Michelle Obama, Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift: Spotify names top artists, podcasts of 2020

Spotify released its trends of 2020 on Tuesday, showing what music and podcast listeners across the world were listening to during a tumultuous year.

“Despite its unique challenges, (2020) inspired creativity with so many people finding ways to come together with resiliency as a community,” Spotify said in a news release. “2020 has also sounded differently — and throughout it all, audio has acted as a companion, strengthening our connections with the world around us and giving us hope.”

Bad Bunny was the most-streamed artist globally with more than 8.3 billion streams in 2020. The Puerto Rican rapper released an album in February, “YHLQMDLG,” which was Billboard’s highest charting all-Spanish-language album ever. His album was also Spotify’s most-streamed album of the year.

Other artists streamed heavily were Drake, J Balvin, Juice WRLD and The Weeknd.

For the second straight year, Billie Eilish was Spotify’s most-streamed female musician. The pop phenom did not release a new album in 2020, but several new singles helped her top the list. Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa and Halsey rounded out the top five for most-streamed women.

He may have been shut out during last week’s Grammy nominations, but The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” was the most-streamed song of 2020 with 1.6 billion listens. With 40 weeks in the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, the hit is the longest-running top 10 song in Billboard’s history.

“The Joe Rogan Experience” was the most popular podcast of 2020, while the top 5 included a podcast by a former first lady. “The Michelle Obama Podcast,” a Spotify exclusive, was the streaming site’s fourth-most popular podcast.

Spotify reported a 1,400% increase in work-from-home themed playlists in 2020. With billions of people staying home globally due to the coronavirus pandemic, there was a 180% increase in health and wellness podcast listening. There was also a 55% increase in users streaming on their gaming consoles.

Spotify 2020 Wrapped Global Top lists

Most Streamed Artists

1. Bad Bunny

2. Drake

3. J Balvin

4. Juice WRLD

5. The Weeknd

Most Streamed Female Artists

1. Billie Eilish

2. Taylor Swift

3. Ariana Grande

4. Dua Lipa

5. Halsey

Most Streamed Albums

1. “YHLQMDLG” by Bad Bunny

2. “After Hours” by The Weeknd

3. “Hollywood’s Bleeding” by Post Malone

4. “Fine Line” by Harry Styles

5. “Future Nostalgia” by Dua Lipa

Most Streamed Songs

1. “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd

2. “Dance Monkey” by Tones And I

3. “The Box” by Roddy Ricch

4. “Roses — Imanbek Remix” by Imanbek and SAINt JHN

5. “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa

Most Popular Podcasts

1. “The Joe Rogan Experience”

2. “TED Talks Daily”

3. “The Daily”

4. “The Michelle Obama Podcast”

5. “Call Her Daddy”