Spotify announced on Wednesday (November 29) that Taylor Swift is its 2023 global top artist, with over 26.1 billion global streams on the app since January 1.
She unseated Bad Bunny, who came second this year after holding the top spot for three years in a row.
In its 2023 Wrapped report, the music streaming service revealed that the singer had a dominating presence in all musical lists.
"Cruel Summer" and "Anti-Hero" were the top six and ten songs globally this year, respectively, while "MIdnights" and "Lover" were ranked second and seventh top albums globally.
"Reimagined rereleases, record-breaking world tours, and colorful friendship bracelets-fans everywhere will be thrilled to see Taylor Swift as this year's top artist, with more than 26.1 billion global streams since January 1," Spotify said in a press release.
Swift was also named the US top artist on Spotify, with "Cruel Summer" and "Anti-Hero" also making it to the US top 10 list.
Meanwhile, "Midnights," "Lover," and "Folklore" were included in the top 10 most-streamed albums in the US market.
Other Winners
Several other musical artists and podcasters were highlighted in Spotify's annual list.
The Weeknd, Drake, Peso Pluma, Feid, Travis Scott, SZA, KAROL G, and Lana Del Rey complete the global top 10 artists.
"Flowers" by Miley Cyrus - which was a paraphrase of Bruno Mars's 2012 hit "When I Was Your Man" and an alleged break-up song for ex-husband Liam Hemsworth - topped the global top 10 songs. Other songs that made it to the top 10 include "Kill Bill" by SZA, and "As It Was" by Swift's ex-boyfriend Harry Styles.
"Midnights" was only bested by Bad Bunny's "Un Verano Sin Ti" ("A Summer Without You") in the global top 10 albums streamed on Spotify, while SZA's "SOS" came third this year.
As for podcasts, The Joe Rogan Experience and "Call Her Daddy" by Alex Cooper remained in the top two spots globally and in the US for the second year in a row.
Meanwhile, The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast was also included in the global top 25 podcasts on the platform, only outranking the Spotify original podcast "Conspiracy Theories." Peterson fared slightly better in the US list when it was listed 23rd out of 25.
Variety reported that "New Heights," the podcast involving Swift's current boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason, was the top-streamed global sports podcast.
2023 Musical Trends
Spotify further reported that a slew of pop genres from all over the world have risen to the occasion and were not only dominating their traditional regions but have also been listened to by other people across the world.
"Gen Z continues to embrace the genreless/genre-hybrid trend, refusing to be defined by only one genre, and instead moving seamlessly between sounds," the platform said. "They also embrace moods, looking for playlists and songs that best describe the mood or moment they're in."
In particular, Colombian listeners have been keen on listening to the music of their Mexican cousins, making Colombia the "fifth-largest consumer of Mexican music in 2023," with an 85% increase in its consumption year-on-year.
Spotify also observed an unprecedented increase in listeners of Indian classical music, Afrobeats, and Mandopop.
In 2023, Spotify also observed hit searches that highlighted each month of the year, including the Rihanna hype in the aftermath of this year's Super Bowl, pickleball, Tomato Girl Summer, "girl dinner," and the Roman Empire, as well as movies like Disney's live-action version of "The Little Mermaid" and the Greta Gerwig film "Barbie."
Full details of Spotify's 2023 Wrapped report can be found here.
