Spotify has ranked the best albums of the streaming era according to its criteria, selected by its team based on “cultural impact” and “staying power” (a diffuse concept that refers to the number of times we listen to an album again). It is worth noting that the list focuses specifically on pop music albums released between 2015 and the present, so it includes albums that present pop accessibility despite belonging to other genres.
Of the list, 22 titles are signed by women and only 6 by men. Arranged alphabetically, the oldest album is ‘Ten Love Songs’ by Susanne Sundfør, released in February 2015, and the most recent, ‘brat’ by Charli XCX, released in June 2024.
The list alternates albums as reproduced and successful as ‘SOUR’ (2021), by Olivia Rodrigo, but also seeks editorial credibility by claiming titles that did not obtain great sales, although they were adored by critics, such as ‘What’s Your Pleasure?’ (2020), by Jessie Ware. Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift are the only ones who repeat with two albums.
Spotify tries to avoid criticism for its Anglocentrism by including the work of a Norwegian artist, the aforementioned ‘Ten Love Songs’. However, English is the predominant language in each and every one of the chosen titles, including Sundfør, so don’t expect to see works by Rosalía, Christine and the Queens… or Bad Bunny on the list, despite their success.
In fact, if it is about unifying albums that were commercially successful and, at the same time, praised by the press, in a list, the absence of at least one of the two albums published by SZA, such as ‘Ctrl’ (2017), a modern classic if there ever was one, is surprising. As for works made by men, we didn’t expect to see Drake with one of his endless albums, but we did expect to see Kendrick Lamar with one of his. Either would have done, although ‘DAMN.’ (2017) was great: it is one of the most reproduced in history and won the Pulitzer.
By continuing to refine a list that, after all, is subjective and cannot include everything, we would not say that ‘Lover’ (2019) is one of the two Taylor Swift albums that deserves to be here, although it must be recognized that it has its defenders; and the absence of Frank Ocean already implies a rewriting of history. This is the complete list, in alphabetical order, via PopBase:
• Adele — 25
• Ariana Grande — thank u, next
• Beyoncé — Lemonade
• Billie Eilish — HIT ME HARD AND SOFT
• Billie Eilish — WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?
• Bruno Mars — 24K Magic
• Calvin Harris — Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1
• Carly Rae Jepsen — E•MO•TION
• Charli XCX — BRAT
• Chappell Roan — The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
• Doja Cat — Planet Her
• Dua Lipa — Future Nostalgia
• Ed Sheeran — ÷
• Harry Styles — Harry’s House
• Jessie Ware — What’s Your Pleasure?
• Justin Bieber—Purpose
• Kacey Musgraves — Golden Hour
• Lana Del Rey — Norman F***ing Rockwell!
• Lorde — Melodrama
• MUNA — About U
• Olivia Rodrigo — SOUR
• Rihanna — ANTI
• Rina Sawayama — SAWAYAMA
• Sabrina Carpenter — Short n’ Sweet
• Selena Gomez — Revival
• SOPHIE — OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES
• Susanne Sundfør — Ten Love Songs
• Taylor Swift — Lover
• Taylor Swift — reputation
• The Weeknd — Starboy
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