Founded in April 2006, Spotify turns 20 this month and celebrates it by doing something it had not done until now, believe it or not: publishing official lists with the 20 most played artists, albums and songs in the history of the platform, also including podcasts and audiobooks.
It is surprising that these lists arrive now, yes, but the reality is that before Spotify only showed partial data: it published annual rankings like Spotify Wrapped and announced specific reproduction records, but it did not offer a complete and official list with the most listened to in its entire history.
The results will not surprise anyone: Taylor Swift is the most listened to artist, ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ by Bad Bunny is the most played album, and ‘Blinding Lights’ by The Weeknd is the most listened to song.
We found some curiosities: Juice WRLD, despite having died in 2019, reaches number 20 among the most listened to artists. Songs as recent as ‘Birds of a Feather’ by Billie Eilish and ‘Die With a Smile’ by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, both from 2024, sneak into the top 20, demonstrating their impact, while classic songs like ‘Yellow’ by Coldplay also achieve a position, evidencing their incredible longevity.
The guitars are also present with Arctic Monkeys and their hit ‘I Wanna Be Yours’, which manages to place the album ‘AM’ among the most played in history. Other “indie” bands also appear such as Glass Animals thanks to their summer hit ‘Heat Waves’, Imagine Dragons with ‘Believer’, or Lord Huron in a more folk side.
Looking at the lists with a magnifying glass we also find gender bias, such as the fact that only four (we repeat: four) artists within the top 20 most listened to are women, or that the first woman to appear on the list of songs is Kyla featuring Drake.
As for podcasts, Joe Rogan’s reigns supreme, and in audiobooks, the most played in history is A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.
The most streamed artists in Spotify history:
1. Taylor Swift
2. Bad Bunny
3. Drake
4. The Weeknd
5. Ariana Grande
6. Ed Sheeran
7.Justin Bieber
8. Billie Eilish
9. Eminem
10. Kanye West
11. Travis Scott
12.BTS
13. Post Malone
14. Bruno Mars
15. J Balvin
16. Rihanna
17. Coldplay
18. Kendrick Lamar
19. Future
20. Juice WRLD
Most played albums in Spotify history:
1. A Summer Without You by Bad Bunny
2. Starboy by The Weeknd
3. ÷ (Deluxe) by Ed Sheeran
4. Sour by Olivia Rodrigo
5. After Hours by The Weeknd
6. SOS by SZA
7. Hollywood’s Bleeding by Post Malone
8. Lover by Taylor Swift
9. AM by Arctic Monkeys
10. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? by Billie Eilish
11. Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa
12. Beerbongs & Bentleys by Post Malone
13. ? by XXXTentacion
14. Tomorrow Will Be Beautiful (Bichota Season) By Karol G
15. YHLQMDLG by Bad Bunny
16. Doo-Wops & Hooligans by Bruno Mars
17. Views by Drake
18. Midnights by Taylor Swift
19. Scorpion by Drake
20. Beauty Behind the Madness by the Weeknd
The most played songs in Spotify history:
1. “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd
2. “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran
3. “Sweater Weather” by The Neighborhood
4. “Starboy” by The Weeknd and Daft Punk
5. “As It Was” by Harry Styles
6. “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi
7. “Sunflower (from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) by Post Malone and Swae Lee
8. “One Dance” by Drake, Wizkid and Kyla
9. “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran
10. “Stay” by the Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber
11. “Believer” by Imagine Dragons
12. “I Wanna Be Yours” by Arctic Monkeys
13. “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals
14. “Lovely (with Khalid)” by Billie Eilish and Khalid
15. “Yellow” by Coldplay
16. “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron
17. “Closer” by the Chainsmokers and Halsey
18. “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish
19. “Riptide” by Vance Joy
20. “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars
The most played podcasts in Spotify history:
1. The Joe Rogan Experience
2. Gemischtes Hack
3. Crime Junkie
4. Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
5. Last Podcast On The Left
6. The Daily
7. Fest & Flauschig
8. Morbid
9. My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
10. Stories of the Night
11. Call Her Daddy
12. No Inviability
13. Pardon My Take
14. Distractible
15. La Cotorrisa
16. DatelineNBC
17. Mordlust
18. Baywatch Berlin
19. Hobbies
20. Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén
The most played audiobooks on Premium in the history of Spotify
1. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
2. The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien
3. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
4. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
5. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
6. Lights Out by Ted Koppel
7. A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
8. The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
9. The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
10. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
11. The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
12. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
13. Icebreaker by Hannah Grace
14. It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
15. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
16. A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
17. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
18. The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden
19. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
20. Funny Story by Emily Henry
