Women dominated the year in music, Spotify has confirmed, as it unveils the most-streamed artists, songs and albums of the past 12 months.
As the streaming platform launched its annual Wrapped event, in which subscribers can see a personalised roundup of their listening habits, it also named the artists who racked up the biggest numbers.
Unsurprisingly, Taylor Swift claimed the title of both Global and UK top artist for the second year running, achieving more than 26.6 billion streams thanks to the release of her Grammy-nominated album, The Tortured Poets Department.
Released in April, the US pop star’s record-breaking 11th studio album featured several different editions, including an “anthology” of 31 tracks, most of which have surpassed 100 million streams each.
Swift has also made headlines throughout 2024 with her Eras tour, a career-spanning series of shows that has seen her perform to millions of fans around the world.
Meanwhile Sabrina Carpenter, who released her breakthrough sixth album Short ‘n Sweet this year, topped the global songs chart with her catchy single “Espresso”.
All five of the biggest-streamed albums were by women, including Swift’s and Carpenter’s records at number one and three, respectively. Billie Eilish’s third album Hit Me Hard and Soft was the second biggest album of the year on Spotify, with Colombian singer Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito fourth and Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine fifth.
In the UK, too, Swift was the most-streamed artist of the year. Canadian hip-hop star Drake easily nabbed the number two spot despite his controversial legal action against Spotify and Universal Music Group, in which he accuses UMG of campaigning to artificially inflate streams of his rival Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us”. UMG has branded the allegations “offensive and untrue”.
Following Swift and Drake in the top five were Kanye West, Billie Eilish and The Weeknd. However, when it came to the most popular songs in the UK, music fans evidently had a taste for male singer-songwriters: folk artist Noah Kahan triumphed at number one with his breakthrough single “Stick Season”, joined by Benson Boon’s “Beautiful Things at number three, Hozier’s “Too Sweet” at number four and Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control”, with Carpenter as the only woman in the top five thanks to “Espresso”.
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When it came to podcasts, the controversial Joe Rogan Experience – which in 2022 prompted Neil Young to quit the streaming service as he accused Rogan of spreading disinformation about the Covid vaccine – took the number one spot on the global chart for the fifth consecutive year. Rogan’s podcast was followed by Call Her Daddy at number two, Huberman Lab at number three, This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von at number four, and The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett at number five.
Spotify has also begun collating data for the biggest authors and audiobooks on the platform, along with its most-streamed podcasts. This year, A Court of Thorns and Roses fantasy author Sara J Maas topped the list, followed by Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien and horror master Stephen King.
UK Most-Streamed Artists
1. Taylor Swift
2. Drake
3. Kanye West
4. Billie Eilish
5. The Weeknd
6. Eminem
7. Sabrina Carpenter
8. Rihanna
9. Travis Scott
10. Noah Kahan
US Most-Streamed Artists
1. Taylor Swift
2. Drake
3. Zach Bryan
4. Morgan Wallen
5. Kanye West
6. Future
7. Kendrick Lamar
8. Travis Scott
9. The Weeknd
10. Metro Boomin’
Most-Streamed Artists Globally
1. Taylor Swift
2. The Weeknd
3. Bad Bunny
4. Drake
5. Billie Eilish
6. Travis Scott
7. Peso Pluma
8. Kanye West
9. Ariana Grande
10. Feid
UK Most-Streamed Songs
1. “Stick Season” by Noah Kahan
2. “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter
3. “Beautiful Things” by Benson Boone
4. “Too Sweet” by Hozier
5. “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims
6. “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” by Billie Eilish
7. “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan
8. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey
9. “Please Please Please” by Sabrina Carpenter
10. “Austin (Boots Stop Workin’)” by Dasha
US Most-Streamed Songs
1. “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter
2. “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar
3. “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey
4. “I Had Some Help (feat Morgan Wallen)” by Post Malone
5. “MILLION DOLLAR BABY” by Tommy Richman
6. “Good Luck, Babe” by Chappell Roan
7. “Beautiful Things” by Benson Boone
8. “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” by Billie Eilish
9. “I Remember Everything (feat Kacey Musgraves)” by Zach Bryan
10. “Stick Season” by Noah Kahan
Most-Streamed Songs Globally
1. “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter
2. “Beautiful Things” by Benson Boone
3. “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” by Billie Eilish
4. “Gata Only” by FloyyMenor, Cris Mj
5. “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims
6. “End of Beginning” by Djo
7. “Too Sweet” by Hozier
8. “One Of The Girls with JENNIE, Lily Rose Depp)” by The Weeknd
9. “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift
10. “Die With A Smile” by Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga
UK Most-Streamed Albums
1. THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY by Taylor Swift
2. Short n’ Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter
3. Stick Season by Noah Kahan
4. HIT ME HARD AND SOFT by Billie Eilish
5. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift
6. Fireworks & Rollerblades by Benson Boone
7. The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess by Chappell Roan
8. GUTS by Olivia Rodrigo
9. Lover by Taylor Swift
10. eternal sunshine by Ariana Grande
US Most-Streamed Albums
1. THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY by Taylor Swift
2. One Thing At A Time by Morgan Wallen
3. Short n’ Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter
4. Stick Season by Noah Kahan
5. The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess by Chappell Roan
6. Hit Me Hard and Soft by Billie Eilish
7. SOS by SZA
8. Dangerous: The Double Album by Morgan Wallen
9. Zach Bryan by Zach Bryan
10. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift
Most-Streamed Albums Globally
1. THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY by Taylor Swift
2. HIT ME HARD AND SOFT by Billie Eilish
3. Short n’ Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter
4. MAÑANA SERÁ BONITO by Karol G
5. eternal sunshine by Ariana Grande
6. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift
7. SOS by SZA
8. Lover by Taylor Swift
9. Fireworks & Rollerblades by Benson Boone
10. Starboy by The Weeknd
UK Top Podcasts
1. The Joe Rogan Experience
2. The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
3. The Rest Is Football
4. The Rest Is Politics
5. The Rest Is History
6. The Louis Theroux Podcast
7. Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster
8. The Rest Is Entertainment
9. Parenting Hell with Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe
10. Call Her Daddy
US Top Podcasts
1. The Joe Rogan Experience
2. Call Her Daddy
3. This Past Weekend w/Theo Von
4. Crime Junkie
5. The Daily
6. The Tucker Carlson Show
7. Huberman Lab
8. Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
9. Smosh Reads Reddit Stories
10. Shawn Ryan Show
Top Podcasts Globally:
1. The Joe Rogan Experience
2. Call Her Daddy
3. Huberman Lab
4. This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von
5. The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
6. Serial Killers
7. Relatos de la Noche
8. Crime Junkie
9. Café Com Deus Pai | Podcast oficial
10. El Podcast de Marian Rojas Estapé
UK Top Audiobooks
1. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken
3. Politics On the Edge by Rory Stewart
4. Spare by Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex
5. A Game of Thrones (Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) by George R.R. Martin
6. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
7. Unruly by David Mitchell
8. And Away… by Bob Mortimer
9. How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie
10. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
US Top Audiobooks
1. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
2. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
3. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
4. It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
5. The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
6. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R. R. Tolkien
7. A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
8. Icebreaker: A Novel by Hannah Grace
9. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
10. Funny Story by Emily Henry
Spotify users can now access their personalised 2024 Wrapped Experience via the Spotify mobile app (iOS and Android), provided it has been updated to the latest version. New features include the “Longest Listening Streak”, where fans can see the artist they enjoyed for the longest period, as well as learning if they landed in the coveted “one per cent” of an artist or band’s top listeners.
