As 2019 winds down, it’s time to reflect on the year that was in music. Spotify has made this task easy for us by providing its “Wrapped” list of the most-streamed artists, songs, playlists, etc. on the platform in 2019. However, Spotify went a step further this year and revealed its most streamed artists and songs of the entire decade, as well!
Let’s take a closer look at the Spotify data (Note, numbers are not exact):
Most-Streamed Artists:
- Post Malone
- Billie Eilish
- Ariana Grande
- Ed Sheeran
- Bad Bunny
Post Malone is the most-streamed artist of 2019!
It was a huge year for Posty, who had more than 6.5 billion streams. His success is thanks in large part to his album, “Hollywood’s Bleeding” — the No. 2 most-streamed album in 2019 (which, amazingly, was just released in September).
Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande were the second and third-most streamed artists of the year.
Each singer-songwriter released highly-successful albums in 2019 (Eilish’s “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?,” and Grande’s “thank u, next”), both of which earned its spot in Spotify’s most-streamed albums of the year list.
Eilish, who is just 17 years old, exploded onto the scene this year. While Grande was already established, she dropped a flurry of singles in 2019 that dominated the streaming platforms.
We’re noticing a theme here…
Ed Sheeran ranks No. 4 on the list, and you guessed it, he also had a top-five album on Spotify this year with his “No. 6 Colloborations Project.” What makes that album unique, as you can probably tell from the name, is that each song features at least one other artist on it. All of that star power is great for increasing streaming totals.
The last artist on the list is a bit of a wildcard, but it goes to show you how popular and influential Latin music is across the world. Latin “trap music” is extremely popular in particular. Bad Bunny is the lone artist in the top-five most-streamed artists to not also be on the most-streamed albums list, but huge hits like “La Canción” WITH J BALVIN and “VETE” helped him earn his spot.
Other artists who saw a lot of streaming success in 2019 include Khalid and J Balvin, who join Post Malone, Ed Sheeran and Bad Bunny as the most-streamed male artists of the year. Last year’s most-streamed artist, Drake, did not make the top-five in 2019.
Most-Streamed Female Artists
- Billie Eilish
- Ariana Grande
- Taylor Swift
- Camila Cabello
- Halsey
These five ladies all had massive years in 2019. We’ve already covered Billie and Ariana above, but both artists were streamed more than 5 million times this year (wow!).
Taylor Swift has been a mainstay on these year-end lists, and continues to dominate streaming platforms. Her “Lover” album was released in August, and although it didn’t quite make Spotify’s top-five most-streamed list, it raked in more than 1.4 billion total streams (counting more than just Spotify streams) in 2019, per BuzzAngle.
Camila Cabello continues to find success as a solo artist, post-Fifth Harmony. Her song, “Señorita, a collaboration with her beau, Shawn Mendes, was the year’s most-streamed song. Cabello also generated more than 977 million total streams this year, according to BuzzAngle. Then there is Halsey, who dropped several singles in 2019, including smash hits like “Without Me,” “Nightmare” and “Graveyard,” and was featured on many others. She plans to drop her “Manic” album in January 2020.
Most-Streamed Songs
- “Señorita” by Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello
- “bad guy” by Billie Eilish
- “Sunflower” by Post Malone & Swae Lee
- “7 Rings” by Ariana Grande
- “Old Town Road — Remix” by Lil Nas X & Billy Ray Cyrus
“Señorita” amassed more than 1 billion Spotify streams, making it the year’s most-listened-to song. Billie Eilish adds her name to yet another accomplishment, having 2019’s second-most streamed song. Post Malone and Swae Lee’s collaboration on “Sunflower” for the “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” soundtrack proved to be huge, as well. Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings” was an obvious smash hit with a catchy melody borrowed from “The Sound of Music, and the video was watched almost 650 million times on YouTube alone.
And, we really don’t need to go into great detail about the “Old Town Road – Remix” craze, because unless you were living under a rock for all of 2019, you already know about it. The song put Lil Nas X on the map while rejuvenating Billy Ray Cyrus’ career.
Most Streamed of the Decade (2009 to 2019)
Artists:
- Drake
- Ed Sheeran
- Post Malone
- Ariana Grande
- Eminem
Female Artists:
- Ariana Grande
- Rihanna
- Taylor Swift
- Sia
- Beyonce
Male Artists:
- Drake
- Ed Sheeran
- Post Malone
- Eminem
- The Weekend
Songs:
- “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran
- “One Dance” by Drake, Kyla & WizKid
- “Rockstar” by Post Malone feat. 21 Savage
- “Closer” by The Chainsmokers & Halsey
- “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran
Drake dominated the decade as the most-streamed artist, while Ed Sheeran is close behind in second place. Sheeran had two of the decade’s five most successful songs with “Shape of You” and “Thinking Out Loud.”
Meanwhile, Ariana Grande is the only female artist to make the decade-long artist list, but Taylor Swift, Sia, Rihanna and Beyonce all found a lot of success in the streaming era, as well. Eminem, Post Malone and The Weeknd were the other big streaming winners of the past 10 years.
Who was your favorite artist of 2019? What about of the past decade? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter. And be sure to look for these powerhouse artists in FanLabel in 2020 and beyond!
