Parties, Playlists, and New Year’s Bops: The Music the World Is Playing to Ring in 2023

As the year comes to a close, we can’t help but be amazed at what a landmark year 2022 was for music. But now it’s time to look ahead and ring in 2023 with style.

New year, new hub

We’ve got plenty of music to kickstart your celebration, and it’s all in our freshly launched New Year’s Hub. At this one-stop destination you can find classic party playlists and special takeovers from artists like Charli XCX, Rita Ora, N-Dubz, and Madame Canada herself, Céline Dion. And whether you want a low-key night or a heart-pounding dancefest, we have you set with featured playlists to match the vibe you’re channeling. Plus, on Home starting January 1, you can find content to help you set your resolutions.

So that’s what Spotify is doing . . . but how do Spotify listeners like to ring in the new year? The best way to predict the future is to look at past results, so we checked the data archives to see how the world was celebrating in December 2021.

What the world is playing

There’s always some level of anticipation around the new year and that shows in the playlists fans put together. Last year 82,000 New Year’s Eve playlists were created between Christmas and January 31, with nearly 40,000 created on the night itself. 

When it comes to genres, as expected listeners went straight for the uplifting bops and hits. Pop, hip-hop, trap, k-pop, and indie pop were the top genres played worldwide. Genres that saw the most significant rises in listeners were cumbia, discofox, volksmusik, schlager, and partyschlager (for those who think regular schlager isn’t festive enough.)

NYE 2021 was all about the tracks you could sing and dance along to. “Hey Ya!,” “Uptown Funk”, and “Mr. Brightside” all received plenty of attention. Many of the songs that gained more streams were New Year-specific tracks like Mariah Carey‘s rendition of “Auld Lang Syne – The New Year’s Anthem” and ABBA’s “Happy New Year,” which led the pack with an approximately 2,000% increase in plays.

Whatever your plans are for ringing in the new year, we hope that 2023 is just as fantastic for listening as this one was. 

Plan your party now over on our New Year’s Hub or with the featured New Year’s Eve 2023 playlist.