The year is very nearly over, which means it’s that time again where Spotify digs through all your listening habits and figures out what was blasting in all our headphones while we chewed through the year. After last year’s semi-surprising result that saw Ed Sheeran top the polls as the most most-streamed artist in the world, 2018 has very much been the year for rap, hip-hop, and RnB.
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Leading the charge across both Australia and the world is Drake, returning to his throne atop the streaming charts after Ed Sheeran snuck in last year. His album, Scorpion also scored him the top spot globally and #2 in Aus, and ‘God’s Plan‘ took out the gong for most-streamed track both in Aus and across the globe. Safe to say that Kiki, and everyone else, loves the world’s thirstiest man.
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Following up Drake on the streaming platform’s yearly artist charts are Post Malone and Khalid in Australia, which definitely confirms that hiphop is having it’s golden moment right now. Ed Sheeran has come in fifth on both local and global charts – how the mighty have fallen.
‘Youngblood‘ by Aussie lads 5 Seconds Of Summer joins Posty’s ‘rockstar‘ as the second and third runners-up for most streamed track globally behind Drake, which is a huge effort from the boys from Blacktown.
Back home, 5SOS have taken out the top spot for most-streamed Aussie artist, with Sia and Vance Joy hot on their tails. Which says to me that we were clearly not listening to enough Savage Garden (who yes, are now finally on Spotify thank you very much) for them to even get a blip on that top ten, which is a god damned outrage. Next year, Darren Hayes. Next year we’ll get you on that list.
Ariana Grande lead the charge for the dangerous women who were most heard in 2018 both globally and in our backyards, with Dua Lipa chasing the top spot and Cardi B coming in third worldwide. In Aus, Taylor Swift came in as the second most streamed woman, with Dua Lipa in third.
When it comes to groups, BTS broke ground as the highest K-pop collective streamed across the world – they came in second behind Imagine Dragons and had Maroon 5 following in third. If anything, this proves the power of both a solid group with incredible influence and a music community that is continuously expanding, blurring the lines between western and eastern creative worlds.
And the genres that saw the most growth in 2018? Unsurprisingly, Emo-rap took out the top spot, thanks to rappers and artists like Lil Peep, Lil Pump, Lil Uzi Vert, Princess Nokia, Young Thug, ITSOKAYTOCRY, and JuiceWRLD.
Other genres that got a huge boost from streaming include Lo-fi Beats (essentially this year’s vapourwave), Deep Talent Show (???), Brega Funk (probably sparked by ‘Despacito‘), and Ringtone – one which I’m still not 100% sure how and or why that’s happened.
