If you’ve been paying attention in 2020, then Spotify’s top five most streamed artists in the world won’t really come as a surprise — but the order might. Where R&B and rap artists like The Weekend and Drake have been repping for Canada in the streaming world for years, this time those two Canadian titans took a backseat. In 2020, it was Bad Bunny’s year. Based on his prolific output alone — not one, not two, but three new albums — the man born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio might’ve had a leg up. Then again, if there wasn’t millions of people streaming his music, he wouldn’t be beating a gargantuan artist like Drake.
In the same week that a song predominantly sung in Korean became a No. 1 hit, Bad Bunny surpassed two English-speaking superstars to win out in streams, proving once and for all that mainstream audiences are more than ready to embrace music without English lyrics. Of course, they’re still listening to mostly men. The top five included Bad Bunny at number one, followed by Drake, J Balvin, Juice WRLD and then The Weeknd. No female artists were in the top five, although Billie Eilish led the field when just looking at female artists, followed right after by Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande, then Dua Lipa and Halsey. Remember, this is just on Spotify, so it could be that Taylor and Ari fans love Apple Music? Or maybe they’re buying physical copies.
Check out all the global trends for Spotify Wrapped 2020 right here.
Some artists covered are Warner Music artists. .
