Spotify’s Top Songs, Artists, Playlists and Podcasts of 2018 are published in a blog posting by the streamer and once again Hip-hop dominated its charts. Music lovers continued with some existing favourites, such as 2015 and 2016’s most-streamed artist, Drake, who took home the crown once again this year. With 8.2 billion streams in 2018 alone, the Canadian rapper is now Spotify’s most-streamed artist of all time. His album “Scorpion” and song “God’s Plan” took the top slots in their categories – with “God’s Plan” bringing in more than 1 billion streams.
Ariana Grande’s 48 million plus monthly listeners raised her to the position of Spotify’s most-streamed female artist, following in the footsteps of three-time winner Rihanna. She dropped major hits throughout the year, including her fourth album, “Sweetener” and her latest single “thank u, next” (over 220 million streams).
Hip-hop dominated Spotify’s charts in 2018, but Latin music continued its rapid growth. This year, three Latin artists—J Balvin, Ozuna and Bad Bunny—landed on the top-10 most-streamed artists list, while last year, Daddy Yankee was the only Spanish-speaking artist to reach the top 10. Dominican-American singer Cardi B, the third-most-streamed female artist of 2018, and Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello, the fifth-most-streamed, are also representing their Latin heritage through music. The genre is making its mark in playlists, with both ¡Viva Latino! and Baila Reggaeton finishing the year as Spotify’s third-and fourth-most-followed playlists.
Spotify added more podcasts to its growing selection, bringing the total episodes available to almost 7 million. Listeners have enjoyed top podcasts like “The Joe Budden Podcast,” as well as “Amy Schumer Presents: 3 Girls, 1 Keith” and Spotify’s “Dissect,” which offers a deep-dive analysis of popular music albums. The most popular topics are crime-and-mystery podcasts, such as “My Favourite Murder,” “Crime Junkie,” and “Crimetown.”
Most-Streamed Artists
Drake is the world’s most-streamed artist, with more than 8.2 billion streams this year. J Balvin, who made his top-five debut, had multiple hits on our global chart, such as “X” (with Nicky Jam) and “I Like It” (with Cardi B).
*Ed Sheeran was the top-streamed artist in 2017
Most-Streamed Female Artists
Spotify’s top-streamed female artist, Ariana Grande, released her hotly-anticipated fourth album, “Sweetener,” in August. She had a momentous year with numerous charting singles, including her latest smash “thank u, next.” Grande’s music streamed more than 3 billion times in 2018.
Most-Streamed Tracks
While it was the summer of “In My Feelings,” Drake’s track “God’s Plan” was actually the most-streamed song of 2018. Post Malone also scored two songs on this list with both “rockstar (feat. 21 Savage)” and “Psycho (feat. Ty Dolla $ign).”
rockstar (feat. 21 Savage) – Post Malone
Psycho (feat. Ty Dolla $ign) – Post Malone
Most-Streamed Artist Albums
Drake’s “Scorpion” was released on June 29, and before long was racking up 10 million streams an hour. Dua Lipa’s self-titled debut album also had a stellar year, and Ed Sheeran’s 2017 album “÷” made the top five as well.
beerbongs & bentleys – Post Malone
*Ed Sheeran’s ÷ was the top album in 2017
Most-Streamed Groups
Imagine Dragons is Spotify’s most-streamed group for 2018, but K-pop sensation BTS also enjoyed plenty of global listening. Maroon 5 and Migos come in third and fourth, and Coldplay took fifth.
* Coldplay was 2017’s most-streamed group
Most-Followed Playlists
Today’s Top Hits is 2018’s most popular playlist with 22 million followers. Rounding out the top five is Songs to Sing in the Car, with Beyoncé’s “Halo,” and Camila Cabello’s “Havana” as the top two songs people are belting on their road trips.
Most-Streamed Exclusive Spotify Podcasts
The Joe Budden Podcast with Rory & Mal
Amy Schumer Presents: 3 Girls, 1 Keith
Most-Streamed Podcast Genres
Crime and Mystery
Comedy
News & Politics
Health
Arts
