Whatever you've been soundtracking this year,after engagement sex videos music and podcast streaming has taken some interesting turns. With many of us either working from home or just spending a lotof 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.
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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 YHLQMDLGwith 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, TheMichelle Obama Podcast (which launched exclusively on the platform in July after Spotify partnered upwith the Obamas' production company), and Call Her Daddy. The music streaming platform has been really pushing its podcast strategyrecently, securing original and exclusive content and launching its own podcast chart. Spotify says its podcast listeners have doubledsince 2019, with over 1 million podcastsnow sitting on the platform.
SEE ALSO: The best new podcasts of 2020Spotify 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 conversationthis 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 fromhome, of course, which meant a 55 percent uptick in Spotify streaming from gaming consoles.
Some random stats for you. Credit: 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
Bad Bunny
Drake
J Balvin
Juice WRLD
The Weeknd
Most Streamed Female Artists Globally
Billie Eilish
Taylor Swift
Ariana Grande
Dua Lipa
Halsey
Most Streamed Albums Globally
YHLQMDLG, Bad Bunny
After Hours, The Weeknd
Hollywood’s Bleeding, Post Malone
Fine Line, Harry Styles
Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa
Most Streamed Songs Globally
“Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd
“Dance Monkey” by Tones And I
“The Box” by Roddy Ricch
“Roses – Imanbek Remix” by Imanbek and SAINt JHN
“Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa
Most Popular Podcasts Globally
The Joe Rogan Experience
TED Talks Daily
The Daily
TheMichelle Obama Podcast
Call Her Daddy
Topics Music Work From Home