Spotify: The Trends That Shaped Streaming in 2020

It goes without saying: 2020 was a year unlike any other. One that, despite its unique challenges, inspired creativity with so many people finding ways to come together with resiliency as a community.  

Spotify’s Wrapped is here once again to help us look back on the year. For many of us, music and podcasts helped get us through, which is what makes 2020 Wrapped so special through ups and downs, people kept streaming, and audio never missed a beat.

So, what did the world listen to in 2020?

Most Streamed Artists Globally

Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny claims the top spot with more than 8.3 billion streams this year from fans around the globe. His album YHLQMDLG released in late February and featuring collaborations with Sech, Anuel AA, and Daddy Yankee is the number one streamed album as well. Following Bad Bunny is Drake and Latin star J Balvin. The fourth most-streamed artist is the late rapper Juice WRLD, followed by The Weeknd.

Billie Eilish continues her reign as Spotify’s most-streamed female artist for the second year in a row, followed by Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande in spots two and three. Coming in as the fourth and fifth most-streamed female artists are Dua Lipa and Halsey. 

Most Streamed Songs Globally

The most-streamed song of the year is The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights,” which held out strong after being the second most-streamed song of the summer with almost 1.6 billion streams this year. In the second and third spots, respectively, are Australian ex-busker Tones And I’s viral 2019 earworm “Dance Monkey” and Roddy Ricch’s “The Box.” The fourth most-streamed song is the catchy “Roses – Imanbek Remix” by Imanbek and SAINt JHN, followed by “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa.

This year we also looked beyond the individual artists, songs, albums, and podcasts and dove into the trends that shaped streaming the things that made it sound so different. 

As people started to social distance, we saw an increase in nostalgia-themed playlists and work-from-home-themed playlists, and in listeners listening to wellness podcasts like Unlocking Us with Brené Brown and Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories.