Taylor Swift is New Zealand's most streamed artist for 2024. Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA
Taylor Swift, Joe Rogan, and Prince Harry are amongst the people New Zealanders listened to most this year, according to this year's Spotify Wrapped results.
The streaming giant's annual event assesses mountains of listening data and gives users a unique snapshot of their listening habits. It stitches together our top artists, tracks and genres, counts up the minutes we listened, and reveals all the new music we learned along the way - with some interesting genre names at times.
In no great surprise, Taylor Swift has kept her crown as New Zealand's most streamed artist on Spotify, with the pop artist's record The Tortured Poets Department; The Anthology taking the number one spot as New Zealand's most-streamed album, followed by Billie Eilish's Hit Me Hard and Soft and Sabrina Carpenter's Short n Sweet.
Swift was the world's most streamed artist for the second year in a row, grabbing more than 26.6 billion streams. The Weeknd scored silver in the global stats, followed by Bad Bunny, Drake and Billie Eilish.
Rising popstar, Benson Boone, made his debut on this year's Wrapped list with his song 'Beautiful Things' which went viral on TikTok this year. Boone has taken out the title of New Zealand's most-streamed track. The American is set to play at Auckland's Spark Arena on January 24 - a resceduled show after two gigs at the smaller Powerstation venue sold out.
Worldwide, it was Sabrina Carpenter's 'Espresso' which was the most listened to song (1.6m streams) followed by the Boone banger and 'Birds of a Feather' by Billie Eilish.
SIX60 were New Zealand's most-streamed local artist in 2024. Photo: © Shelley Te Haara
SIX60 have taken the crown as the country's most-streamed local artist, followed by L.A.B, while the track 'Blue Eyed Māori' by Corrella took the number one place for the most-streamed local artist song.
Since Spotify Wrapped's launch in 2016, SIX60 has consistently featured in New Zealand's top-streamed lists, even surpassing some of the world's biggest artists like Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber back in 2021.
The Joe Rogan Experience was the most popular podcast in New Zealand this year. Photo: Alexia Russell
The Joe Rogan Experience was the most popular podcast in New Zealand this year, as well as the number one most listened to show on the platform globally. Hosted by the comedian and commentator, Joe Rogan, the podcast boasts 14.5 million followers on Spotify, with guests including Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, and US president Donald Trump.
Other popular podcasts in New Zealand this year were The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlet, The Morning Shift, Call Her Daddy, and Huberman Lab.
Spare by Prince Harry claimed the title of most popular audiobook in New Zealand for 2024. Photo: AFP / Angela Weiss
Spare by Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex had New Zealand listening this year, claiming the position as the most popular audiobook across the nation. Following this was It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover, which was adapted into the highly-anticipated film of the same name starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.
Rounding out the top five books we listened to this year are The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Mass, and Atomic Habits by James Clear.
What's all the fuss about Spotify Wrapped?
Dr Jesse Austin-Stewart, a music lecturer at Massey University's School of Music and Screen Arts, reckons it's two fold - it's fun, but there's also some marketing genius behind it.
"Spotify Wrapped is this really fun thing we can use to connect with our whānau and our friends over what can be a really important and valuable part of our lives, but it's also this really undercover marketing tool they can use to support their reputation in ways that it's not supported throughout the year."
Music lecturer Dr Jesse Austin-Stewart says Spotify Wrapped is a powerful marketing tool for the streaming giant. Photo: Supplied
When Wrapped drops at the end of each year, users can find a colourful set of infographics in their Spotify app, complete with data and storytelling that's unique to each of the 640 million people that use it. In 2023, it was all about 'your dark side', where music tastes were illustrated with tarot cards. The year before that, it was 'your listening personality'. In 2024, Wrapped digs into how our music tastes can change from month-to-month, from 'vampire wave rock' to 'pink pilates princess pop'.
Dr Austin-Stewart says these features make Spotify Wrapped "innately shareable".
"There's the parts of it that are innately shareable with each other, either in a public setting or a private setting where you want to show your friends, 'Hey, this is what I listen to' and that ends up tying so closely to our identities and what we want to say about ourselves. And then there's that awkward thing of, 'Is this something I want to share, am I embarrassed about this?' Whether people share that or not, the conversation about it is a really easy and fun one to have."
Overall, when Wrapped drops, it's a peak talking point for Spotify, and that has to be a good thing for the streaming giant.
"When there's so much discourse around the lack of royalties these streamers are paying artists, I guess Wrapped is a market point of difference to continue the conversation around Spotify, as opposed to other streamers, that's more positive, when the press they're getting for the rest of the year isn't."
2024 Spotify Wrapped New Zealand Top Lists
Most-Streamed Artists:
Taylor Swift
Drake
Kanye West
Billie Eilish
Eminem
Top Local Artists:
SIX60
L.A.B
Stan Walker
Katchafire
Lorde
Most-Streamed Songs:
'Beautiful Things' by Benson Boone
'Lose Control' by Teddy Swims
'Too Sweet' by Hozier
'Million Dollar Baby' by Tommy Richman
'Espresso' by Sabrina Carpenter
Top Local Songs:
'Blue Eyed Māori' by Corrella
'In the Air' by L.A.B
'Heart of a Lion' by Brutha Rodz
'Don't Forget Your Roots' by SIX60
'Mr Reggae' by L.A.B
Most-Streamed Albums:
The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology by Taylor Swift
Hit Me Hard And Soft by Billie Eilish
Short n' Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter
SOS by SZA
Fireworks & Rollerblades by Benson Boone
Top Podcasts:
The Joe Rogan Experience
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
The Morning Shift
Call Her Daddy
Huberman Lab
Top Audiobooks in Premium:
Spare by Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Top Local Audiobooks in Premium:
Gangland by Jared Savage
Māori Made Easy by Scotty Morrison
Did I Ever Tell You This? By Sam Neill
Gangster's Paradise by Jared Savage
Kāwai by Monty Soutar
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