TikTok gets the cultural credit for breaking artists. But a new study suggests the platform where those artists actually build lasting, revenue-generating fanbases is Instagram. A report commissioned by Meta and conducted by Luminate, the analytics firm behind the Billboard Charts, found that Instagram ranks second only to YouTube as the most concentrated superfan environment in music. Of all music superfans active on social media, 58% use Instagram to engage with artists. More telling is the density figure: one in three daily music engagers on Instagram, 32%, qualifies as a superfan, nearly double the 18% rate seen across the broader base of music-engaged social media users. Among Gen Z, that number climbs to 38%.
The study drew on 739 randomly sampled artists, a survey of 4,041 US listeners, and a quasi-experimental analysis of streaming data. Luminate defined superfans as consumers who engage with an artist in at least 5 of 13 unique ways, spanning concert attendance, physical merchandise purchases, and serving as a primary word-of-mouth ambassador.
The spending gap between Instagram’s music audience and the average user is significant. As Music Business Worldwide reported, Instagram’s daily music engagers spend an average of $55 per month on non-live music, compared to $34 for the general audience and $54 for TikTok music engagers. Their streaming spend sits at $18 per month versus $11 for average users. They also attend more concerts, with 45% having attended a live event in the past year compared to 32% for the base audience, and they buy more vinyl, with 21% purchasing in the last 12 months versus 12% for the broader group.
On the platform comparison front, while TikTok and Instagram show nearly identical paid streaming adoption rates, 72% and 71% respectively, Instagram edges out TikTok on the superfan concentration metric. Only 27% of TikTok users qualify as superfans compared to 32% on Instagram.
The report also examined Meta’s Activation program, which pairs labels and publishers with Instagram’s Reels ad infrastructure. According to the findings, activations independently drove off-platform streaming by roughly 10% in the launch week and the four weeks following. The study cited Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” as a real-world example, noting that after Instagram Activations launched several weeks after the song’s February 2025 release, both Reels viewership and streaming volumes climbed before the track reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
It’s worth noting the study was commissioned by Meta, so the conclusions should be read with that in mind. The research does not establish that Instagram activity caused streaming growth, only that a strong correlation exists among artists whose engagement patterns track closely with the platform.
Still, the numbers point to something the industry has been circling for a while. As Jaime Marconette, VP of Music Insights and Industry Relations at Luminate, put it: “Superfans are the primary drivers of the modern music economy.” The data suggests Instagram is where a disproportionate share of them spend their time, and their money.
For artists focused on building sustainable streaming revenue and long-term career growth rather than fleeting virality, that distinction matters more than ever. A million views on a trending video is a moment. A superfan who buys your vinyl, comes to your show, and tells ten friends about you is a career. According to this data, Instagram is where you find them.
