Most Popular Music Of 2021: Olivia Rodrigo, Bad Bunny Top Spotify's Year-End List - Forbes

Topline

As 2021 comes to a close, music giants like Spotify, Apple Music, iHeartRadio, Billboard and more are releasing their lists for the most-listened and best-selling songs and albums of the year, and acts like BTS, Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande and Olivia Rodrigo have the lead on several charts—here’s a rundown of the most popular music this year.

Key Facts

Spotify: Olivia Rodrigo’s “driver’s license” was the most-streamed song around the world and in the U.S. on the streaming service between January 1 and November 27, followed on the global list by Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name), The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber’s “Stay,” Rodrigo’s “good 4 u” and Dua Lipa and Da Baby’s “Levitating”; Rodrigo’s album Sour was the most-streamed album globally; Bad Bunny was the most streamed artist around the world for the second year in a row, garnering 9.1 billion streams, followed by Taylor Swift, BTS, Drake and Justin Bieber.

Apple Music: BTS’ “Dynamite” was the most-played song on the streaming service between October 16, 2020, and October 15, 2021, followed by Olivia Rodrigo’s “drivers license,” Ariana Grande’s “positions,” Pop Smoke, Lil Baby and DaBaby’s “For The Night” and The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights”; the most Shazamed song—when users ask Siri to identify a song that’s playing—was Masked Wolf’s “Astronaut in the Ocean,” which was requested 11.7 million times.

iHeartRadio: Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” was the most-played song on the country’s largest radio network, garnering 1.2 billion listens, followed by The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears,” Ariana Grande’s “34+35,” Doja Cat and Sza’s “Kiss Me More” and Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”; Ariana Grande was the network’s most-played artist, getting 2.6 billion listens, followed by Lipa, The Weeknd, Olivia Rodrigo and Pop Smoke.

Billboard: Though Billboard hasn’t released its official end-of-year numbers yet, Adele’s new album 30 sold over 500,000 copies in its first three days and is the best-selling album of 2021 so far.

Tangent

Several popular songs from last year bled over onto this year’s charts. Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande and Bad Bunny did not release new music this year, and their popularity in 2021 on Spotify and iHeartRadio comes from their releases in 2020. “Blinding Lights” was one of the most popular song’s last year, and still charted on Apple Music in 2021. “Dynamite” was also released last year.

Key Background

Last year’s Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Year chart, which is based on sales, streams and radio plays , was topped by familiar names: The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” ranked first, followed by Post Malone’s “Circles,” Roddy Ricch’s “The Box,” Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” and DaBaby and Roddy Ricch’s “Rockstar.” The most-popular album of last year, according to Billboard, was Post Malone’s “Hollywood Is Bleeding.” “Blinding Lights” was also the most-streamed song on Spotify last year.