Taylor Swift tops Spotify’s most-streamed list

By Maria Sherman, AP

For the second year in a row, Taylor Swift has been named Spotify’s most-played artist, with more than 26.6 billion streams.

The Spotify Wrapped list is the streaming giant’s annual overview of individual listening trends as well as trends from around the world.

Users can now access their top artists, songs, genres, albums and podcasts, as well as uncover which artists had the biggest year on the platform.

Swift was 2024’s most-streamed artist globally, ranking in more than 26.6 billion streams. She is followed by The Weekend, Bad Bunny, Drake and Billie Eilish, in that order.

In the US alone, the list looks similar, with Swift in the top spot, followed by Drake, Zach Bryan, Morgan Wallen and Kanye West.

Last year, Swift dethroned Puerto Rican reggaeton star Bad Bunny for the top spot, globally. He held the coveted title for three years in a row, beginning in 2020.

Swift also earned the title of most-streamed album in 2024, with The Tortured Poets Department.

She is followed by Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet, Karol G’s Manana Sera Bonito and Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine.

All of those titles were new to 2024 with the exception of Karol G’s album, which was released early last year.

In the US, there were only slight differences: Swift’s album still leads, followed by Wallen’s One Thing At A Time, released last year. Then comes Carpenter, Noah Kahan’s Stick Season, and Chappell Roan’s The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess, also released in 2023.

Carpenter leads with the most-streamed songs both in the US and globally this year, with her summertimesmash Espresso. It earned more than 1.6 billion streams.

Globally, she is followed by Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things, Eilish’s Birds Of A Feather, FloyyMenor and Cris MJ’s Gata Only and Teddy Swims’ Lose Control.

And in the US, she is trailed by Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us, Shaboozey’s A Bar Song (Tipsy), Post Malone and Morgan Wallen’s I Had Some Help and Tommy Richman’s Million Dollar Baby.

This year, there are a few new features on Spotify Wrapped. Those include a new data story called Your Music Evolution, documenting three distinct musical phases for each user, and a personalised playlist.

The individualised Your Top Artist feature has changed slightly, too, and now includes Longest Listening Streak as well as the familiar Top Listeners breakdown.

That the biggest artists, globally, earned top spots on Spotify Wrapped should come as no surprise – they are featured prominently across the streaming service, including on its highly influential playlists, in addition to boasting loyal, dedicated fanbases.

For independent artists who may appear on an individual listener’s Wrapped, accessing a top spot on the global list would require billions of streams.

Streaming now accounts for most of the money generated by the music industry – a whopping 84 per cent in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, and 67.3 per cent worldwide, according to a 2024 report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which tracks global sales.

Spotify is the largest platform of all – making up roughly 31 per cent of the total market share – with a reported 626 million users and 246 million subscribers in more than 180 markets.