2018 is winding down, but on Spotify, the music is playing as loudly as ever. All throughout the year, our users have streamed countless hours of their favorite songs, artists, playlists, and podcasts. Now, we're looking back to determine the music and audio trends that defined the year.
So, what did the world listen to in 2018?
Music lovers continued with some existing favorites, such as 2015 and 2016's most-streamed artist, Drake, who took home the crown once again this year. With 8.2 billion streams in 2018 alone, the Canadian rapper is now our most-streamed artist of all time. His album Scorpion and song God's Plan took the top slots in their categories-with God's Plan bringing in more than 1 billion streams.
Outside of the reigning favorites, some chart-breaking stars also reached the top. Ariana Grande's 48 million plus monthly listeners raised her to the position of Spotify's most-streamed female artist, following in the footsteps of three-time winner Rihanna. She dropped major hits throughout the year, including her fourth album, Sweetener and her latest single thank u, next (over 220 million streams).
Hip-hop dominated Spotify's charts in 2018, but Latin music continued its rapid growth. This year, three Latin artists-J Balvin, Ozuna and Bad Bunny-landed on the top-10 most-streamed artists list, while last year, Daddy Yankee was the only Spanish-speaking artist to reach the top 10. Dominican-American singer Cardi B, the third-most-streamed female artist of 2018, and Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello, the fifth-most-streamed, are also representing their Latin heritage through music. The genre is making its mark in playlists, with both Viva Latino! and Baila Reggaeton finishing the year as Spotify's third-and fourth-most-followed playlists.
In 2018, we also added more podcasts to our growing selection, bringing the total episodes available to almost 7 million. Listeners have enjoyed top podcasts like The Joe Budden Podcast, as well as Amy Schumer Presents: 3 Girls, 1 Keith and Spotify's Dissect, which offers a deep-dive analysis of popular music albums. The most popular topics are crime-and-mystery podcasts, such as My Favorite Murder, Crime Junkie, and Crimetown.
Can't get enough of the chart toppers? Check out our lists of the top artists, songs, albums, groups, podcasts, and more below-and don't forget to tune in on December 6 to the Wrapped microsite to see your personal favorites and top-streamed tracks, and receive a playlist based on your tastes.
So without further ado
Spotify's Global Top Lists 2018: Most-Streamed Artists Drake is the world's most-streamed artist, with more than 8.2 billion streams this year. J Balvin, who made his top-five debut, had multiple hits on our global chart, such as X (with Nicky Jam) and I Like It (with Cardi B).
Drake
Post Malone
XXXTENTACION
J Balvin
Ed Sheeran*
*Ed Sheeran was the top-streamed artist in 2017
Most-Streamed Female Artists Spotify's top-streamed female artist, Ariana Grande, released her hotly-anticipated fourth album, Sweetener, in August. She had a momentous year with numerous charting singles, including her latest smash thank u, next. Grande's music streamed more than 3 billion times in 2018.
Ariana Grande
Dua Lipa
Cardi B
Taylor Swift
Camila Cabello
Most-Streamed Tracks While it was the summer of In My Feelings, Drake's track God's Plan was actually the most-streamed song of 2018. Post Malone also scored two songs on this list with both rockstar (feat. 21 Savage) and Psycho (feat. Ty Dolla $ign).
God's Plan Drake
SAD! XXXTENTACION
rockstar (feat. 21 Savage) Post Malone
Psycho (feat. Ty Dolla $ign) Post Malone
In My Feelings Drake
Most-Streamed Artist Albums Drake's Scorpion was released on June 29, and before long was racking up 10 million streams an hour. Dua Lipa's self-titled debut album also had a stellar year, and Ed Sheeran's 2017 album made the top five as well.
Scorpion Drake
beerbongs & bentleys Post Malone
? XXXTENTACION
Dua Lipa Dua Lipa
Ed Sheeran*
*Ed Sheeran's was the top album in 2017
Most-Streamed Groups* Imagine Dragons is Spotify's most-streamed group for 2018, but K-pop sensation BTS also enjoyed plenty of global listening. Maroon 5 and Migos come in third and fourth, and Coldplay took fifth.
Imagine Dragons
BTS
Maroon 5
Migos
Coldplay**
*Must have three or more members
** Coldplay was 2017's most-streamed group
Most-Followed Playlists Today's Top Hits is 2018's most popular playlist. It's the best place to go to find out what's trending in popular music-and about 22 million followers agree. Rounding out the top five is Songs to Sing in the Car, with Beyonc 's Halo, and Camila Cabello's Havana as the top two songs people are belting on their road trips.
Today's Top Hits
RapCaviar
Viva Latino!
Baila Reggaeton
Songs to Sing in the Car
Most-Streamed Exclusive Spotify Podcasts As we continue to expand our repertoire of exclusive and original podcasts, these are the podcasts resonating the most with Spotify listeners.
Fest & Flauschig
The Joe Budden Podcast with Rory & Mal
Dissect
Amy Schumer Presents: 3 Girls, 1 Keith
TALK-O-MAT
Most-Streamed Podcast Genres
Crime and Mystery
Comedy
News & Politics
Health
Arts
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
10/06/2026
DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...
10/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager USA, covering Southern California and the Southwest region. Dino joins...
10/06/2026
An 11% decrease in number of global broadcast deals reflects the organization...
10/06/2026
The Women Without Boundaries Awards recognize women whose work is advancing the future of media, broadcast, AV, workplace technology, digital experience, and re...
10/06/2026
Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...
10/06/2026
SES is supporting broadcast distribution of the world's biggest football tou...
10/06/2026
NDI has announced that BirdDog has become the first hardware manufacturer to achieve full NDI 6.3 compatibility across its complete lineup of cameras, encoders,...
10/06/2026
Vince Caputo and Scott Carter, winners of the 2026 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Post Produced Audio have been announced as presenters for the 2026 SVG Advanced A...
10/06/2026
FOX One today unveiled a slate of new product features and enhancements designed to elevate the viewing experience for fans on the official streaming platform o...
10/06/2026
Primary production partners Dome Productions and Raycom Sports once again played...
10/06/2026
The Women in Sports Filmmaking Experienceship is an immersive professional devel...
10/06/2026
The league has expanded its HSAN architecture for the NBA Finals to manage more ...
10/06/2026
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League (XGL) Winter Draft will take place Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at Cosm Los Angeles from 7-9 p.m. PT. The event will strea...
10/06/2026
The University of Oklahoma (OU) Athletics Department and Learfield have announce...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has released TR-06-4 Part 8, a new specification for RIST Satellite-Hybrid: Out-of-Band Method. The specification creates a mecha...
10/06/2026
Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, supporting live medical proc...
10/06/2026
A still from The Doom Generation by Gregg Araki (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
By Lucy Spicer
Have you checked out our Sundance Film Festival 101 list yet...
10/06/2026
Get Hands-On with Interfaces & Mic Preamp Brands
If youre after a new interface or preamp, then GearExpo UK is the place to be! Well have a whole host of au...
10/06/2026
November 13-14 2026, The Midway, San Francisco
Following their recent rebranding, MONO Music Conference (formerly Music Expo) have officially announced thei...
10/06/2026
Debut instrument free for limited time
deFORM is the debut release from newly founded developer ebbandflow, and it's being offered as a free download fo...
10/06/2026
Alone Australia Season 4: Meet the Cast
10 June, 2026
Media releases
WATCH THE TRAILER
Smash-hit survival series Alone Australia drops its highly anticipa...
10/06/2026
DEADLY THEN, DEADLY NOW, DEADLY ALWAYS: SBS & NITV IGNITE NAIDOC WEEK 2026 WITH ...
10/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF advance laser-based drone defense with THORIS LCS Rohde & Schwarz is showcasing THORIS at ILA 2026: A sovereign, end to end counter...
10/06/2026
MAHLE and Rohde & Schwarz develop application for sensor testing of modern drive...
10/06/2026
Production and Development Funding supports the creation of compelling, commercially viable, artistic and culturally relevant South African screen content. Deve...
10/06/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...
10/06/2026
Accedo, Humans not Robots, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have announced the launch of Ecoflow X. Formerly an IBC Accelerator project, ...
10/06/2026
Frequency, the engine powering the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced that James Smith has joined the company as General Manager...
10/06/2026
At the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for live medical procedures s...
10/06/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media, and entertainment managed services, today announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform powered by Or...
10/06/2026
Klvr will showcase how venues, integrators and production teams are rethinking disposable battery usage at InfoComm 2026 (Las Vegas, June 17-19, booth #N6311). ...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has further enhanced the Reliable Internet Streaming Transport (RIST) protocol by incorporating a new feature, RIST Satellite-Hyb...
10/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/06/2026
10 Jun 2026
VEON's Banglalink Brings Every World Cup 2026 Match to Football...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
How to watch every ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 match live on Sky Sports
Where is the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 availabl...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
P RLA brings first-ever Beautifully Clean Oral Care'...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
Sky reveals pulse-pounding first teaser trailer for upco...
10/06/2026
Wuppertal June 10, 2026
Riedel Artist at the Heart of the 14th World Live Neurovascular ConferenceAt the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Li...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Showcases New Mobile Experience, Collections and Games Vision in APAC
Product
10 June 2026
GlobalSouth KoreaJapan
Link copied to c...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Ready to Join? The Netflix Fan Club Arrives at Cannes Lions
Business
10 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Download all assets
N...
10/06/2026
Chemists snap together complex 3D molecules from highly reactive radicals-without losing their shape Scripps Research team develops stereoretentive radical-radi...
09/06/2026
Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...
09/06/2026
SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...
09/06/2026
EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...
09/06/2026
Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...
2018 is winding down, but on Spotify, the music is playing as loudly as ever. All throughout the year, our users have streamed countless hours of their favorite songs, artists, playlists, and podcasts. Now, we're looking back to determine the music and audio trends that defined the year.
