Just like last year, Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny will also be the most streamed artist on Spotify internationally in 2021, with more than 9.1 billion streams, the company announced on Wednesday. Reggaeton and Latin pop music remain incredibly popular worldwide. In Spotify’s five most popular playlists, in addition to two general charts (Today’s Top Hits and Global Top 50) and hip-hop playlist RapCaviar, two lists that focus entirely on Latin pop and club music follow: Viva Latino (11.4 million followers) and Baila Reggaeton ( 10.3).
National rap remains popular in the Netherlands,
just like previous years
The most streamed act of last year is also doing well in 2021 in the Netherlands. Rapper singer Snelle set the most-streamed album this year (Lars) and number (‘Keep Sleeping’) with Maan – to his name. Snelle broke through in 2019 as a rapper with a fresh, casual style, but quickly transformed, with great success, into a singer of the more melancholy Dutch song.
In the Netherlands, national rap remains popular, just like in previous years. In the Top 10 of most listened to artists are – in addition to Snelle – six rappers: Kevin, Frenna, Lil Kleine, Ronnie Flex, Lijpe and Josylvio. But the most streamed musician in the Netherlands in 2021 was Justin Bieber, who released his hit album justice released.
The most listened to homegrown musician was rapper Kevin. Not a single woman is in the Top 10 – the most streamed female artist in the Netherlands in 2021 was Dua Lipa.
Read this interview with Snelle & Thomas Acda: ‘I have now learned to say a lot with few words’
Rodrigo
The most successful pop debutant of 2021 was Olivia Rodrigo worldwide and in the Netherlands. Her debut single, released in January, power ballad ‘drivers license’, is the most played song of 2021, with more than 1.1 billion streams. In the Netherlands it was number 1 for six weeks. Olivia Rodrigo has two songs in the Top 5 of most streamed songs in the Netherlands.
Worldwide, Taylor Swift’s streaming success is also striking, she will be the most streamed woman worldwide in 2021, and the most listened to pop artist after international number 1 Bad Bunny. Swift released the first two of six older albums that she is re-recording this year. After her former record label, Big Machine, sold the rights to her original master tapes out of her hands, Swift decided to re-record her older albums as “Taylor’s Version” – reclaiming ownership of her music with those re-recordings full of outtakes and bonus material.
The huge success of Adele – who broke the record for most streams in one week two weeks ago with comeback single ‘Easy On Me’ from her new album 30 – came too late for a prominent role in the annual review.
Read this portrait of Bad Bunny: Figurehead of a new generation
Promote
The annual figures of Spotify, the market leader among music streaming services with more than 381 million monthly active users and 172 million paying subscribers in 184 countries, give a good picture of the national and international success of pop music in 2021. Artists such as Bad Bunny, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift and Snel extremely successful.
Some nuance in the numbers is in order. For example, Spotify itself plays an active role in promoting specific artists and genres, such as national and international rap and Latin pop – for example via the aforementioned playlists that the company compiles, and with large audience campaigns. Also, songs that clearly belong to a clearly defined popular genre have the best chance of ending up in the heavily promoted major playlists.
Traditionally, Spotify also announces more specific figures with the year-end overview. For example, all subscribers receive an overview of the songs and genres they have listened to the most, and artists receive an overview of how their music has performed in 2021. This sometimes yields interesting insights. This is how hip-hop magazine shared XXL the figures of the continued streaming success of the rapper XXXTentacion, who was murdered in 2018 at the age of 20, whose music this year Streamed 3.3 billion times by 48 million listeners in 178 countries.
Africa
Launched in 2008, Spotify is not available or equally popular in all countries, affecting the most streamed artists and genres. Europe, the United States and South America are currently the regions with the most listeners and subscribers. In one for modern pop music crucial market like Nigeria is Spotify for example, only active since this spring. The most streamed artists of 2021 there are the also worldwide extremely popular and influential homegrown superstars Wizkid and Burna Boy.
Spotify’s ‘Wrapped Up’ Reviews offer a fascinating insight into regional trends and preferences. For example, in South Africa, where the service has been live since spring 2018, the top 5 most streamed national artists in 2021 completely from acts that make amapiano – jazzy and relaxed pulsating club music from the region that is now eagerly picked up by DJs worldwide. The second most streamed song in South Africa in 2021 was by a Dutchman: ‘The Business’ by Tiësto.
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