Chapter 03 · Audience & Reach Saltwater Sessions Annual · The Underground Index 2024
FY 2024 · Q4 Cut Saltwater

The underground doubled while the major label slept on it.

Pinned takeaway · Slide 14 Independent & DIY share of total streams, 2019–2024
Indie share of monthly streams
Millions of streams · monthly mean
Indie & DIY catalog Major-label rock catalog Streaming-platform baseline
Headline cuts · 2024 vs. 2019
2.12×
Indie monthly streams,
five-year multiple
+112% YoY-on-2019
47,800 DIY artists releasing
monthly · 2024
↑ from 19,400 in 2019
$3.40 Median listener spend
per indie release
↓ 8% on bundling shift
the kids didn’t ask permission—