In the first half of the 2026 in the United States, Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem was the most popular album, while Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” was the most-streamed song (by on-demand audio streams), respectively, according to data tracking company Luminate.
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Read more about midyear metrics in the Midyear Report: Trends in Music, TV & Film – 2026.
Wallen, Once More: As it was for the first half of 2025, Wallen’s I’m the Problem was again the most popular album in the U.S. for the first six months of 2026. During the tracking period of Jan. 2 through July 2, 2026, I’m the Problem earned 2.035 million equivalent album units. (See full top 10 ranking, below.) I’m the Problem debuted at No. 1 on the weekly Billboard 200 dated May 31, 2025, spent 13 nonconsecutive weeks atop the list, and has been lodged in its top 10 since its release.
The most-streamed song by on-demand audio streams (inclusive of user-generated content [UGC] streams) was Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” with 570.9 million in the first six months of the year.
Equivalent album units – for album titles and rankings cited below (but not industry volume numbers) – comprise traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 2,500 ad-supported on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album, or 1,000 paid/subscription on-demand official and audio streams generated by songs from an album.
Equivalent album units cited for album titles in this story, and in the “Midyear Top 10 Albums in U.S.” ranking do not include user-generated content (UGC) streams. UGC streams are included in Luminate’s industry volume numbers and its midyear song streaming rankings. (UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboard’s weekly charts.)
For the sake of clarity, equivalent album units do not include listening to music on broadcast radio or digital radio broadcasts. All numbers cited in this story are rounded, and for the U.S. only. Programmed streams are not included in any of the data in this story.
Luminate (formerly MRC Data, Nielsen Music and SoundScan) began tracking music consumption in 1991. Luminate’s sales, streaming and airplay data is used to compile Billboard’s weekly charts.
2026’s Midyear Top 10 Albums in U.S. (by Equivalent Album Units)
1. Morgan Wallen, I’m the Problem (2.035 million)
2. Ella Langley, Dandelion (1.638 million)
3. Bad Bunny, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (1.543 million)
4. BTS, ARIRANG (1.492 million)5. Noah Kahan, The Great Divide (1.349 million)6.Olivia Dean, The Art of Loving (1.309 million)
7. Drake, ICEMAN (1.300 million)
8. Don Toliver, Octane (1.212 million)
9. Taylor Swift, The Life of a Showgirl (992,000)
10. Morgan Wallen, One Thign at a Time (968,000)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Jan. 2 through July 2, 2026. UGC (user-generated content) streams are not included in this ranking, but are included in Luminate’s on-demand streaming rankings (below). Luminate’s equivalent album unit totals include SEA and TEA for an album’s songs registered before an album’s release, but only during the tracking period.
2026’s Midyear Top 10 Selling Albums in U.S. (Physical & Digital Album Sales Combined)
1. BTS, ARIRANG (920,000)
2. Harry Styles, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. (384,000)
3. Olivia Rodrigo, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love (346,000)
4. Bad Bunny, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (306,000)
5. ENHYPEN, THE SIN : VANISH (287,000)
6. Noah Kahan, The Great Divide (285,000)
7. ATEEZ, GOLDEN HOUR : PART 4 (283,000)
8. ATEEZ, GOLDEN HOUR : PART 5 (223,000)
9. Bruno Mars, The Romantic (221,000)
10. Olivia Dean, The Art of Loving (201,000)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Jan. 2 through July 2, 2026.
2026’s Midyear Top 10 Selling Vinyl Albums in U.S.
1. BTS, ARIRANG (331,000)
2. Bad Bunny, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (283,000)
3. Harry Styles, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. (247,000)
4. Olivia Rodrigo, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love (206,000)
5. Noah Kahan, The Great Divide (122,000)
6. Michael Jackson, Thriller (162,000)
7. Olivia Dean, The Art of Loving (159,000)
8. Bruno Mars, The Romantic (113,000)
9. Michael Jackson, Number Ones (101,000)
10. J. Cole, The Fall-Off (96,000)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Jan. 2 through July 2, 2026.
Total U.S. Album Consumption Increases 4.4% at Midyear: Year-to-date, total equivalent audio album units increased by 4.4% (to 727.1 million) as compared to the same time frame in 2025. Luminate notes in its midyear report of a trend break with regards to streaming equivalent album unit ratios in 2026. U.S. album-equivalent ratios in the Luminate CONNECT platform and in the Billboard charts were updated in Week 1, 2026. The new ratio for album equivalency is that 1 album unit = 1 album sale, or 10 tracks sold, or 1,000 premium audio or video streams, or 2,500 ad-support audio or video streams. The pre-2026 ratio of 1 album unit = 1 album sale, or 10 tracks sold, or 1,250 premium audio or video streams, or 3,750 ad-support audio or video streams has been replaced where relevant for historical comparison.
Total U.S. album sales — traditional purchases of physical and digital download albums — grew by 5% to 44.5 million (up from 41 million in the first half of 2025). U.S. physical album sales (vinyl, CD, cassette, etc.) grew by 7.8% to 38.2 million (up from 35.5 million) and U.S. digital album purchases (like those from the iTunes Store and similar download stores) fell 8% to 6.2 million (down from 6.8 million).
U.S. On-Demand Audio Streaming Up 4.8%, ‘Choosin’ Texas’ Most-Streamed Song: Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” was the most-streamed song by on-demand audio streams in the first half of 2026 in the U.S. (see ranking, below), with 570.9 million streams.
Total on-demand audio streams at midyear increased by 4.8% in the U.S. as compared to the same point a year ago (732.7 billion versus 699.4 billion).
UGC streams are included in Luminate’s industry streaming on-demand volume numbers (above) and its midyear streaming song rankings (below). UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboard’s weekly charts.
In general, all songs in the below rankings combine the assorted remixes of a song into one overall total.
2026’s Midyear Top 10 Most Streamed Songs in U.S. (On-Demand Audio)
1. Ella Langley, “Choosin’ Texas” (570.9 million)
2. Olivia Dean, “Man I Need” (340.2 million)
3. Alex Warren, “Ordinary” (322.8 million)
4. Ella Langley, “Be Her” (289.1 million)
5. Bad Bunny, “DtMF” (284.5 million)
6. HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI, “Golden” (282.8 million)
7. PinkPantheress with Zara Larsson, “Stateside” (272.4 million)
8. Bruno Mars, “I Just Might” (267.3 million)
9. Taylor Swift, “The Fate of Ophelia” (255.7 million)
10. Olivia Dean, “So Easy (To Fall In Love)” (252.9 million)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Jan. 2 through July 2, 2026. Includes UGC streams.
‘Might’ is Mighty at Radio: The most-heard song on U.S. radio in the first half of 2026 was Bruno Mars’ “I Just Might,” with a cumulative 1.963 million audience impressions across all formats monitored.
2026’s Midyear Top 10 Radio Songs in U.S. (Based on Audience Impressions)
1. Bruno Mars, “I Just Might” (1.963 billion)
2. Olivia Dean, “Man I Need” (1.795 billion)
3. Kehlani, “Folded” (1.673 billion)
4. Alex Warren, “Ordinary” (1.574 billion)
5. Ella Langley, “Choosin’ Texas” (1.420 billion)
6. HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI, “Golden” (1.367 billion)
7. Taylor Swift, “The Fate of Ophelia” (1.317 billion)
8. sombr, “back to friends” (1.268 billion)
9. Leon Thomas, “MUTT” (1.245 billion)
10. Olivia Dean, “So Easy (To Fall In Love)” (1.110 billion)
Source: Luminate, for the tracking period Jan. 2 through July 2, 2026.