Apple Music Shares Its Top 100 Most Streamed Songs of 2021 (Top 3: BTS, Olivia Rodrigo, Ariana Grande)

[I Always Sing Live]

Take note that this data is global, not just US-centric.

Quote

After a year in which much of the world’s population was trapped in their homes, 2021 was all about having one foot out the door. This chart compiling the most-streamed songs across the globe on Apple Music between October 16, 2020, and October 15, 2021, is a mirror of that tentativeness and hopefulness—a mix of thrilling new hits that helped shake the world from its stasis alongside favorites we returned to when that jolt felt like too much. What they all have in common, from hip-hop upstarts to a wave of Japanese artists striving in streaming to a K-pop juggernaut primed for planetary domination, is that they brought comfort and catharsis at a time when we all needed them most. Here’s what Apple Music users could not get enough of this year. If you hear something you like, add it to your library so you can carry these hits into 2022 and beyond.

Top 30:

1. BTS - Dynamite
2. Olivia Rodrigo - drivers license
3. Ariana Grande - positions
4. Pop Smoke - For the Night (feat. Lil Baby & DaBaby)
5. The Weeknd - Blinding Lights
6. Justin Bieber - Peaches (feat. Daniel Caesar & GIVĒON)
7. Olivia Rodrigo - good 4 u
8. The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber - STAY
9. Bad Bunny & Jhay Cortez - Dakiti
10. Dua Lipa - Levitating (feat. DaBaby)
11. Drake - Wants and Needs (feat. Lil Baby)
12. Doja Cat - Kiss Me More (feat. SZA)
13. Yuuri - Dried Flower
14. Pooh Shiesty - Back in Blood (feat. Lil Durk)
15. Polo G - RAPSTAR
16. 24kGoldn - Mood (feat. iann dior)
17. Lil Baby - On Me
18. Pop Smoke - What You Know Bout Love
19. YOASOBI - 夜に駆ける
20. Masked Wolf - Astronaut In The Ocean
21. BTS - Butter
22. Lil Nas X - MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)
23. Lil Tjay & 6LACK - Calling My Phone
24. SZA - Good Days
25. GIVĒON - HEARTBREAK ANNIVERSARY
26. Cardi B - WAP (feat. Megan Thee Stallion)
27. Cardi B - Up
28. Olivia Rodrigo - deja vu
29. The Weeknd - Save Your Tears
30. CJ - Whoopty

 

Full list: >>>click here<<<

 

If anyone's curious, here's the data on Apple Music vs. Spotify when it comes to userbase (source):

Quote

"... Spotify announced it now has 165 million paid subscribers. That’s up 7 million subscribers from last quarter and more than the 60 million Apple Music subscribers Apple last reported having in 2019 and more than Amazon Music’s 55 million subscribers the company reported having in 2020."

 

"Apple is believed to have between 70 million and 80 million subscribers now but hasn’t updated its official numbers since 2019."

[I Always Sing Live]

Take note that Apple Music has a small userbase in Korea (they have their own streaming services, and Spotify launched in Korea at the beginning of 2021), so BTS and their bots did that with a genuine hit from 2020. Throughout 2021, Apple Music seems to have grown a lot in Japan, though, as there's a lot of Japanese artists and songs on the list. And since BTS are also huge in Japan (duh), that was certainly a contributor.