Spotify was founded on April 23, 2006 in Stockholm, Sweden. The streaming service only went online on October 7, 2008.Image: keystone
On Thursday, April 23rd, Spotify celebrated its 20th anniversary. The Swedish streaming service has taken this anniversary as an opportunity to publish five top 20 lists for the most streamed artists, songs, albums, podcasts and audio books of all time.
April 24, 2026, 1:18 p.mApril 24, 2026, 3:10 p.m
For its 20th anniversary, Spotify is taking a rare interim look: for the first time, the streaming service is publishing rankings of the most streamed artists, songs, albums, podcasts and audio books in its history.
While English-language content dominates among the artists, songs, albums and audio books, it is noticeable that there are five German podcasts in the top 20 most listened to podcasts.
The podcast “Gemisches Hack” by the German comedians Felix Lobrecht and Tommi Schmitt is even in second place on the list. The podcast “Fest & Fluschig” with Jan Böhmermann and Olli Schulz follows in 7th place. The German podcasts “Mordlust”, “Baywatch Berlin” and “Hobbylos” are in 17th, 18th and 19th place.
Below are all Spotify top 20 lists:
artist
Korean boy band BTS as well as J Balvin and Bad Bunny are the only three artists in the top 20 who produce music other than English.
- Taylor Swift
- Bad Bunny
- Drake
- The Weeknd
- Ariana Grande
- Ed Sheeran
- Justin Bieber
- Billie Eilish
- Eminem
- Kanye West
- Travis Scott
- BTS
- Post Malone
- Bruno Mars
- J Balvin
- Rihanna
- Coldplay
- Kendrick Lamar
- Future
- Juice WRLD
Songs
Here too, the dominance of the English language in the music business is evident: not a single song in the top 20 is not in English. Also interesting: the two most streamed artists, Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny, do not have any songs in the top 20.
- “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd
- “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran
- “Sweater Weather” by The Neighborhood
- “Starboy” by The Weeknd, Daft Punk
- “As It Was” by Harry Styles
- “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi
- «Sunflower – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse» by Post Malone, Swae Lee
- “One Dance” by Drake, Wizkid, Kyla
- “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran
- “STAY (with Justin Bieber)” by The Kid Laroi, Justin Bieber
- “Believer” by Imagine Dragons
- “I Wanna Be Yours” by Arctic Monkeys
- “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals
- “lovely (with Khalid)” by Billie Eilish, Khalid
- “Yellow” by Coldplay
- “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron
- “Closer” by The Chainsmokers, Halsey
- “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” by Billie Eilish
- “Riptide” by Vance Joy
- “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars
Albums
When it comes to albums, however, the dominance of Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny is evident; both are represented in the top 20 with two albums each. Only The Weeknd can beat that with three albums in the top 20.
- “Un Verano Sin Ti” by Bad Bunny
- “Starboy” by The Weeknd
- “÷ (Deluxe)” by Ed Sheeran
- “SOUR” by Olivia Rodrigo
- “After Hours” by The Weeknd
- “SOS” by SZA
- “Hollywood’s Bleeding” by Post Malone
- “Lover” by Taylor Swift
- “AM” by Arctic Monkeys
- «WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?» by Billie Eilish
- “Future Nostalgia” by Dua Lipa
- “Beerbongs & Bentleys” by Post Malone
- «?» by XXXTENTACION
- «MAÑANA SERÁ BONITO (BICHOTA SEASON)» by KAROL G
- “YHLQMDLG” by Bad Bunny
- “Doo-Wops & Hooligans” by Bruno Mars
- “Views” by Drake
- “Midnights” by Taylor Swift
- “Scorpion” by Drake
- “Beauty Behind The Madness” by The Weeknd
Podcasts
Not really surprisingly, the podcast ranking is led by Joe Rogan. The American always has very well-known guests on his podcasts, including Elon Musk, Edward Snowden, Mike Tyson, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.
- “The Joe Rogan Experience” with Joe Rogan
- “Mixed Hack” with Felix Lobrecht and Tommi Schmitt
- “Crime Junkie” with Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat
- “Armchair Expert” with Dax Shepard
- “Last Podcast On The Left” with Ben Kissel, Marcus Parks and Henry Zebrowski
- “The Daily” with Michael Barbaro
- “Fit & Fluffy” with Jan Böhmermann and Olli Schulz
- “Morbid” with Alaina Urquhart and Ash Kelley
- “My Favorite Murder” with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
- “Relatos de la Noche” with Uziel Hernández
- “Call Her Daddy” with Alex Cooper
- “Não Inviabilize” with Deia Freitas
- “Pardon My Take” with Dan Katz and PFT Commenter
- “Distractible” with Mark Fischbach, Wade Barnes and Bob Muyskens
- “La Cotorrisa” with Ricardo Pérez and Slobotzky
- “Dateline NBC” with Keith Morrison
- “Mordlust” with Paulina Krasa and Laura Wohlers
- “Baywatch Berlin” with Klaas Heufer-Umlauf, Jakob Lundt and Thomas Schmitt
- “Hobbylos” with Rezo and Julien Bam
- “Killer Stories” with Harvey Guillén
Audiobooks
The American author dominates the top 20 audio books with her fantasy romance book series “A Court of Thorns and Roses”, four of the five books are in the top 20. The first volume of the “Game of Thrones” series and the first volume of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy are also represented.
- “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas
- “The Fellowship of the Ring” by JRR Tolkien
- “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros
- “I’m Glad My Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy
- “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas
- “Lights Out” by Ted Koppel
- “A Court of Wings and Ruin” by Sarah J. Maas
- “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Greene
- “The Housemaid” by Freida McFadden
- “Iron Flame” by Rebecca Yarros
- “The Woman in Me” by Britney Spears
- “A Game of Thrones” by George RR Martin
- “Icebreaker” by Hannah Grace
- “It Ends with Us” by Colleen Hoover
- “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- “A Court of Silver Flames” by Sarah J. Maas
- “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson
- “The Boyfriend” by Freida McFadden
- “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari
- “Funny Story” by Emily Henry
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