Spotify reveal the biggest songs and artists of 2018
2019 is almost here and as we start to wave goodbye to 2018 and all of the great new music it’s brought us, Spotify have revealed which tracks, artists, playlists, and podcasts people have been streaming the most this year.
2018 has been a record year for music streaming with more listeners in more countries around the world tuning in to their favourite artists new and old on streaming services. As Spotify say: “2018 is winding down, but on Spotify, the music is playing as loudly as ever.”
Spotify have shared with everyone what the biggest tracks and artists this year were as well as which playlists have been creating the most buzz and the podcasts that people love tuning in to more than any. At the top spot you might be unsurprised to see a familiar name in Canadian rapper Drake who has retaken the streaming crown after a brief hiatus in 2017. His album Scorpion won out as did his single ‘God’s Plan’ which got more than 1 billion spins alone. Overall Drake got 8.2 billion streams just in 2018.
Ariana Grande took the top spot for female artists with over 48 million listeners coming to Spotify each month and streaming her music. Grande takes Rihanna’s three year streak as the most popular streaming woman on Spotify thanks to her fourth album and it’s hit singles like ‘Sweetener’ and ‘thank u, next’ which alone had 220 million streams.
2018 saw Hip-Hop’s explosive popularity continue it’s trend but after Despacito blew up last year Latin music has been on a meteoric rise this year. Last year Daddy Yankee was the only Spanish-speaking artist to reach the top 10 but as listeners around the world fall more in love with Latin music, 2018 found 3 different Latin artists – J Balvin, Ozuna, and Bad Bunny – reach Spotify’s top 10 most-streamed artist list.
Elsewhere on Spotify podcasts seem to be ever-growing with almost 7 million total episodes on the streaming service. Top podcasts include ‘The Joe Budden Podcast’, and Spotify’s Dissect which takes a deep look at popular music albums and analyses what makes them great.
