Tag: kendrick lamar

Our 2020 Songs of Summer Predictions Have Arrived Along With Your Summer Rewind

June 23, 2020

Ahh, summer. Time for long days, warm nights, and outdoor adventures. While this year may look a little different in many parts of the world, one thing’s for sure: music will continue to be the backdrop for the best moments the season has to offer.

So what songs are most likely to soundtrack summer 2020? We turned to our global curation team to find out. They took a look into their crystal ball (a.k.a. current streaming numbers and trends) to come up with Spotify’s official Songs of Summer predictions. The songs that rack up the most streams by summer’s end will join the ranks of past top songs, including Drake’s “In My Feelings” and Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello’s “Señorita.”

Speaking of which—for those who are feeling a bit nostalgic for summer days gone by, we’re bringing back an oldie but goodie: Your Summer Rewind. This personalized playlist is comprised of songs listeners had on heavy rotation during previous summers.  

Songs of Summer Predictions

From hip-hop to indie, our 2020 Songs of Summer predictions have a little something for everyone.

Our list includes new hits like DaBaby’s “ROCKSTAR (feat. Roddy Ricch)” and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage Remix” (featuring Beyoncé), as well as older tracks like “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles, which was released in 2019 but remains a fan favorite. Plus, as the cultural conversation has shifted on ways to support the Black community, two songs in particular have made a comeback: “This is America” by Childish Gambino and “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar, both of which are likely to be on repeat all summer long.

And now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for. In no particular order, our list of summer 2020 predictions. 

Ready to get sunglass season started? Stream the official Songs of Summer playlist—which will update all summer long with the hottest hits—below.

Your Summer Rewind

Even if you can’t travel very far this summer, you can take a trip down memory lane with Your Summer Rewind playlist. For each user who has streamed songs during the summer in previous years, we’ve pulled together a personalized mix of past summer jams sure to send you daydreaming. Starting today, the playlist is available to Free and Premium listeners in the Northern Hemisphere on iOS and Android.

 

If you’re looking for even more music, or are new to Spotify this summer, we’ve got you covered like SPF 50 and a wide-brimmed hat. Check out our Summer Hub to find everything from Your Summer Rewind to a mix of the hottest playlists and podcasts to liven up your summer. Stay cool.

This June, Celebrate Black Creators of Past and Present on Spotify

June 16, 2020

When it comes to music, the Black community stands unique in defining the sound of the times and influencing society. Black artists have inspired music for generations across all genres, from hip-hop, R&B, soul, pop, rock, country, jazz, and more. That’s why all year round, Spotify is dedicated to elevating audio from the Black community—and especially so during June, which is Black Music Month. During this time, we’re encouraging listeners to learn about and celebrate the Black musicians, artists, activists, and creators of past and present who gifted us with their work.

Streaming on Spotify often reflects events and happenings in culture and the world at large, and the past two weeks have been no different. Spotify’s Black Lives Matter playlist has seen over a 1,900% increase in followers and a 130,000% increase in streams. A few songs in particular from the playlist are especially resonating with listeners, including “This is America” by Childish Gambino (351% increase), “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar (8,253%), “Freedom” by Beyoncé featuring Kendrick Lamar (371% increase), “Self” by Noname (289% increase), and “Mad” by Solange featuring Lil Wayne (854% increase). 

As we continue to mark Black Music Month, we’ll highlight the musical and cultural contributions of Black creators through new content, including dedicated playlists, guest-curated playlist takeovers, podcasting playlists, and more. Read on for some of the ways we’re amplifying Black voices this month. 

Honoring Juneteenth

To commemorate, celebrate, and recognize the day that slavery ended in the United States, Spotify has made Juneteenth a permanent company holiday for all U.S. employees. To underscore the importance of Juneteenth this year, Spotify’s flagship playlist New Music Friday will exclusively feature Black artists from Friday, June 19, through June 26. Additionally, Spotify’s New Music Friday billboards in Times Square will be dedicated only to Black artists on June 19.

Curated Playlists

Multiple playlists, many of which will be featured in the Black History Is Now hub, will roll out through the month. For Father’s Day, we’ll be launching our KING playlist celebrating Black men and their roles as dads. Kirk Franklin will be taking over the playlist and is featured on the cover. Additionally, look out for Throwback Thursday, which will highlight Black music across genres throughout the decades from the 1950s to now; Black to the Future, a new and improved playlist featuring up and coming Black artists; Black History Salute, which honors the lives of Black music legends lost this year, including Manu Dibango, Little Richard, Tony Allen, Bill Withers, and Betty Wright; and Black, Queer, & Proud, featuring American singer-songwriter Brittany Howard in honor of Pride month. 

Playlist Takeovers

Black Music Month will also include influential playlist takeovers, featuring a deep well of notable Black curators, celebrities, creatives, and more. Tracee Ellis Ross kicked off June by curating Black Girl Magic, and Gabrielle Union-Wade will be taking over to round out the month. Plus, as dance has been influenced by Black youth across generations, our dance playlist 8 Count will be taken over by Black creators of today’s hottest dance trends.

Spotify is elevating this content during Black Music Month to celebrate the individuals who gifted us with their talents and to encourage people everywhere to take the time to listen and to learn.
 

Check out the ever-updating Black History Is Now hub for all the new content, as well as old favorites like Are & Be.

Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ Gets a Fresh Take on Season 6 of Spotify’s ‘Dissect’ Podcast

April 23, 2020

Back in 2016, Beyoncé’s Lemonade album and film provoked a worldwide discussion about race, feminism, social media, and the music industry at large. Lemonade became the highest-selling album globally at 2.5 million copies, and it brought Beyoncé’s longstanding themes of female empowerment and camaraderie, emotional vulnerability, and the costs and pleasures of fame to the forefront of pop consciousness. It changed culture, politics, music, and their intersections. And now, it’s the subject of Spotify’s Dissect Season 6 podcast. 

Each season, Dissect, a serialized music podcast found exclusively on Spotify, takes an academic approach to analyzing iconic albums. Every episode focuses on one song in the release that had an undeniable influence on music and hip-hop culture. Beyoncé’s Lemonade now joins the ranks of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly (S1), Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (S2), Frank Ocean’s Blonde (S3), Tyler, The Creator’s Flower Boy (S4), Ms. Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Mini Season), and Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. (S5). 

Plus, Season 6 brings new changes worthy of Queen Bey. For the first time ever, host and creator Cole Cuchna will be joined by a cohost, Titi Shodiya (winner of Spotify’s Sound Up podcast workshop and creator and cohost of Dope Labs podcast, a Spotify Original). The two make leaps of interpretative wonder, fusing insights, music theory, instrumentation, and lyric interpretation with social analysis to empower fans to build deeper connections with Beyoncé’s artistry. For the first time in the show’s history, Dissect will also include behind-the-scenes video footage from the hosts’ travels to exclusive music video sites to accompany the episodes. 

Unlike Beyoncé’s previous albums, the 12-track Lemonade is edgy, full of vitriol and real talk. It contains scornful tales and lyrics that address Jay Z’s long-rumored infidelity in the track “Sorry,” as well as references to social injustices and police brutality on “Formation.” The album alongside its accompanying film not only ushered in a new era of surprise releases and visual experiences, but created a ripple effect that kept it front and center in the cultural zeitgeist.

The Dissect series launches on the fourth anniversary of Lemonade’s surprise release. Check out the first two episodes, “Pray You Catch Me” and “Hold Up,” starting today, April 24. All in, the season will include 12 episodes, with a new one airing every Tuesday following today’s two-episode binge drop. 

Get a refreshing take on the album geared for both lifelong Beyoncé fans and Lemonade-era newcomers. Stream the first few episodes below.

Revisit the Biggest Songs, Artists, and Cultural Moments of the Last 10 Years with Spotify’s ‘The Decade Wrapped’ Podcast

December 16, 2019

With 2020 right around the corner—and the 2010s coming to a close—we’re taking a journey through the last decade in music with a new original podcast, The Decade Wrapped.

The podcast’s host, Eric Eddings, will be joined by critics, comedians, influencers, and writers as they look back at the music stories that defined pop culture between 2010 and 2019. This 10-episode series incorporates data and insights from Spotify’s popular Wrapped campaign. Launched earlier this month, the campaign revealed through personal Wrapped e-cards what our listeners have been streaming—not only over 2019, but over the past decade—as well as what the world listened to during that time. 

The first three episodes are available starting today, December 16, in the U.S. (The next seven episodes will be released daily over the course of the week.) Get a taste for the episode topics and featured songs:

2010: Nicki Minaj Tells Us to “Check It Out”/Female-Driven Pop

In the early 2010s, women like Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and Katy Perry took the stage . . . but no one matched the omnipresence of Nicki Minaj. Before even dropping a full album, she was featured on tracks by Lil Wayne, Kanye, will.i.am, and Gucci Mane. Her debut album, Pink Friday, didn’t disappoint—and over the years she became a force in hip-hop.

2011: One Direction (Re)invents the Stan

In 2011, British boy band One Direction recorded their first album, released “What Makes You Beautiful,” and finished up their first tour. One Direction’s teen audience was fully internet literate and ready to make the band their own. Fanfiction and fanart take flight. So of course we had no choice but to stan.

2012: “Gangnam Style” Introduces K-Pop to the U.S.

One of the most-watched videos in the history of YouTube, “Gangnam Style” set the stage for K-Pop hits like BTS to come. The song, which has been streamed over 208 million times on Spotify, is credited with bringing Korean culture into the American mainstream.

2013: Harlem Shake[s the Internet]

If there was any year that your grandma might be caught dancing to an EDM song, 2013 was it. The “Harlem Shake” showcased the immense viral power of crossover appeal and memes, and the song became a mainstream number-one hit, with more than 2.1 million streams on Spotify. The 2010s were the decade of user-created content—and this song embodied that ideal.

2014: “Uptown Funk” and Taylor Swift Go Retro

In 2014, the 1980s came back to the top of the charts as Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” and Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk,” featuring Bruno Mars, battled for number one. “Uptown Funk” propelled producers to the forefront; it became one of Ronson’s biggest hits and underscored the increasingly key role of producers in music then and today.

2015: Kendrick’s To Pimp A Butterfly Takes Flight, Drake Has the Biggest Year Ever, and Hamilton Shoots Its Shot

There were three differing perspectives on what the biggest musical story of 2015 was. Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly cemented Lamar as a cultural icon as it examined race, discrimination, anger, and violence. Meanwhile, Drake’s “Hotline Bling” and his diss track feud with Meek Mill fueled a massive year for him. And Lin-Manuel Miranda turned Broadway upside down when his hip-hop musical Hamilton exploded as a hit inside and outside the theater.

2016: Beyoncé Drops Lemonade

 With her release of Lemonade, Beyoncé solidified her status as a powerful force in music. Lemonade appeared to divulge intimate details about her life while at the same time commenting on black life in America. It was universally praised for its personal and political content—and also for crossing genres. Its controversial snub at the Grammys also marked the beginning of a broader conversation around recognizing black musicians.

2017: “Despacito” Gets All the Views

In 2017, “Despacito,” a catchy song from Luis Fonzi and Daddy Yankee, crossed a huge milestone to become the most-watched video. Not music video. Video. Oh, and it surpassed 1.3 billion streams on Spotify, making it the first Spanish-language song to reach the billion-stream milestone. 

2018: “thank u, next” and the Evolution of Ariana Grande

The year 2018 was all about Ariana Grande. She returned to music with the One Love Manchester concert and came out on top with “thank u, next,” proving that music has the power to help us process, heal, and face what’s next.

2019: The Yeehaw Agenda

The end of the decade gave us giant breakthroughs for two artists. For Lizzo, it’s a story of years of hard work that culminated in the artist’s becoming a mainstay in the mainstream. And for Lil Nas X, it was the perfect storm of a catchy song on TikTok and a cowboy hat.  

Take it all the way back with a listen to the first episode on Nicki Minaj and female-driven pop below.

https://open.spotify.com/show/4C9SyDbX6N7HfgxYAVs9NP?si=DSOxhIGkQsa7bQGpREV_cw

Meet Rich Brian, the Indonesian Rapper Performing at Spotify On Stage Jakarta

September 5, 2019

Jakarta music lovers, leave your headphones at home. On October 4, Spotify On Stage, Spotify’s premier live concert series, will be back and bigger than ever in the Indonesian capital for an immersive, electrifying live event. 

In a one-night-only experience at Jakarta International Expo Hall (JIExpo), three of the world’s hottest artists — rapper Rich Brian and K-Pop sensations (G)I-DLE and ATEEZ — and local superstars Arsy Widianto, Brisia Jodie, Marion Jola, and Rizky Febian will be coming together onstage at Spotify On Stage Indonesia. Together, these artists have a combined 15 million monthly listeners on Spotify, though how the numbers might shift after a night of musical discovery is anyone’s guess.

Rich Brian has only just turned 20 and he’s already the most-streamed hip-hop artist on Spotify in Indonesia. This means he’s also one of the biggest international stars hailing from Asia.

Besides gearing up to perform at the concert, Rich Brian also recently partnered with Spotify for an interactive showcase in Jakarta to celebrate the launch of his new album, The Sailor. The Sailor Experience exhibition took Rich Brian fans through an immersive journey into the mind of the hip-hop star, giving a unique insight into the influences and memories behind the album. The exhibition also featured a screening of Rich Brian’s cinematic debut, Rich Brian Is The Sailor (A Short Film), accompanied by exclusive audio commentary by critically acclaimed director Sing J Lee. Check out the video recap from the entire event below. 

https://www.facebook.com/SpotifyID/videos/2378984662157093/

 

We sat down with Rich Brian  after his event to get to know him a bit. Like many other stars growing up in the age of the internet, Rich Brian has spent a lot of time searching the web for the secrets of success. He especially loves trolling fans on Twitter and really wants to get into acting. We also discussed his excitement about recording his latest album and checked in leading up to his Spotify On Stage performance.

You’re originally from Indonesia but you’re now living in LA. How has living internationally influenced your sound, process, or attitude? 

A lot of things influence my sound, from listening to traditional Indonesian music, to the stuff I listened to while spending full days on the internet making videos. Living internationally definitely influenced my attitude towards everything positively. I’m very grateful for everything that I have now and things just never get old for me—each new experience feels like a blessing.

How was the experience of collaborating with big names like RZA and Bekon on your sophomore album? You grew up listening to Wu-Tang Clan and Kendrick Lamar—how does it feel to be working with their producers?

Working with them was insane. Bekon and the whole crew and I were locked in the studio for months—I felt so close to everybody at that point. I kept forgetting how insanely talented everybody is and how lucky I was to be in the same room with those guys. RZA was just another level—the day he came to the studio was memorable for all of us. He was so nice. Seeing him just do his thing and kill it in a room full of people he’d just met that day was very inspiring. 

The Sailor definitely has a different sound from 2018’s Amen and your earlier music. What was your inspiration behind this more experimental album?

Making this album, I tried not to care about what’s currently trending or what’s relevant, but instead made what I personally think sounds good. I care less now about the amount of listeners, and more on the impact it’s made on the people who do listen.

You talk a lot about your youth and accomplishments on the track “Kids.” What do you see as your role for inspiring other young creatives, especially young Asians?

I’m just here doing my thing, doing what I love to do and making what I love to make. My only purpose is to show other people that it’s all possible. I live for those moments where someone tells me that they quit music, and when they saw me doing it they wanted to pick up the guitar again. It’s what keeps me going. 

How do you feel about performing live at the Spotify On Stage Indonesia concert?

I’m super pumped to do a show here again, I feel like this is gonna be a pretty crazy one.

Check out Rich Brian’s newest full-length album, The Sailor, featuring RZA and Bekon.

With ‘Black Panther’ and ‘Captain Marvel,’ Superhero Movie Concept Albums Take Flight

April 23, 2019

Cape or no cape, team player or lone ranger, most superheroes have at least one thing in common: an epic theme song. Often, there’s a movie-length soundtrack to match as well—and, these days, maybe even two.

A new trend in superhero films began in the past year with two of the biggest Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies, Black Panther and Captain Marvel. These films changed the superhero-soundtrack landscape with the addition of a secondary, companion album or playlist. According to our US data, these new storytelling vehicles are a powerful way to broaden a film’s reach.

Black Panther Concept Album Wins with Fans

Fans embraced these albums fervently—Black Panther’s in particular. The movie broke all types of box office records, and its instrumental original movie soundtrack, composed by Ludwig Goransson, even won Best Original Score at both the Grammys and the Oscars. Yet when it came to streaming, it was the concept album—a rap and hip-hop work of art curated by Kendrick Lamar and featuring SZA, Swae Lee, Khalid, Jorja Smith, and many more—that hit home with listeners. On the day of its release, the album, which builds on the movie’s poignant exploration of “what it means to be African,” hit over 19 million plays on Spotify. Critically, it wasn’t just how many people were listening, but who.

The listeners were close to equal in gender representation, and the bulk of the plays came from 18- to 24-year-olds, followed by 25- to 29-year-olds. By contrast, listeners of the actual soundtracks for both Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War in those age groups lean far more male. In other words, a supplemental soundtrack represents a unique opportunity for the studio to attract new audiences, particularly adult women who don’t traditionally go out of their way to see superhero movies.

Captain Marvel Makes Her Mark through Music

Captain Marvel built on this paradigm with unabashed girl power. It was impossible to walk away from the film, released this past March, without music in mind—either due to Pinar Toprak’s original score or the largely female hit-driven ’90s pop-grunge sounds, like “Only Happy When It Rains” by Shirley Mason-fronted Garbage and Gwen Stefani-led No Doubt’s “Just a Girl” blasting during the final fight scene. These songs, found on Marvel’s Captain Marvel Soundtrack Official Playlist, helped build out the essence of Carol Danvers’ empowered protagonist.

And the first female superhero to get a major motion picture in the MCU struck a resounding chord with female fans: Women ages 18-44 streamed the playlist more than any men within that same age bracket. Toprak’s official soundtrack, which also featured gems of ’90s music inspiration and was the first in the MCU to be conducted by a woman, was streamed most by men ages 18-24 and 34-55, but saw 18- to 24-year-old women ranked close behind—fairly high for the genre.

Though the playlist doesn’t have the streaming volume of the orchestral Captain Marvel soundtrack, nor that of Kendrick Lamar’s Black Panther-inspired album, the trend is clear. The streaming popularity of superhero concept albums points to their power in attracting enthusiasm in a way that traditional instrumental superhero movie soundtracks do not.

Sure, surges in orchestral volume add emotion, suspense, and gravity to a monumental moment in superhero adventure movies. But the addition of lyric-driven, thematically relevant pop or rap songs leaves the audience with a memory of the film that goes far beyond the fight scenes, one that speaks to what it means to be human—or in some cases, superhuman.

Searching for something super? Stream Marvel’s official Marvel Music playlist below.

Here’s Where Your Favorite Artists Toured the Most in 2018

December 28, 2018

For an artist, there’s nothing like connecting with diehard fans who are sing-screaming your lyrics from the front row; for concert-goers, there’s nothing like seeing the music you’re obsessed with come alive on stage. That’s why we took our passion for music on the road and dug into the touring trends that reached far beyond our platform this year. Because while many of the year’s biggest artists hit the road in 2018, no two tours looked exactly the same.

Want to see for yourself? The proof is in our 2018 touring map. To create it, we looked at the top-streamed artists who played in 10 or more U.S. cities this year.

The map helped us discover some interesting trends—and some pretty weird shapes. While superstars like Nicki Minaj and Kendrick Lamar spent lots of time on the coasts, rising artists like Juice WRLD and Playboi Carti made sure to hit all corners of the country. Beyoncé, Chris Brown, and Twenty One Pilots toured mostly around the perimeter of the U.S., but Zedd, Gucci Mane, and Dan + Shay clustered lots of dates in the middle.

MVPs like SZA, Kane Brown, and Migos toured throughout the year, but some shorter tours, including Lana Del Rey’s, included stops in Hawaii (and hopefully some beach time).

We also checked out which artists played which cities the most. Texas hip-hop collective Brockhampton played New York seven times, while Rich the Kid, originally from Queens, played L.A. a record 12 times. Perhaps most impressive were the Chainsmokers, who hit Las Vegas a whopping 45 times (although their Vegas residency might have had something to do with that).

Click on each artist to dig deeper into where, when, and how they toured throughout the year. When you click on 5 Seconds of Summer, you’ll see that the Aussies covered lots of ground in the U.S. from April to December. (And to get back to the original map, just click the tab on the top left or the X button at the top right.)

Dive in below—no van required.

Stream hits from these artists and more of the year’s biggest stars here in our Top Artists of 2018 playlist.

Celebrating a Decade of Discovery on Spotify

October 10, 2018

It’s been 10 years since Spotify officially launched for fans—and new music and artist discovery has never been the same. We built our Swedish company to create a legal, better alternative to piracy—one that helps to fairly compensate artists for their work and shape music listening and sharing via streaming.

Since October 2008, fans all over the world have enjoyed a decade of music discovery, finding new artists and tracks to fall in love with and rediscovering old favorites. Playlists such as Discover Weekly and Release Radar make finding a new song or hearing a new band as easy as opening the Spotify app and pressing play. We are now the largest music-streaming service in the world, but we remain as laser-focused on connecting fans with artists and helping them to build their careers as we were on day one.

We now have 180 million monthly active listeners across 65 countries. And as of August 31, 2018, we have paid over 10 billion euros to rights holders since launch. Music fans on Spotify can enjoy our music library of over 40 million songs and podcasts, and 3 billion-plus user-created playlists. And to date, over 2,000 genres have been identified on Spotify, among them Wonky (electronic music characterized by synths with unusual time signatures), Shimmer Pop (a Swedish cousin of indie pop and indietronica), and British Blues (the blues … with a British flavor).

Since launch, we’ve also found that “listening diversity,” or the number of artists the average user streams per month, has risen on Spotify over the past 10 years at an average of about 8 percent per year. In the past three years alone, listening diversity increased about 40 percent on the strength of new personalized and editorial playlists—meaning people are listening to an increased number of artists on a regular basis.

Between Spotify’s expert-curated playlists, such as ¡Viva Latino!, Hot Country, and RapCaviar, as well as personalized playlists such as Discover Weekly and Daily Mix, we’ve helped music fans discover a world of new artists, allowing us to pursue our goal of supporting one million creators.

In honor of this important milestone, we’re unveiling our lists of the most-streamed artists and songs, milestones and achievements, and most influential genres over the past 10 years. Take a closer look:

 

Most-streamed song each year since Spotify launch

2008: The Killers – “Human”

2009: The Black Eyed Peas – “I Gotta Feeling”

2010: Eminem, Rihanna – “Love The Way You Lie”

2011: Don Omar, Lucenzo – “Danza Kuduro”

2012: Gotye, Kimbra – “Somebody That I Used To Know”

2013: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – “Can’t Hold Us” (feat. Ray Dalton)

2014: Pharrell Williams – “Happy” – from Despicable Me 2

2015: Major Lazer, MØ, DJ Snake – “Lean On”

2016: Drake – “One Dance”

2017: Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”

Top-streamed artists of all time

1. Drake

2. Ed Sheeran

3. Eminem

4. The Weeknd

5. Rihanna

6. Kanye West

7. Coldplay

8. Justin Bieber

9. Calvin Harris

10. Ariana Grande

Most-streamed songs of all time

1. Ed Sheeran – “Shape Of You’”

2. Drake – “One Dance”

3. The Chainsmokers, Halsey – “Closer”

4. Post Malone – “rockstar” (feat. 21 Savage)

5. Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”

6. Major Lazer, MØ, DJ Snake – “Lean On”

7. Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, Justin Bieber – “Despacito – Remix’”

8. Justin Bieber – “Love Yourself”

9. Justin Bieber – “Sorry”

10. The Chainsmokers – “Don’t Let Me Down”

First 10 artists to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify

1. Rihanna (2013)

2. David Guetta (2013)

3. Eminem (2013)

4. Kanye West (2014)

5. Avicii (2014)

6. Coldplay (2014)

7. JAY Z (2014)

8. Katy Perry (2014)

9. Drake (2014)

10. Pitbull (2014)

Most-streamed albums globally

1. Ed Sheeran – ÷

2. Justin Bieber – Purpose

3. Drake – Views

4. Ed Sheeran – x

5. Post Malone – beerbongs & bentleys

6. The Weeknd – Starboy

7. Drake – Scorpion

8. The Weeknd – Beauty Behind The Madness

9. Post Malone – Stoney

10. Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.

Most-streamed female artists globally

1. Rihanna

2. Ariana Grande

3. Sia

4. Beyoncé

5. Nicki Minaj

6. Adele

7. Taylor Swift

8. Selena Gomez

9. Katy Perry

10. Shakira

Total time streamed on Spotify: 16,858,080 years

Total tracks now on Spotify: 40M+

Total playlists now on Spotify: 3B+

October 2008 Flashback – top global track, artist, and album:

Most-streamed track: Coldplay – “Viva La Vida”

Most-streamed artist: Lady Gaga

Most-streamed album: Coldplay – Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends

To continue celebrating with us, check out our Decade of Discovery playlist, which features the most-streamed songs over the past 10 years on Spotify, including favorites like Avicii’s “Wake Me Up,” Hozier’s “Take Me To Church,” Kendrick Lamar’s “HUMBLE.,” Rihanna’s “Work,” Sia’s “Chandelier,” Major Lazer’s “Lean On,” the star-studded “Despacito Remix,” and more.

 

Kendrick, Halsey, Post Malone and Other Surprising Artists on Yoga Playlists Around the World

June 20, 2018

Yoga might be an ancient art, but the 5,000-year-old practice remains as essential to modern life as ever. Yogis throughout the world enjoy both the physical and emotional benefits from yoga, which is thought to be calming and restorative. But that doesn’t mean the soundtrack to accompany it has to be.

While soothing, ambient sounds—like Tibetan singing bowls and chimes, and the serene tones of nature—tend to comprise the traditional yoga soundtrack, some 21st-century practitioners have begun to think outside the box. In fact, when we dug into common unexpected genres found on yoga playlists, we found that pop, hip-hop, rock, R&B, and reggae are being used to inspire yoga practices. For some, yoga is no longer just about mastering asanas (postures), but taking the opportunity to get creative and expressive with the right beats to match.

“There is a growing interest globally on the impact certain music has on performance,” says Dr. Amanda Krause, a psychologist and Research Fellow at The University of Melbourne, Australia, who specializes in the social and applied psychology of music. “We refer to it in the industry as ‘musical fit,’ where the type of music you feel ‘fits’ an activity creates an impact on the way you physically react.”

“A person’s judgement of musical fit relates to their listening preferences, environment, and goal for certain practices,” Amanda explains. “For example, with yoga, the variety of music is chosen with regard to how it helps timing, focus, and motivation, which in turn enhances your overall performance.”

People aren’t just enjoying the unexpected and non-traditional music when practicing yoga, they’re potentially getting performance benefits from it, too. And more than ever—there’s been an 11% increase in yoga playlist streams year-over-year—they’re turning to one of Spotify’s 2.4 million user-generated, yoga-inspired playlists to stream while in downward dog.

“While music has always been a huge part of our lives, the advent of streaming has made it even more so, to the point that nowadays we even shape our yoga practice around it,” says Julie Stevanja, Stylerunner CEO.

“This evolution of using music as the base of our practice has almost become a yoga style of its own. It’s all about tapping into our subconscious, which music allows us to do more freely. Upbeat songs make poses stronger and more dynamic, while relaxing tunes can help us feel more grounded in our resting poses.”

If you’re looking to spice up your own yoga playlist, look no farther than some of the top streamed songs on yoga playlists around the world—from Toronto to Bali—and as you can see from this list, music of all types is being played in the yoga studio.

1. Kendrick Lamar – LOVE. FEAT. ZACARI.

2. Halsey – Now Or Never

3. Post Malone – I Fall Apart

4. Khalid – Location

5. Bob Marley and The Wailers – Is This Love

6. Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton – Say Something

7. Future ft. Rihanna – Selfish

8. The xx – Intro

9. Coldplay – Fix You

10. José González – Heartbeats

11. Sia – Breathe Me

12. ODESZA – Kusanagi

13. Leon Bridges – River

14. Rae Sremmurd – Do Yoga

15. Florence and the Machine – Shake It Out

16. Van Morrison – Into The Mystic

17. Ryan Adams – Wonderwall

18. Andra Day – Rise Up

19. Pearl Jam – Just Breathe

20. The Lumineers – Stubborn Love

“Handstand with Splits”
Image credit: Stylerunner

 

If you’re looking for some more traditional, curated yoga playlists, look no further than one of our many yoga or meditation options.

For many modern yogis, music is fun and motivating; for others, silence is still golden. No matter your preference or style, it’s clear that traditional yoga music is now anything but.