Music is more global than ever, with the rise of streaming uniting listeners across borders and around the world. For new artists, just reaching audiences close to home can be a daunting challenge. Yet many of today's most successful new artists seem to organically acquire audiences from countries far and wide, gaining mainstream status faster as a result.

It’s been a few years now since the debut of Chartmetric’s Trigger Cities series in 2019. If you’re new here, don’t fret! There are about a million and one things that have changed since then — a worldwide pandemic, economic turmoil, and political strife just to name a few. But these events, and a general reversal in globalization in many industries, have barely impacted the role of trigger cities in helping new artists to become established.

Here's a sneak peak at some of our key findings:

What is a trigger city?

Trigger cities are influential music markets where actions like social media sharing or playlist inclusion can create global ripples, helping artists gain international recognition. This is due to city characteristics such as high population, streaming/social adoption, and music-sharing behaviors that impact the rate of music sharing. 

Cultural and regional differences

Trigger cities in Latin America and Asia are pivotal for global music exposure. These regions exhibit strong social sharing behaviors and have younger populations, contrasting with more reserved and saturated Western markets. Also, many of these cities are megacities. 

Latin America as a major hub

Latin America hosts the most trigger cities due to its large, interconnected population and high levels of music streaming and social media activity, making it a fertile ground for new artists. For example, cities like Mexico City and Santiago have the highest user base of monthly Spotify users, which helps us understand why these cities show up as Tier 1 cities in our findings.

Asia's evolving influence

Southeast Asia remains a strong region for trigger cities, as much of their population has a voracious appetite for Western music such as pop music. Also, countries like Indonesia and the Philippines have low average median age, with a young and digitally driven population.

Western market behavior

Western cities, particularly in the U.S. and Europe, are less influential as trigger cities due to different sharing behaviors. Still, these cities are operating megacities with large diaspora populations that contribute to the spread of global music.

Oceania's growing role

Australian cities, like Melbourne and Sydney, have become increasingly important as trigger cities (the largest growing since our 2020 study), influenced by growing Southeast Asian diasporas and high urbanization.