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Relive your year in music with Spotify Wrapped 2018

Source: Supplied
Source: Supplied

From the first song you streamed at 12:01 a.m. on January 1 to the year’s hottest Spotify Single and everything in between, much of your year has been defined by what you listened to. Whether you celebrated the best football moments from the world cup with the sounds of “We Are the Champions,” or paid musical tribute to legends Aretha Franklin and Hugh Masekela, your highs and lows are neatly recorded. So as you reflect on the past year, Spotify’s Wrapped is here to look back—and listen—with you.

For the first time in South Africa, Wrapped allows you to rediscover and share the music and podcasts that formed your personal soundtrack in 2018. Enter the site to enjoy a customised, interactive experience based on the music you’ve listened to this year.

For example, you can guess, then check, how many total minutes you streamed. Explore the number of new artists you discovered, your most-played songs and artists, and your top genres—and then share your results to your Instagram, Twitter and Facebook feeds with your personal Wrapped share card. Spotify Premium users will get to go a little deeper, with access to additional insights about their year in listening.

After previewing their Wrapped, users will also be able to enjoy Tastebreakers, a personalised playlist that introduces you to new music from genres and artists you don’t normally explore—but ones that your personal taste profile hints that you’ll like.

Premium users also stand a chance to see their share card up in lights. If your Wrapped share card is worthy, submit it on the Wrapped site and it could be featured on billboards in key iconic locations around the world, including NYC’s Times Square, London's Piccadilly Circus, and more.

And the fun doesn’t stop there. With the launch of 2018 Artist Wrapped, we’re tipping our hats to artists too—giving them access to their own individualized Wrapped microsite. Artists and their teams can enjoy facts about fan listening throughout the year, including most popular songs by month, total fan hours streamed, how many fans they’ve gained this year, and more. By logging in to Spotify for Artists, any artist can discover how their music connected with fans across the globe—as long as they had music on Spotify and at least three listeners before October 31.

Who was your top artist of 2018? To find out, go to spotify.com/2018. Then, relive the best of your favourite artists and albums in a personalised playlist, or browse through the most-streamed songs and artists this year here. Whether your top genre of 2018 was hip-hop, alternative rock, country, or ASMR, all we can say is: That’s a wrap.

*In all markets except the Middle East and North Africa

The Top Songs, Artists, Playlists, and Podcasts of 2018

So, what did the world listen to in 2018?

Music lovers continued with some existing favourites, such as 2015 and 2016’s most-streamed artist, Drake, who took home the crown once again this year. With 8.2 billion streams in 2018 alone, the Canadian rapper is now our most-streamed artist of all time. His album “Scorpion” and song “God’s Plan” took the top slots in their categories—with “God’s Plan” bringing in more than 1 billion streams.

Outside of the reigning favourites, some chart-breaking stars also reached the top. Ariana Grande’s 48 million plus monthly listeners raised her to the position of Spotify’s most-streamed female artist, following in the footsteps of three-time winner Rihanna. She dropped major hits throughout the year, including her fourth album, “Sweetener” and her latest single “thank u, next” (over 220 million streams).

Hip-hop dominated Spotify’s charts in 2018, but Latin music continued its rapid growth. This year, three Latin artists—J Balvin, Ozuna and Bad Bunny—landed on the top-10 most-streamed artists list, while last year, Daddy Yankee was the only Spanish-speaking artist to reach the top 10. Dominican-American singer Cardi B, the third-most-streamed female artist of 2018, and Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello, the fifth-most-streamed, are also representing their Latin heritage through music. The genre is making its mark in playlists, with both ¡Viva Latino! and Baila Reggaeton finishing the year as Spotify’s third-and fourth-most-followed playlists.

In 2018, we also added more podcasts to our growing selection, bringing the total episodes available to almost 7 million. Listeners have enjoyed top podcasts like “The Joe Budden Podcast,” as well as “Amy Schumer Presents: 3 Girls, 1 Keith” and Spotify’s “Dissect,” which offers a deep-dive analysis of popular music albums. The most popular topics are crime-and-mystery podcasts, such as “My Favorite Murder,” “Crime Junkie,” and “Crimetown.”

 

Spotify’s Global Top Lists 2018:

Most-Streamed Artists

Drake is the world’s most-streamed artist, with more than 8.2 billion streams this year. J Balvin, who made his top-five debut, had multiple hits on our global chart, such as “X” (with Nicky Jam) and “I Like It” (with Cardi B).

1. Drake

2. Post Malone

3. XXXTENTACION

4. J Balvin

5. Ed Sheeran*

*Ed Sheeran was the top-streamed artist in 2017

 

Most-Streamed Female Artists

Spotify’s top-streamed female artist, Ariana Grande, released her hotly-anticipated fourth album, “Sweetener,” in August. She had a momentous year with numerous charting singles, including her latest smash “thank u, next.” Grande’s music streamed more than 3 billion times in 2018.  

1. Ariana Grande

2. Dua Lipa

3. Cardi B

4. Taylor Swift

5. Camila Cabello

 

Most-Streamed Tracks

While it was the summer of “In My Feelings,” Drake’s track “God’s Plan” was actually the most-streamed song of 2018. Post Malone also scored two songs on this list with both “rockstar (feat. 21 Savage)” and “Psycho (feat. Ty Dolla $ign).”

1. God’s Plan – Drake

2. SAD! – XXXTENTACION

3. rockstar (feat. 21 Savage) – Post Malone

4. Psycho (feat. Ty Dolla $ign) – Post Malone

5. In My Feelings – Drake

 

Most-Streamed Artist Albums

Drake’s “Scorpion” was released on June 29, and before long was racking up 10 million streams an hour. Dua Lipa’s self-titled debut album also had a stellar year, and Ed Sheeran’s 2017 album “÷” made the top five as well.

1. Scorpion – Drake

2. beerbongs & bentleys – Post Malone

3. ? – XXXTENTACION

4. Dua Lipa – Dua Lipa

5. ÷ – Ed Sheeran*

*Ed Sheeran’s ÷ was the top album in 2017

Most-Streamed Groups*

Imagine Dragons is Spotify’s most-streamed group for 2018, but K-pop sensation BTS also enjoyed plenty of global listening. Maroon 5 and Migos come in third and fourth, and Coldplay took fifth.

1. Imagine Dragons

2. BTS

3. Maroon 5

4. Migos

5. Coldplay**

*Must have three or more members

** Coldplay was 2017’s most-streamed group


Most-Followed Playlists

Today’s Top Hits is 2018’s most popular playlist. It’s the best place to go to find out what’s trending in popular music—and about 22 million followers agree. Rounding out the top five is Songs to sing in the Car, with Beyoncé’s “Halo,” and Camila Cabello’s “Havana” as the top two songs people are belting on their road trips.

1. Today’s Top Hits

2. RapCaviar

3. ¡Viva Latino!

4. Baila Reggaeton

5. Songs to Sing in the Car


Most-Streamed Exclusive Spotify Podcasts

As we continue to expand our repertoire of exclusive and original podcasts, these are the podcasts resonating the most with Spotify listeners.

1. Fest & Flauschig

2. The Joe Budden Podcast with Rory & Mal

3. Dissect

4. Amy Schumer Presents: 3 Girls, 1 Keith

5. TALK-O-MAT

Most-Streamed Podcast Genres

1. Crime and Mystery

2. Comedy

3. News & Politics

4. Health

5. Arts

The competition has ended. Thank you.
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