Fetty Wap
2015 is the year of Fetty Wap. Getty Images

A fitting modern cover of Madonna's "Material Girl" might change the first word to digital. We're living in a digital world, and music in 2015 is all about streaming and shares on social media. Listening habits have changed drastically -- in the first six months of 2015, there were more than 1 trillion streams and plays across Pandora, Spotify, YouTube, Rdio, SoundCloud, Vevo, Vimeo and YouTube, according to Next Big Sound's 2015 report.

The proliferation of streaming platforms, including recent additions like Jay Z's Tidal and Apple Music, makes it easy for anyone to listen to music from his or her favorite artists or discover new acts. Next Big Sound notes SoundCloud has been seeing huge growth with 4.9 billion new SoundCloud plays in May 2015 compared to 2.6 billion in May 2014. The site is a great alternative to the licensed platforms because it serves emerging acts, unsigned artists, DJs and mixtape enthusiasts to a large audience of eager listeners. Artists can get noticed, have tracks shared across social media and become overnight sensations from SoundCloud. Gizmodo has a great profile of acts like R.A.C., Boots and Iza Lach that have used SoundCloud to great effect.

Fetty Wap, the Paterson, New Jersey, rapper with hits such as "Trap Queen," "679" and "My Way" on the Billboard Hot 100, may be the perfect 2015 artist. He uses SoundCloud and Instagram, the two platforms with the biggest growth, according to Next Big Sound, and enjoyed a devoted following well before his debut album. If you're a fan, Fetty Wap's SoundCloud has way more of the rapper's work than Spotify and the mixtapes he shares that go a long way to building loyalty.

Across streaming sites, it's great to be a mainstream act. Maroon 5 is king of YouTube views, followed by Katy Perry, Rihanna, Nicky Jam and Ariana Grande. Taylor Swift tops Vevo, while Drake is the most played on SoundCloud. Drake's especially important on the streaming platform since he shares other artists signed to his OVO record label with his 1.3 million followers. Drake's dominance doesn't end with SoundCloud, since the rapper is the most added artist on Pandora and the most streamed on Rdio. Calvin Harris is king on Spotify.

Streaming sites are great for listening, but YouTube is the best way to understand engagement. The platform lets users upload their tributes, covers and other videos featuring their favorite tracks and artists. Based on this engagement, it's easy to see how acts like Halsey, Fetty Wap, OMI, Sam Hunt and Andy Grammar have skyrocketed in popularity based on the number of videos created on YouTube.

Social media is no slouch with close to 14 billion new followers. Twitter and Instagram are dominated by Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber. Facebook reveals an interesting genre breakdown, since Latin artists perform much better on the social netwrok than with other social platforms, which is why acts like Nicky Jam, J Balvin and Maluma top the list for new fans for 2015.

We're firmly living in a digital world, and artists should not be afraid to dive into every platform to engage their fans.