Tag: self-care

New Year, New You: Audiobook Picks To Help You Start 2024 on the Right Foot

January 15, 2024

Whether it’s New Year’s resolutions or a post-holiday reset, there’s always extra motivation to adopt a few healthy habits each January. But sometimes deciding which ones to embrace can be the biggest challenge. 

Lucky for you, our audiobooks editorial team has created a series of themed playlists that speak to different areas of self-improvement. So if you’re looking to give your brain more of a workout, wrangle your finances, or strengthen the bond with those closest to you, we have a treasure trove of standout audiobooks on Spotify to get you started.

The Self-Care and Wellness Listening Trends on Spotify That We’re Taking Into 2022

January 12, 2022

For some, 2022 brings new mental and physical wellness goals, while others are continuing to hone the mood-boosting skills they learned in 2021. No matter how listeners choose to kick off this season of self-care, we know one thing for certain: their favorite audio is along for the journey. To launch a new year of listening, we took a look at the songs, artists, and creators on Spotify that have helped power listeners’ mental and physical wellbeing. 

One standout finding is that listeners around the world have created more than 97.1 million workout and fitness playlists on Spotify to date. To help bring this trend into 2022, Spotify is working with fitness and wellness experts Amanda Kloots, Liv Lo Golding, Mia Lind, Demi Bagby, Jeanette Jenkins, Corey Calliet, Katie Austin, and Joie Chavis to take over the Spotify At Home hub with fresh curated playlists to sweat, dance, and unwind to.

Each tracklist is geared toward a specific vibe, with a mix of new hits and classic beats. For Katie Austin—fitness personality, model, and host of podcast Austin AF—curating Katie Austin’s Hype HIITs Playlist is all about celebrating favorites. And celebrity trainer and actor Corey Calliet takes a similar approach to Corey Calliet’s HIIT Playlist, finding inspiration in tried-and-true tunes. “In curating this playlist I had to throw in some of my favorite songs I grew up listening to—they always get my energy up,” said Corey. “This is my soundtrack for 2022. No matter the vibe, I’m showing up and not slowing up!”

Here are the other trends helping get listeners’ energy up on Spotify.

Main character moments galore

Listeners are also continuing to exercise their self-confidence, creating playlists dedicated to wellness inside and out. That includes more than 160,000 “that girl” playlists to date created by users on Spotify around the trending aesthetic of sticking with routines and getting things done. Some of the most popular songs added to those playlists include “Good Days” by SZA, “telepatía” by Kali Uchis, “Woman” by Doja Cat, “successful” by Ariana Grande, and “jealousy, jealousy” by Olivia Rodrigo.

Creator Demi Bagby joins the empowerment movement with Demi Bagby’s Vibes Playlist, a playlist that celebrates her love of music and the songs that fuel her. “I chose these songs because no matter where you’re from or what genre you like to listen to, these are all bound to put you in a good mood,” she shared. “I feel so free with all these songs, and it’s definitely ‘main character vibes.’ They feed my soul!”

2021 also welcomed the “hot girl walk” trend and inspired the creation of more than 7,000 playlists on Spotify to date. Walkers around the world took their strolls to the next level by using their time on the trails to self-reflect and set goals. Popular soundtracks to their steps include “Maneater” by Nelly Furtado; “Gimme More” by Britney Spears; “WAP (feat Megan Thee Stallion)” by Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion; “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo; and “good 4 u” by Olivia Rodrigo.

To take the trend a step further, we partnered with the founder herself, Mia Lind, to create Mia Lind’s Hot Girl Walk Playlist, a playlist with the best “hot girl walk” tracks to stream while hitting the pavement. “I curated this playlist to be a combination of songs that make me feel confident and pump me up no matter the time of day,” Mia told For the Record. “They are all upbeat to keep you at a good pace, and there are plenty of them so you never hear the same song twice!”

Hip-hop is a heavy hitter (and lifter)

For some Spotify fans, it wouldn’t be a new year without a new workout. And based on the data, we would guess hip-hop will remain a top choice for workout tunes in 2022. After all, in 2021, the genre reigned supreme when it came to fitness playlists. Some of the top tracks added to user-generated workout and fitness playlists to date include “Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton; “Numb / Encore” by JAY-Z and Linkin Park; “HUMBLE” by Kendrick Lamar; “Stronger” by Kanye West; and “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor.

Many workout regimens also feature “leg day”—and Spotify has the user-generated playlists to prove it. Top tracks include: “Anaconda” by Nicki Minaj; “WAP (feat Megan Thee Stallion)” by Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion; “Miss New Booty” by Bubba Sparxxx, Mr. Collipark, Ying Yang Twins; “Get Low” by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, Ying Yang Twins; and “Booty” by Jennifer Lopez, Iggy Azalea—which all are all helping to get glutes in gear.

To keep flexing in 2022, fitness and dance personality Joie Chavis brings the same energy to Joie Chavis’ Stronger You Playlist. “I always work out first thing in the a.m., so an upbeat playlist with my favorite music is a great way to wake myself up and start the day,” she explained.

Many minds are on mindfulness

Mindfulness, an important theme from 2021 is still important to listeners in the new year. Last year for World Mental Health Day, Spotify encouraged both listeners and employees to “take a beat” and “tune into yourself” with playlists in the Spotify At Home hub from mental health advocates Chelsea Cutler and WE THE URBAN.

And the data shows that Spotify users are doing just that—creating more than 402,000 self-care, mindfulness, and health and wellness-related playlists to date. Topping those tracklists are “Confident” by Demi Lovato, “Scars To Your Beautiful” by Alessia Cara, “Who Says” by Selena Gomez & The Scene, “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga, and “Rise Up” by Andra Day.

Podcasts are also inspiring new confidence and self-acceptance. The most popular shows worldwide to date are Unlocking Us with Brené Brown, The Mindset Mentor, On Purpose with Jay Shetty, The Self Love Fix, and Radio Headspace.

And trainer Jeanette Jenkins’s tracklist Jeanette Jenkins’ Stretch. Yoga. Playlist supports listeners as they stretch physically and mentally. “For the first 60 minutes of this playlist, I picked some of my favorite R&B, soul, and reggae songs with positive, uplifting lyrics and vibes that will put you in a great mood,” Jeanette explained. “The second half of this playlist is a compilation of some of my favorite instrumental Buddhattitude songs, which can help you release your mind and just be present in your body during your movement practice or meditation. It has the perfect ending—ocean waves and nature sounds—for a final kiss to your spirit and soul.”

Whether this year is all about building physical or mental strength or sticking with self-care, check out the Spotify At Home hub for mood-boosting mindfulness, fitness, and wellness playlists.

Spotify Empowers Employees To Make Every Day ‘World Mental Health Day’

October 12, 2020

The year 2020 has proven to be a unique one across the board, and especially so when it comes to managing one’s mental health. Discussing this topic is not new to Spotify: In 2018, we started “Heart & Soul,” a program committed to reducing the stigma around mental health within our company. Now, in the wake of the added global stressors this year, we’ve continued to enhance our initiatives to better support our employees’ mental and physical wellness.

At the core of our mental health initiatives is the belief that it is important to make consistent time for self and professional care, much like we do with exercising, nutrition, and other areas of our wellbeing. And while World Mental Health Day is a great reminder to continue to do this work, we are working to ensure we are also doing so year-round. 

Read more about the programs Spotify has implemented to assist employees with their mental health, today and every day.

These are Spotify’s Top Workout & Wellness Trends – Plus 2020 Predictions to Help Kick-Start Your Resolutions

December 31, 2019

As we enter the New Year—or better yet, new decade—there are endless ways to get on that fitness, wellness, or self-care resolution. Since there are plenty of songs, podcasts, and playlists dedicated to helping people achieve their wellness goals on Spotify, we took a look at how listeners have been using music and podcasts to stay on track. Plus, we made some predictions for what trends the new year will bring.

So, with more than 54 million workout-themed playlists on Spotify, what songs do listeners sweat to the most? Eminem’s “‘Till I Collapse” is the most-streamed track on workout lists at the moment. Ed Sheeran’s “I Don’t Care” with Justin Bieber is second highest, followed by Tones and I’s “Dance Monkey,” “If I Can’t Have You” by Shawn Mendes, and “Beautiful People” by Ed Sheeran and Khalid.

It turns out that our listeners have a particular workout preference—running. Spotify listeners around the world have created more running playlists than any other workout type. Yoga follows in popularity, so you can be sure listeners are staying flexible as well.

We found that people want to learn about wellness from podcasts, too. Listening in the fitness and wellness podcast genre increased 145% in the past year. Plus, listeners are falling asleep—and in love—with sleep podcasts. The most popular podcast in the health and fitness category is Sleepy, where host Otis Gray reads classic stories to help listeners doze off. Is this what sweet dreams are made of?

As for 2020 predictions, we have reason to believe there’s going to be more meditating than ever before. We saw a 113% increase in streams of meditation playlists in the past year, higher than any other workout or wellness type.

Plus, we feel self-love will continue to reign supreme, with pump-up empowerment anthems like Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next,” Lizzo’s “Good as Hell,” and Hailee Steinfeld’s “Love Myself,” popular on self-care playlists. These powerful women are here to say You’ve got this.

Keep up the motivation with even more workout and wellness trends:


Download the infographic here.

Get inspired by our Wellness hub or get your heart racing with Spotify’s most-followed workout playlist, Beast Mode.

The Perfect Podcasts to Help You Stay On Track This New Year

January 16, 2019

Need a podcast pep talk today? You’re not alone. We looked at streaming data for several motivational and self-improvement podcasts and found that these shows — focused on financial responsibility, career goal setting, and inspirational success stories — more than double in listening every Wednesday.

Sure, these shows saw average daily listening rise 40 percent from the last couple months in 2018 (similar to how everyone hits the gym in early January). But what’s different is that listening to motivational podcasts is a routine people actually return to every Wednesday when they need a little extra boost.

Want to improve your chances of keeping a New Year’s resolution that might otherwise fade by February? Check out one of the below shows. Wednesday listening optional.

How I Built This with Guy Raz 

On this popular NPR show, host Guy Raz interviews entrepreneurs—such as the founders of Slack and Rent The Runway—to get the stories behind their successes. A recurring theme: How to overcome several early failed endeavors.

Imagined Life

Imagined Life is a narrated show that tells an immersive story of how someone—such as Elon Musk or Elton John—has overcome incredible barriers to achieve success. Here’s the twist: You don’t find out who the subject is until the very end of the episode. Part story, part celebrity trivia, totally inspiring.

Secrets of Saving and Investing

https://open.spotify.com/show/2RNlxtQsaTM9LnWquf4uWL?si=7cLQb3M2QOOvuYUEwp05cg

If you indulged in a little too much holiday spending, January is the perfect time to get back on track with your financial goals. This new NPR podcast shares advice from financial experts to show how investing like a pro doesn’t have to be difficult or confusing.

RISE Podcast 

Author and motivational speaker Rachel Hollis interviews business leaders to elicit real-life takeaways and practical advice. The episode length varies from 15 minutes to over an hour, so you can get a boost of inspiration no matter how busy your schedule.

10% Happier with Dan Harris 

If you’re working on your wellness, don’t forget about your mental health. Former TV news personality Dan Harris learned this the hard way, when he had a panic attack on the air. Now, on the “10% Happier Podcast,” Harris talks with successful people about how to balance ambition with peace and happiness.

The School of Greatness

Former pro athlete Lewis Howes interviews successful business leaders, athletes, and celebrities to find out what it is that makes them great. It’s inspirational listening, no matter your goals.

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

For author Gretchen Rubin, happiness starts with good habits. In this podcast, Rubin shares practical, manageable advice to help you form a straightforward plan for an ambiguous goal.

The Tony Robbins Podcast 

As renowned motivational speaker Tony Robbins likes to say, “Why live an ordinary life when you can live an extraordinary one?” In this podcast, Robbins offers tips and tactics for your business, relationships, finances, and health.

Goal Digger

Is 2019 the year you design your dream job? Host Jenna Kutcher offers tips, business hacks, inspirational stories, and strategies to help you build a better career path.

 

Whether for midweek goal setting or weekend relaxation, find the right podcast category for you here.

Supporting the ‘Heart & Soul’ of Spotify

October 15, 2018

October marks Mental Health Awareness Month. At Spotify, we know it’s important not only to recognize this day, but to commit to the emotional health of our employees throughout the year. Mental health issues or addiction affect most of us at some point in life, either directly or through someone we love—sometimes even through the music and personal stories of our favorite artists.

Our goal at Spotify is to foster a culture of awareness, acceptance, sensitivity, and support around issues such as depression, anxiety, and addiction—a culture where we can all embrace our identities, look after ourselves and each other, thrive, and be our best.

Earlier this year, we launched Heart & Soul, a mental health initiative, to provide the best possible support for our employees and to promote deep knowledge about emotional well-being among all at Spotify.

It’s important to focus on mental health in all aspects of our lives—and even more so in the workplace. We spend 35 percent of our waking hours at work. That means the environment we work in matters to our emotional well-being. And if we’re dealing with mental health issues in our everyday lives, they follow us to the office.

While we can’t diagnose mental illness or recommend specific treatment options, a company like ours can take the initiative in building knowledge and reducing stigmas, creating a culture of acceptance, and encouraging better understanding of conditions, symptoms, and warning signs. We can also make sure our employees are trained in tools that support self-care.

Our Heart & Soul support network starts with our employees. We provide a wide range of training on subjects like inclusion, unconscious bias, and warning signs for substance abuse and how to support someone who suffers from it. We not only want to erase the stigma surrounding mental health, but wish to enable people to recognize when someone is in need and how to offer tools and treatment—whether that’s through the self-care activities that we offer or by seeking professional help.

Leading the way are our Heart & Soul ambassadors, employees from all over the organization who work to engage others and help all employees feel included in our wellness vision. Ambassadors promote emotional fitness, drive awareness, and build community while providing us with a ground-level perspective that will help our initiative grow and improve. They also lead the way in assembling our self-care database, a resource our employees can access whenever they need it.

Every day we pave our way in music, culture, and technology—and we want to do the same for the health of our employees. That means fostering a holistic environment that erases stigma and promotes understanding so we can each bring our whole selves to work. Wellness is key for all of us to thrive in the long term, and it is our duty to help everyone feel supported.