Continuing its 7-year-long tradition, Spotify released Spotify Wrapped 2023 on Nov. 29. This popular event allows for Spotify members to see an overview of their top songs, artists, and genres with data accumulated over the entire year. However, the data from 2023 especially has proved to be different from past years, with the top artist leaderboard greatly fluctuating.
By far the most iconic thing seen in this year’s Spotify Wrapped is Taylor Swift’s dominance as the Most Listened to Artist on Spotify this year. Whereas in the past three years, the title of first place had been dominated by Bad Bunny (who finished second this year), Taylor Swift had a record-breaking 26.1 billion global streams in 2023. Further down the list in third is The Weeknd who, while having a quiet year release-wise, still managed to be one of the most popular artists of 2023. Furthermore, at fourth is Drake whose recent album, “For All the Dogs,” played a big part in his feature in the leaderboard. Not surprisingly, at fifth is 2023 viral sensation, Peso Pluma who found himself a top streamed artist at the age of 24 years.
Unlike the top artists of 2023, the top songs did not change much since last year. Nevertheless, finishing first was “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, a viral song about her divorce with actor Liam Hemsworth. On the other hand, the second most streamed song was SZA’s “Kill Bill” which, although released in 2022, proved a long-lasting hit with Spotify listeners. Similarly, “As it Was” by Harry Styles placed in third despite also being released last year. Further down the list at fourth is Jung Kook’s song, “Seven,” featuring Latto, which saw great success while becoming one of the fastest songs to a billion streams in Spotify history on its path to becoming one of the most popular songs of the year. Last but not least, the fifth most listened-to song according to Spotify Wrapped 2023 was shared by Latin stars, Establon Armando and Peso Pluma on their hit track, “Ella Baila Sola.”
Spotify Wrapped’s top genres of the year reflected present-day culture and trends. For example, since Taylor Swift was the most popular artist of the year, naturally the most popular genre was her main genre, pop. Also, genres like Electronic Dance Music, which are not very popular in Western culture, still finished the year as the second-most streamed genre thanks to its immense fame in Southeast Asia. In third is a genre more popular in the West, rap, which has been separated from hip-hop over time but still made up a 14% share of music streaming on Spotify. The fourth-most popular genre of 2023 was surprisingly, rock, mostly due to the fact that many classic rock hits released in the past are still frequently listened to today. Finally, in fifth (thanks to the rise of Peso Pluma, Carol G, and others as well as the consistent success of Bad Bunny) is Urbano Latino, which increased by an amazing 176% in streams from last year.
Spotify’s 2023 summary pointed out changes in the music scene, with Taylor Swift in the lead, familiar top tunes, and various genres mirroring global trends. Newcomers like Peso Pluma and the rise of Urbano Latino demonstrate Spotify’s role in promoting emerging talents. Essentially, it emphasizes music’s ongoing influence in shaping and reflecting cultural shifts.
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