While both album sales (-11%) and track sales (-23%) dipped in 2016 compared to 2015’s numbers, audio/video streaming results increased 57% from 14.1 billion streams in 2015 to 22.1 billion streams in 2016, according to Billboard and Nielsen Music.
With more than 175 million streams, Florida Georgia Line’s “H.O.L.Y.” topped the list of the most-streamed songs in 2016. “H.O.L.Y” was also the top-selling digital song of 2016, selling more than 1.37 million units.
Rounding out the Top 5 include Thomas Rhett’s “Die a Happy Man” (156,400,000), Sam Hunt’s “Break Up in a Small Town” (127,300,000) and “Take Your Time” (95,400,000) and Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” (93,000,000).
But the big winner on the year is Sam Hunt, who tallied four songs in the Top 10, with total streams of more than 395 million. Thomas Rhett also had two songs in the Top 10. Despite the success that Kelsea Ballerini’s “Peter Pan” and Maren Morris’ “My Church” had with track sales, no female artists were represented in the Top 10 most-streamed songs in 2016.
Most-Streamed Country Songs of 2016
- “H.O.L.Y.” – Florida Georgia Line – 175,400,000
- “Die a Happy Man” – Thomas Rhett – 156,400,000
- “Break Up in a Small Town” – Sam Hunt – 127,300,000
- “Take Your Time” – Sam Hunt – 95,400,000
- “Tennessee Whiskey” – Chris Stapleton – 93,000,000
- “Make You Miss Me” –Sam Hunt – 92,900,000
- “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day” – Luke Bryan – 85,500,000
- “Humble and Kind” –Tim McGraw – 83,800,000
- “House Party” – Sam Hunt – 79,800,000
- “T-Shirt” –Thomas Rhett – 78,700,000
Thomas Rhett by John Shearer/The Greenroom PR; Sam Hunt by Steven Worster/UMG Nashville; Florida Georgia Line by Jim Wright/NASCAR; Luke Bryan by Jim Wright/CMA; Tim McGraw courtesy PMK/BNC; Chris Stapleton courtesy UMG Nashville
