Can you learn about a nation's character from their music taste?
ADVERTISEMENTSpotify wrapped has become an annual mainstay for even the least discerning of music lovers.
The mass data gathering enabled by our app culture allows companies like Spotify to identify trends and spy, ahem sorry, surprise us with our most listened to bops, and now every December cutting edge tastemakers and basic Top 40-listeners alike flock to social media to share their top tracks. No matter how smug or embarrassing they are.
In 2022 Bad Bunny came out top as the most listened to artist on Spotify for the third year in a row while Taylor Swift reached number two, rounding out a year which saw her release both Midnights and Red (Taylor’s Version).
The other top five contenders are Canadians Drake and The Weeknd along with k-pop sensation BTS.
The most streamed song of 2022 was Harry Styles’s “As It Was” with “Heat Waves” by British indie rock band Glass Animals coming second.
Australian artist The Kid LAROI’s collab with Justin Bieber on “STAY” came third with Bad Bunny’s “Me Porto Bonito” feat. Chencho Corleon and “Tití Me Preguntó” taking fourth and fifth place respectively.
Although Taylor Swift only came second globally swifties in Ireland, the UK and Slovenia managed to get her to the top spot in their homelands, leading us to ask; what are the variations in top fives between different European countries?
In an age of soft power what can we tell form a country’s Spotify Wrapped? Let’s take a look.
UK
In the UK they kept it simple. The dominance of English-language music may account for the number of anglophone artists in the global top spots and would also explain why so many UK listeners enjoyed top artists Swift, Drake, and Styles.
The basic Brits also have a taste for Ed Sheeran but it’s not all bad news with down-to-earth northern boy Sam Fender placing fifth and a resurgence for Queen of surreal Kate Bush thanks to a star turn for her song ‘Running Up That Hill’ in Netflix hit ‘Stranger Things’.
The UK’s most listened to artists of 2022 were:
1 Taylor Swift
2 Drake
3 Ed Sheeran
4 Harry Styles
5 Kanye West
The UK’s most listened to tracks of 2022 were:
1 Harry Styles, As It Was
2 Glass Animals, Heat Waves
3 Dave, Starlight
ADVERTISEMENT4 Kate Bush, Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)
5 Sam Fender, Seventeen Going Under
France
The French are a people obsessed with their heritage from the way they make bread to their language, but the popularity of French rappers is often overlooked.
French music may not often crossover into other countries but the fraternité of French rap stars like Jul, Damso, and PNL along with Gazo and Ninho who both feature on top artists and songs dominate their domestic music market all the same.
France’s top listened to artists of 2022 were:
1 Jul
ADVERTISEMENT2 Ninho
3 Gazo
4 Damso
5 PNL
France’s most listened to tracks of 2022 were:
1 Ninho, Jefe
ADVERTISEMENT2 Alonzo, Tout va bien (feat. Ninho & Naps)
3 Timal, Filtré
4 Ninho, VVS
5 Gazo, DIE
Switzerland
The Swiss are famously neutral and it seems they apply this bland approach to conflict to their music taste as well.
ADVERTISEMENTEd Sheeran made the top spot with fellow generic white guy Justin Beiber coming in third. Globally popular Drake and The Weeknd make two and four respectively with a local nod for Swiss-Chilean music producer Luciano at number five.
When it comes to most popular songs the Swiss play it safe again with ‘Heat Waves,’ ‘As it Was,’ and ‘Shivers’ all looming large, while club bop ‘Pepas’ by Puerto Rican singer Farruko brings a more international flavour.
Switzerland’s most listened to artists of 2022 were:
1 Ed Sheeran
2 Drake
3 Justin Bieber
ADVERTISEMENT4 The Weeknd
5 Luciano
Switzerland’s most listened to tracks of 2022 were:
1 Glass Animals, Heat Waves
2 Harry Styles, As it Was
3 Calum Scott and Lost Frequencies, Where are you Now
ADVERTISEMENT4 Farruko, Pepas
5 Ed Sheeran, Shivers
Poland
The Poles gave plenty of aid to Ukrainians fleeing war this year but their nationalistic streak definitely came through on their Spotify wrapped. There’s lots of love for Polish artists with all of the top five musicians and songs hailing from the eastern European homeland.
Poland’s thriving rap and hip hop scene gets a boost in the form of nods for White 2115, SB Maffija, Oki and Mata. The only non-rapper to make the Polish top five top artists was indie pop artist Sanah whose lyrical piano music landed number two.
The top five listened to were similarly locally sourced with a slight deviation in the form of German-Polish rapper of Afghan origin Malik Montana who’s track ‘jetlag’ won over listeners from Warsaw to Lublin.
ADVERTISEMENTPoland’s most listened to artists of 2022 were:
1 White 2115
2 Sanah
3 Mata
4 SB Maffija
5 Oki
ADVERTISEMENTPoland’s most listened to tracks of 2022 were:
1 SB Maffija, Lawenda
2 Mr. Polska, Złote Tarasy
3 Malik Montana, Jetlag (feat. The Plug)
4 Sanah, Ostatnia Nadzieja
5 Mata, Szafir
ADVERTISEMENTTurkey
Music and pop culture have become a battleground in Turkey, a country where pop stars and reality TV shows are accused of blasphemy and novelists are tried for treason.
Turkish language rap maintains a stranglehold on the music scene in Europe’s bridge to the Middle East with all top five artists, UZI, Cakal, Ezhel, Lvbel C5, and Sefo, masters of the genre.
The top five listened to tracks are similarly dominated by native rappers although electronic act KÖFN and singer Güneş evening out the field.
Turkey’s most listened to artists of 2022 are:
1 Uzi
2 Cakal
ADVERTISEMENT3 Ezhel
4 Lvbel C5
5 Sefo
Turkey’s most listened to tracks of 2022 are:
1 KÖFN, Bi' Tek Ben Anlarım
2 Uzi, Arasan Da
ADVERTISEMENT3 Cakal, İmdat
4 Uzi, Paparazzi
5 Güneş, Suçlarımdan Biri
Portugal
Looking at Portugal’s top five listened to artists it would seem that they’ve fallen under an English-speaking spell. American Taylor Swift, Brit Ed Sheeran, and Canadians Drake and The Weeknd dominate the list with Brazilian singer-songwriter Luan Santana the only Portuguese speaker.
However the top songs list features Portuguese-speaking artists PEDRO SAMPAIO, Xamã, and Ivandro alongside, of course, Harry Styles’s ‘As It Was’. The primacy of Brazil’s music industry for the Portuguese listening public holds a certain irony for the country’s former colony-turned-G20-presidency-holder.
ADVERTISEMENTPortugal’s most listened to artists of 2022 were:
1 The Weeknd
2 Drake
3 Taylor Swift
4 Luan Santana
5 Ed Sheeran
ADVERTISEMENTPortugal’s most listened to tracks of 2022 were:
1 PEDRO SAMPAIO, DANÇARINA
2 Xamã, Malvadão 3
3 Harry Styles, As It Was
4 Ivandro, Lua
5 PEDRO SAMPAIO, GALOPA
ADVERTISEMENTSweden
The Scandinavian countries may be known for a melancholy love of heavy metal but Sweden is the home of recently resurrected ABBA and gay club favourite Robyn, and the nation’s Spotify wrapped reflects this rich tradition of pop music.
Bolaget, Miss Li, and Veronica Maggio all loom large as pop vocalists while Swedish rappers 23 and Einár also feature. British artists Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran sneak into the top proving Swedes’ love of pop extends further south too.
Sweden’s most listened to artists of 2022 were:
1 Einár
2 Hov1
3 Ed Sheeran
ADVERTISEMENT4 Veronica Maggio
5 23
Sweden’s most listened to tracks of 2022 were:
1 Bolaget, Kan Inte Gå
2 Victor Leksell and Einár, Din låt
3 Miss Li, X
ADVERTISEMENT4 LOAM and ADAAM, FAKKA UR
5 Harry Styles, As It Was
Germany
Germany’s music taste is a mixed picture with Ed Sheeran, Glass Animals and Harry Styles all making it into their top listened artists and songs.
However, homegrown rappers Cro and Bonez MC dominate the top artist list along with Austrian rap artist RAF Camora. Meanwhile Luciano features on both the top artists and most listened to songs with ‘Beautiful Girl’. The Swiss-Chilean also made Austria’s most listened to artist list proving his popularity in the German-speaking world.
Germany’s most listened to artists of 2022 were:
1 Luciano
ADVERTISEMENT2 RAF Camora
3 Bonez MC
4 CRO
5 Ed Sheeran
Germany’s most listened to songs of 2022 were:
1 Luciano, Beautiful Girl
ADVERTISEMENT2 Miksu / Macloud and t-low, Sehnsucht
3 DJ Robin and Schürze, Layla
4 Glass Animals, Heat Waves
5 Harry Styles, As It Was
Spain
Spanish speakers are never short of music with the language the fourth most spoken in the world. Needless to say the enduring popularity of Puerto Rican Bad Bunny is a testament to this, with two of his tracks on the top five listened to list in Spain this year.
ADVERTISEMENTFellow Puerto Ricans Rauw Alejandro and Anuel AA came in second and fifth respectively while Argentine Bizarrap made both the top artists and top songs list. Quevedo is the only native Spaniard to make either of the most listened to top fives.
Spain’s most listened to artists of 2022 were:
1 Bad Bunny
2 Rauw Alejandro
3 Quevedo
4 Bizarrap
ADVERTISEMENT5 Anuel AA
Spain’s most listened to tracks of 2022 were:
1 Bizarrap and Quevedo, Quevedo: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52
2 Bad Bunny, Tití Me Preguntó
3 Manuel Turizo, La Bachata
4 Bad Bunny and Chencho Corleone, Me Porto Bonito
ADVERTISEMENT5 Bizarrap and Tiago PZK, Tiago PZK: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 48
