Whatever you’ve been soundtracking this year, music and podcast streaming has taken some interesting turns. With many of us either working from home or just spending a lot of time in our own spaces during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, music and podcasts have been crucial for some to keep motivated, find comfort, or simply fill a quiet house. And it’s also been political.
Spotify has released its annual Wrapped list of 2020’s streaming trends, including the most streamed artists, songs, and podcasts on the platform, and there’s some interesting data in there.
Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny was the most streamed artist globally on the platform, followed by Drake, J Balvin, Juice WRLD, and The Weeknd, whose “Blinding Lights” was the most streamed song around the world on Spotify this year with almost 1.6 billion streams in 2020 — despite being released in November last year.
The TikTok-favourite track was followed by Tones And I’s “Dance Monkey,” — now the most Shazamed song of all time — then “The Box” by Roddy Ricch, “Roses – Imanbek Remix” by Imanbek and SAINt JHN, and “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa. Interestingly, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” and BTS’ “Dynamite,” two of the year’s biggest singles, didn’t make the five most streamed songs on Spotify despite breaking records elsewhere.
Billie Eilish took the crown for a second year in a row as the most streamed female artist on Spotify, joined by Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, and Halsey. As for albums, the most streamed were Bad Bunny’s YHLQMDLG with over 3.3 billion streams, then The Weeknd’s After Hours, Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding, Harry Styles’ Fine Line, and Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia.
When it came to podcasts, The Joe Rogan Experience (which moved exclusively to Spotify in September) was the most popular globally, ahead of TED Talks Daily, The Daily, The Michelle Obama Podcast (which launched exclusively on the platform in July after Spotify partnered up with the Obamas’ production company), and Call Her Daddy. The music streaming platform has been really pushing its podcast strategy recently, securing original and exclusive content and launching its own podcast chart. Spotify says its podcast listeners have doubled since 2019, with over 1 million podcasts now sitting on the platform.
Spotify also offered up some interesting stats related to how we’ve been listening around the year’s biggest news and events. As the Black Lives Matter movement dominated headlines and conversation this year, Spotify’s Black Lives Matter playlist saw 64 million streams, and there were nearly 65,000 playlists created by users titled “Black Lives Matter,” or “BLM.”
As the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic saw people working from home and social distancing, the platform saw an increase in “working from home” titled playlists, alongside nostalgic playlists, gardening-themed playlists, and wellness podcasts. More people were streaming from home, of course, which meant a 55 percent uptick in Spotify streaming from gaming consoles.
Some random stats for you.
Image: spotify
Haircut playlists, eh? Think I’d better make one of those.
Here’s the whole list, with links, so you can revisit the year’s most popular songs, albums, artists, and podcasts on Spotify, whether you listened to them or not.
Most Streamed Artists Globally
Most Streamed Female Artists Globally
Most Streamed Albums Globally
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YHLQMDLG, Bad Bunny
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After Hours, The Weeknd
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Hollywood’s Bleeding, Post Malone
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Fine Line, Harry Styles
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Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa
Most Streamed Songs Globally
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“Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd
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“Dance Monkey” by Tones And I
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“The Box” by Roddy Ricch
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“Roses – Imanbek Remix” by Imanbek and SAINt JHN
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“Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa
Most Popular Podcasts Globally