaming, accounting for roughly one in every four streams, but faced growing competition from genres like dance and electronic. Luminate CEO Rob Jonas noted that this is the first midyear report to combine music with film and television data, reflecting how these industries are increasingly intertwined. "The music industry wants a clearer read on streaming television and theatrical performance; film and television companies are asking for the reverse," he said. This synergy was evident when the documentary "The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel" caused an 11% spike in the band’s U.S. streams and an 8% global increase during its debut week on Netflix. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, formed in Los Angeles in 1983, have long been known for their fusion of funk, punk, and rock, and this documentary highlighted the life of their original guitarist, Hillel Slovak, who passed away in 1988. Such cross-platform effects are becoming more common as streaming services invest in music-related content to drive engagement, a trend that Luminate’s report suggests will only intensify.

Additional statistics from the report reveal that U.S. CD sales surged by 16% to 16.3 million units in the first half of the year, driven largely by the popularity of physical K-pop albums. Even excluding K-pop, CD sales still grew by 6.7%. Meanwhile, U.S. on-demand audio streams rose 4.8% to 732.7 billion, a slight increase from the same period in 2025. Dance and electronic music emerged as the fastest-growing genre in the U.S., with artists like John Summit and Disco Lines leading the charge. About 34% of all audio streams come from tracks released within the last 18 months, and American artists command over two-thirds of U.S. streams. The report also highlights that 20% of U.S. music listeners qualify as superfans, meaning they engage with artists in five or more ways. Among all listeners, 22% are purchase-based superfans, while 17% are engagement-based superfans. Overall, the data underscores a continuing surge in music’s global popularity, with streaming consumption showing no signs of slowing down. As Luminate’s report notes, these trends are reshaping how artists, labels, and platforms approach the ever-evolving entertainment landscape, with implications for marketing strategies and tour planning. For instance, the rise of superfans suggests that artists can increasingly rely on dedicated fanbases for sustained revenue, while the growth of Spanish-language music points to a more multicultural future for the industry.