10 Most Influential Musicians: The Obvious plus Some Surprises

Discover the 10 most influential musicians who revolutionized the music industry and left a lasting impact on the public this year. Some of the names on the list may surprise you…

10 Most Influential Musicians

by Chris Robley of Reverbnation Blog

Who are the most influential artists right now? We don’t have to wonder anymore. Luminate has the data!

Which is good news for businesses, because this question about influence is one they’ll ask whenever considering some form of paid partnership with an artist. They want to spend money wisely, and having reliable data to justify the expense is helpful.

Enter the music-data experts at Luminate, who have developed a new scoring system to measure artist “influence.”

Let’s take a look at how it works (and the top-ranked artists).

How does influence scoring work for artists?

According to Billboard, the scoring system:

“… was developed to allow brands, agencies, labels & others to help evaluate artists in terms of partnerships, endorsements, marketing campaigns, creative integration and more.”

Artists are ranked on this “Luminate Index” according to five areas:

1. Music streaming footprint
2. Social media footprint
3. Public awareness
4. Public appeal
5. Fan engagement in relation to live shows & other events

Which artists ranked highest on the influence index?

Interesting to note: Not a single emerging artist hit the Top 10. 

That also makes sense though, since the scoring criteria favors metrics & attributes that strengthen with time (such as public notoriety). 

So it probably won’t surprise you who came in 1st place!

The 10 highest artist scores for Q3 2024’s Luminate Index are (out of 100):

1. Taylor Swift, 100
2. Adele, 92
3. Beyoncé, 91
4. Elton John, 90
5. Rihanna, 90
6. Eminem, 89
7. Shakira, 88
8. Ariana Grande, 88
9. Lady Gaga, 88
10. Dolly Parton, 87

WHAT DO ARTIST INFLUENCE RANKINGS MEAN?

Well, don’t be shocked if these top-ranked artists continue to dominate near-term when it comes to appearances, commercials, sponsorships, placements, & Batman films (looking at you, Gaga!).

‘Cause the data now supports their continued influence. Which, of course, indicates ROI for businesses.