Spotify Shares Most Streamed Artists, Podcasts Of 2022: Who Were The Winners, Who Could Win In 2023 And How Did A Hit Streaming Show Play A Part?

Streaming platform Spotify Technology SPOT is sharing data from 2022.

Here’s a look at the top musicians and podcasts for the year and which companies could be the big winners.

Related Link: Spotify Wants You To Buy Concert Tickets While You're Listening To Music

What Happened: Bad Bunny topped the list of most streamed artists for the third straight year. Taylor Swift, an artist so popular that she recently crashed the servers of the ticketing platform Ticketmaster and drew attention to potential antitrust concerns for Live Nation Entertainment LYV, came in second.

Drake, The Weeknd and BTS ranked third, fourth and fifth respectively. BTS, K-pop superstars, will go on a hiatus from music to fulfill military duties.

Here's a breakdown of Spotify's findings:

Most Viral Artists

1. Taylor Swift
2. The Weeknd
3. Bad Bunny
4. BTS
5. Lana Del Rey

Top Global Songs

• Harry Styles, “As It Was”
• Glass Animals, “Heat Wave”
• The Kid LAROI, Justin Bieber, “Stay”
• Bad Bunny, “Me Porto Bonito”
• Bad Bunny, “Titi Me Pregunto”

Top Global Albums

1. Bad Bunny, “Un Verano Sin Ti”
2. Harry Styles, “Harry’s House”
3. Olivia Rodrigo, “SOUR”
4. Ed Sheeran, “=”
5. Doja Cat, “Planet Her”

Top Albums in U.S.

1. Bad Bunny, “Un Verano Sin Ti”
2. Harry Styles, “Harry’s House”
3. Morgan Wallen, “Dangerous: The Double Album”
4. Taylor Swift, “Midnights”
5. Olivia Rodrigo, “SOUR”

Top Podcasts

1. The Joe Rogan Experience
2. Call Her Daddy
3. Anything Goes With Emma Chamberlain
4. Caso 63 (All Languages)
5. Crime Junkie

Why It’s Important And What’s Next: A look at the top albums shows the list split between several of the largest record companies.

• “Harry’s House” and "Planet Her" came from units of Sony Group Corp SONY.
• “Sour,” “Dangerous” and “Midnights” all came from units of Universal Music Group UNVGY.
• Sheeran’s “=” came from Atlantic, a unit of Warner Music Group WMG.

As for the top throwback albums, there were featured albums from Eminem and Dr. Dre among the top five most streamed. Both musicians were Super Bowl halftime performers in 2022. 

Rihanna could also see an uplift in streams thanks to her hosting the 2023 Super Bowl — the first halftime show with Apple Inc AAPL as a sponsor.

Another throwback list showed “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush as the most streamed song. The song, released 20 years ago, was featured in an episode of “Stranger Things,” the hit Netflix Inc NFLX show.

The release of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” led to a 4,000% increase in streams for a playlist related to the movie. The movie and soundtrack come from Walt Disney Company DIS.

Going forward in 2023, Spotify trends are likely to show top albums from the three leading music companies, songs related to streaming shows like Stranger Things and some throwback songs from Rihanna. 

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