This year has been a blank canvas for artists to debut their best in the music industry and every month has been grazed by new albums. But only five music artists managed to climb to the top of Spotify’s most streamed artists of the year list. Together with record-breaking achievements and award-winning songs, we’re taking a look at the best in 2022.
#1 Bad Bunny
For the first time ever, an artist broke the record of claiming the top spot on Spotify’s most streamed artist of the year, three years in a row. Bad Bunny, a Puerto Rican rapper and singer has been at #1 since 2020, while his song ‘Me Porto Bonito’ is close to hitting 1 billion plays on the streaming platform.
Back in May this year, he released a studio album entitled ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ and has since topped the billboard chart, becoming the first Latin artist to achieve the top spot for both artist and album. He also became Apple Music’s artist of the year and his album was named the No. 1 Album of 2022 by TIME Magazine. However, the singer has said that he will be taking a break in the upcoming year, focusing on his physical and emotional health, and to celebrate his achievements in 2022.
#2 Taylor Swift
In second place is Taylor Swift, who recently released her 10th studio album ‘Midnights’ two months ago, which tells the tale of 13 sleepless nights that she experiences. Swift broke the record of claiming all top 10 spots on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first artist in history to ever do so.
Although she’s the second most streamed artist globally, she has claimed the number one position in Australia, the U.K., Ireland, Philippines, New Zealand, Qatar, Slovenia, Singapore and Malaysia. Midnights also won the Top Platinum Album of 2022, with all 20 songs from her 3am edition surpassing 40 million streams on Spotify.
#3 Drake
Influential Canadian rapper Drake claims the third spot on Spotify’s most streamed artist of the year, achieving over 2 billion streams on his song ‘One Dance’. His joint studio album with 21 Savage titled ‘Her Loss’ dropped early last month and topped Billboard charts, dominating first-week streams for a hip-hop album in 2022.
‘Her Loss’ is Drake’s 12th album to place at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, making him the third artist with that achievement, just behind The Beatles and Jay-Z. Drake also knocked Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ to second place, after the latter spent a historic two weeks on top.
#4 The Weeknd
Another Toronto artist to claim the top five spots is The Weeknd, who debuted his fifth studio album ‘Dawn FM’ early in January this year. The album broke records as the largest sales week for an R&B album on vinyl according to Luminate, who started tracking vinyl sales since 1991.
And while The Weeknd secured second place in Spotify’s most viral artists globally, a list that compiles artists whose music was most frequently shared to social media platforms, his ‘After Hours’ album which debuted in 2020 racked up more streams than his newest release did.
#5 BTS
Last on the list is South Korean boyband BTS, who released their fifth album entitled ‘Proof’ in June this year. After almost 2 years without any new debuts, the boyband decided to make ‘Proof’ an anthology album, containing three discs with a discography of the past 9 years. The album also features three new songs: Yet to Come, For Youth and Run BTS.
Shortly after the release of their new album, the group’s management announced that BTS will be taking a break for an “extended period” of time to serve in South Korea’s mandatory military service. The management also mentioned that the group will carry out the service individually, starting with the oldest member, 29 year-old Jin.