US secondhand/thrift store market

As Spotify's most-streamed artist has accumulated more plays per year, the American thrift store market has grown with corresponding enthusiasm, a correlation that suggests the same generation streaming Bad Bunny and Drake is also shopping at Goodwill. This is either a contradiction or a perfectly coherent lifestyle: digital music is free (effectively), and the money saved goes to vintage denim. The correlation is 0.952 across nine years, during which both curves climbed with the confidence of trends that know their demographic.

Spotify's top artist annual streams grew from about 5 billion in 2015 to over 26 billion by 2023, reflecting both platform growth (from about 90 million to over 600 million users) and the concentration of listening around fewer, bigger artists. The US secondhand market grew from about 28 billion to over 53 billion during the same period, driven by sustainability consciousness, the Depop generation, and the cultural rebranding of thrifting from economic necessity to fashion statement. Both trends are powered by the same Gen Z and young millennial demographic: digitally native, value-conscious, and culturally omnivorous—streaming the biggest pop star while wearing a thrifted band tee from a band they discovered on TikTok.

Nine years of streaming numbers and thrift stores growing together is a portrait of a generation that consumes culture in high volume and clothes at low cost. The streams are digital and free, the clothes are physical and cheap, and both trends reflect a demographic that maximizes access while minimizing spending. The playlist is curated. So is the wardrobe.