Below Pollstar’s Top 100 Tours Part 4: Media presence; Sabrina Carpenter, Benson Boone, Teddy Swims and Kendrick Lamar Dominate Popularity Growth (Deep Data Cuts)

Artist growth is influenced by social, streaming and airplay, or any combination of these three metrics, acting as strong predictors of an artist’s career trajectory. With all things held constant, ticket sales prove to be most sensitive to social media growth, followed by the influence of streaming and, finally, airplay.  Yet, social media’s impact as the dominant force in the growth of ticket sales is reflected in a comparatively small margin of increase, with streaming and airplay requiring larger margins to predicate growth.

To explore the interplay, we looked at 2024’s year-over-year average ticket sales overlaid with the median rank growth in social, streaming and airplay for each artist ranked below 2024’s Top 100 Tours.

Top 5 Artists Who Showed Remarkable Growth in Social Media Charts

If you’re an ardent social media user like me, you’ve probably seen these artists trending non-stop this past year. They had the biggest and most notable jumps into the top 100 social media median rank in 2024. 

Sabrina Carpenter transformed her social buzz into an explosive leap from 2,898 tickets per show in 2023 to 13,725 in 2024. Kendrick Lamar, with his magnetic artistry and cultural relevance, grew from 12,182 to 14,678 tickets per show, solidifying his timeless appeal. Jason Derulo, the king of viral moments, doubled his draw from 4,784 to 8,425 tickets, showing the staying power of a strong online presence. Myke Towers, a Latin music standout, saw his average climb from 4,927 to 9,634 tickets, reflecting his growing global reach. Shreya Ghoshal, a beloved icon, nearly doubled her ticket sales from 2,882 to 5,699, And then there’s Natanael Cano, who catapulted from 8,181 to 26,403 tickets per show, cementing his dominance in the corridos tumbados movement. He is seeing significant strides in his career and is one to watch.

Top 5 Artists with The  Most Growth in Streaming

The data reveals a striking pattern: higher increases in streaming dominance are a clear precursor to surging ticket sales, as seen with Benson Boone and Sabrina Carpenter, who saw massive jumps in streaming rank that corresponds to packed venues in 2024. The line graphs, tracking average ticket trends between 2023 and 2024, make this trend impossible to ignore—artists with significant streaming growth are riding that wave straight to larger audiences. On the other hand, Gunna showcases a more nuanced case, with only a slight shift in streaming rank; his modest dip in ticket sales demonstrates that when streaming growth is minimal, its impact on ticket sales becomes far less predictable. When streaming momentum soars, ticket sales follow suit, but for artists with smaller streaming shifts, the story can go either way. 

Hitting the Airwaves: Top 5 Artists with the Most Growth in Airplay

Similar to streaming, huge jumps in airplay rank tell of ticket growth, however small jumps may have a two-sided tale on the average ticket growth. Benson Boone leads the charge with the highest airplay growth and an average ticket leap of 310.82%, proving popularity and music growth. Teddy Swims doubled his avg. ticket sales to over 4,000.

Billie Eilish, despite a slight dip in average tickets from 21,544 to 17,660, still showcases the strength of her airplay presence, jumping 458 places and holding her place as a global icon. Kendrick Lamar in his airplay growth saw an average ticket jump from 12,182 to 14,678, demonstrating the sustained power of his artistry across platforms. Sabrina Carpenter, with her airplay rising by 421, turned that momentum into an exponential ticket average increase from 2,898 to 13,725, solidifying her breakout success.