'Tis the season to unpack Spotify Wrapped. And it should come as no surprise that for a second year in a row, Taylor Swift has been named its most-played artist.
On Wednesday (overnight in Australia), the streaming giant unveiled its 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's followed by The Weeknd, Bad Bunny, Drake and Billie Eilish, in that order.
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Taylor Swift, pictured here during The Eras Tour in November, is once again Spotify's most-streamed artist. (AP)In the United States, the list looks similar: It's Swift in the top spot, followed by Drake, Zach Bryan, Morgan Wallen and Kanye West.
Last year, Swift dethroned Puerto Rican reggaetón 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's followed by Eilish's Hit Me Hard and Soft, Sabrina Carpenter's Short n' Sweet, Karol G's Mañana Será Bonito and Ariana Grande's eternal sunshine.
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All of those titles are new to 2024 with the exception of Karol G's album, which released early last year.
In the United States, there are only slight differences: Swift's album still leads, followed by Wallen's One Thing At A Time – released last year. Then it's Carpenter, Noah Kahan's Stick Season, and Chappell Roan's The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, also released in 2023.
Carpenter leads the most-streamed songs both in the United States and globally this year, with her summertime smash Espresso. It earned more than 1.6 billion streams.
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Globally, she's 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 United States, she's 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 individualized 'Your Top Artist' feature has changed slightly, too, and now includes 'Longest Listening Streak' as well as the familiar 'Top Listeners'.
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The Weeknd is the second most-streamed artist in the world. (Naomi Rahim/Getty Images for Live Nation)On social media, some Spotify users complained that Wrapped, which undergoes design changes every year, was minimalist this year, missing previous features like 'Top Cities,' 'Audio Auras' and 'Top Genres.'
The new 'Your Music Evolution' feature, however, provides users with individual, created micro-genres for some months of listening.
A representative for Spotify did not provide a statement.
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That the biggest artists, globally, earned top spots on Spotify Wrapped should come as no surprise – they're 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 over 180 markets.
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