Streaming Music Consumption During the Covid Year 2020-2021

As much every aspect of life recorded stagnation, music and music streams do not defer much.

Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Tidal, and the rest of the game's giants released some concerning numbers as the grey Covid year is fading away. 

Although, since March 2020, streams recorded kind of rollercoaster results, the final count says it clear-decrease is the black when it comes to music streaming. For the first time in the decade, a generic stream of music ( except for a podcast, which actually records the increase in streams ) decreased by 10 percent compared to the same period last year. The worst was March, hitting its highest low of 13%. During the spring, streams did take a festive break and recorded an increase of a remarkable 15%, but stagnation is something streaming services need to fight ever since.

And while all the blame is on Covid for these results, if we scratch more under the surface, we can say CoronaVirus is a cause, but streaming platforms, major labels, and few more facts are the reason. How’s that? 

Due to the Covid lockdowns, music streams decreased for various reasons—the time we usually spent on our favorite music vanished. We didn't take long walks; we went less to jog, we spent less time on public transport, and moreover, the news was what we wanted to hear, rather than a new release of a favored artist. When we consider all this, it's not a surprise that podcast statistics are totally opposite of music streams. 

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Platforms like Spotify and Apple Music didn't take long to recognize this momentum and to shift their attention more towards podcasts. Slow-release by major labels also had its hit to music streaming during Covid. And now, almost certainly, we can say until live touring is back on track, streams will stay on the same spot. 

But is this something artists and fans should worry about?

Although most of it sounds quite damaging, in fact, streaming is staying where it is. Holding a steady position and overseeing a bright future. One is sure we all missed the lives we had before the outbreak. And projections say: festivals, concerts, parties, live gigs ( or we can call it the music industry ), and traveling will be the spheres of entertainment that will record the most significant jump after lockdowns. We'll also go back to our offices, schools, parks, and all the other places we can't imagine without headphones in our ears. 

Spotify Artist and Trends That Shaped The Year of Lockdown

Although Spotify still didn't open service the "most," indeed, the list we'll bring to you one day could be developed by Spotify's busy hands. But what do we think when we speak about Spotify  most?

In general, this covers all content available on Spotify. And all the content producers. As we are into music, we'd like to start with artistic creation.

In the year 2020 ( which all of us will remember for ages ), although challenging for musicians, their music still found the way to fans in remarkable numbers.

Spotify most played artist at escaping Covid year, perhaps unexpectedly Portorican trap star Bad Bunny with over 8 billion streams. Portorican sensation left behind Drake, JBalvin, Juice WRLD, The Weeknd.

For the female artist, Billie Eilish, for the second year in a row left in the dust stars like Ariana Grande or Taylor Swift, who are much longer in the game than this Cali teen.

Moving forward to most streamed songs on the platform, the undoubted winner in this category with 1,6 billion plays ( and we'll say absolute hit of 2020 ) is The Weeknd masterpiece, straight from '80 "Blinding Lights." Closely followed by Australian sensation Tones and I's "Dance Monkey" and in third place "The Box '' performed by Roddy Ricch.

When it comes to most-streamed albums, Bad Bunny and The Weeknd again find their place at the top spots. But to make the list a bit more diverse, Spotify users over the last year loved the albums of Post Malone, Dua Lipa, and Harry Styles.

Having those numbers in mind, it is no surprise why just any artist out there should strive to reach Spotify most, and fit global streaming. Musicians we mention, who as a matter of fact don't depend on Spotify, work hard to stay on the list.

2020 brings us one more content beloved by many. Podcasts are maybe the brightest star of coronavirus year. This content rises on Spotify that much, even Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will host one. In Spotify's ranking, most popular podcasts for the year behind was undisputable "The Joe Rogan Experience," followed by TED talks daily, The Daily, and Michelle Obama. And when it comes to podcast genres, users stream topics like Society&Culture, Comedy, Lifestyle&Health, Education, Arts and Entertainment predominantly.

Apple Music Playlist Open Up For Millions Of New Users 

Apple would not be a tech giant if it didn't see opportunity rather than a loss even in the most challenging period like the year 2020.

How many of us avoided Apple Music just because it was too damn expensive or inconvenient to stream if you are from, let's say third world country? And while other streaming platforms record a decrease in new subscribers or streams, Apple brainiacs come to a brilliant idea. 

One of those ideas is persuading TikTok to promote Apple Music straight on the app. All you need to do to get your four-month free trial with the Apple streaming platform is to subscribe to Apple Music through the TikTok app. This promotion is easy to find at the in-app notification, and using your Apple ID with a registered payment method is all you need to have. The engagement of Apple Music and TikTok benefited all. Today, Apple Music gets promoted on the hottest app, and the TikTok playlist finds a place on Apple Music. Users finally can avoid spending dozens of bucks to listen to their favorite beats, and last but not least, the artist data-base of potential fans vastly expands.

And if any of you were thinking that's all from Apple, you are wrong, dead wrong.

As the TikTok engagement took off, at approximately the same time in the story, Shazam jumped. With over 200 million active users, the potential of service wasn't an oversight by Apple. All one user of the app needs to do to get his five monthly Apple Music promo for free is to download and tag a song using Shazam. Cruising Apple Music never was that easy. 

Want to increase your reach? Use Amazon Music Unlimited 

Amazon Prime Music is making its mark on the list of the music streaming giants as it is offering promotional add-ons, especially to hook new subscribers. The streaming platform provides three months of Amazon Music Unlimited for free, where you can access around 70 million soundtracks on Amazon music. You also get six months of Amazon Music Unlimited free when you purchase the Echo, which allows you to save more than $59. 

Amazon playlist promotion allows you to develop a career and a huge fan base quickly. If your playlist becomes popular with many followers, you might get some attractive deals from agencies or record studios. Such playlists play an essential role in the success of, and recognition of a musician or singer as many people will listen to your song on the popular Amazon Music Prime playlist. Amazon prime music promotion works like magic when a song makes it to the top playlist. The top playlists get real and organic plays along with real followers. Most of the music brands and music festival managers look up to such playlists for promoting new talent. 

Tidal - The Hi-Res Music Streaming Arena That Shape the Future 

Like other streaming services, Tidal was also providing a recap of the most streamed music in 2020. Using this feature, the Tidal subscribers can have a personalized view of their most listened songs through ‘My 2020 Rewind’. The listeners will have access to their most heard tracks for the whole year along with details of individual months, albums, and top artists. Tidal has also announced the ‘Best of 2020’ playlist, formulated by Tidal’s experts after evaluating the stats. The platform has added new categories ‘Best of Audio Playlists’, ‘Best of Video Playlists,’ ‘Best of Label Playlists,’ and ‘Artists to Watch 2021’. 

Tidal’s HiFi and Premium Tiers offer subscribers access to a vast catalog of more than 70 million tracks across various genres. The HiFi plan Tidal cost is $19.99 per month (with lossless audio costs), and the Premium plan Tidal price is $9.99 per month (with standard audio charges). The service is available on various devices, and when it comes to critical features, the app matches with other music services. Though Tidal cost is high compared to other streaming platforms, it heavily relies on exclusive songs and albums. 

Earn Tidal royalties in the short-term

Open Up New Possibilities - Deezer for Artist Monetization

Deezer is one of the first online streaming platforms and has more than 7 million paying subscribers. Deezer also offers better payment as compared to other streaming platforms. When it comes to "Deezer review," we can easily say that monetizing your art on your platform as an artist will pay off more. Though Spotify and Deezer provide equal opportunities to unknown artists, Deezer provides more reach, promoting music on Deezer. 

Deezer’s UK and Ireland Music Editor, Adam Read, says that they noticed a turning point for the festive music streams on Deezer, and it was more significant than the previous years. The Christmas streams started by the end of October, which was around 2 to 3 weeks earlier than last year's. In the UK, the Christmas collection was the most visited channel by the end of November on the Deezer App. The Christmas collection consists of more than 30 editorial playlists, podcasts, albums, and exclusive artist-curated festive playlists from Dua Lipa, Mariah Carey, and Gregory Porter. The Top 3 streamed Christmas tracks in the UK are Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, Wham’s Last Christmas and Shakin’, and Stevens Merry Christmas Everyone. 

Hip Hop PR - Path to Desired Success

Hip Hop fans have always been excited and eagerly waiting for a new project from their favorite rappers. Listening to the most shelved rap album gives an incomparable joy; however, sometimes it happens that the project you're looking forward to never releases. Hip-hop history comprises many such albums about to be released, and fans were eagerly waiting, but they never happened. Some of the highly anticipated Hip-Hop albums include Dr. Dre's Detox, which was announced in 2002, and Andre' 3000's solo album never released. Some other Hip-Hop projects that the fans were excited about but never happened to include Lil Wayne and Drake's collab album, Dipset's Juelz Santana, Kendrick Lamar J. Cole, Nas, and DJ Premier, Childish Gambino, and Chance the Rapper.

PUSH HIP-HOP MUSIC INDEPENDENTLY

Apart from the unreleased albums, there were many Hip-Hop songs that managed to get no.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 over the last 20 years, and the race continues. Artists always want to be on number one, such as the XXL Freshmen who still managed to rank well on the Billboard Hot 100 charts throughout the years. Other artists that were prominent on the charts include Eminem, Drake, OutKast, 50 Cent, The Black Eyes Peas, T.I, Nelly, and The Weeknd.

For establishing a strong rap career, building relation with promoters is really beneficial. Music promoters will also help you get a reputable position in the music industry as more marketers and bloggers will see that you’re on the Hip Hop blog. Hip Hop songs also managed to get no.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 over the last 20 years, and the race continues. 

Are you looking for a platform to promote your song? Artist Push allows you to promote your song with special promo packages and personalized offers. The platform will enable you to push your music unique and create a brand that will raise your fans' number. Music promotion allows you to know your audience and get your music on the leading streaming platforms' top playlists. You can get on to music spots by finding connections and networking or using Artist Push to bring you the right marketing and exposure you need as an artist.