Spotify on Tuesday announced The Joe Rogan Experience was its most popular podcast of 2020 — or at least through the first 11 months of the year. The announcement came on the same day Rogan’s show moved over exclusively to the streaming platform after Spotify paid $100 million for the podcast in May.
While Rogan’s show was the biggest podcast of the year globally on Spotify, the service did not share how many downloads it actually received. The next-most popular global pods on Spotify, in order, were: TED Talks Daily, The Daily from The New York Times, The Michelle Obama Podcast and Call Her Daddy from Barstool Sports. In the U.S. only, Rogan’s podcast grabbed the bronze medal behind The Daily and NPR News Now, which took the top spot.
Back in July, Courtney Holt, Spotify’s global head of studios and videos, talked to TheWrap about the company’s big bet on podcasts and why it pursued Rogan’s show.
“We don’t have Joe Rogan on the service (right now), but it was one of the most searched for and demanded podcasts from our consumers,” Holt said. “So it made sense for us to be able to provide that, and we thought the right way to provide it was to go big, to be in partnership with him and make it exclusive to Spotify.”
Spotify’s top podcasts list was accompanied by a look at the top music artists on Spotify this year. Bad Bunny was the most-streamed artist of the year on Spotify, and his album, YHLQMDLG, was also the biggest of 2020. You can take a look at their other top artists of the year below:
Most Streamed Artists Globally
Bad Bunny
Drake
J Balvin
Juice WRLD
The Weeknd
Most Streamed Female Artists
Billie Eilish
Taylor Swift
Ariana Grande
Dua Lipa
Halsey
Most Streamed Albums Globally
YHLQMDLG, Bad Bunny
After Hours, The Weeknd
Hollywood’s Bleeding, Post Malone
Fine Line, Harry Styles
Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa
Most Streamed Songs Globally
“Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd
“Dance Monkey” by Tones and I
“The Box” by Roddy Ricch
“Roses – Imanbek Remix” by Imanbek and SAINt JHN
“Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa
Spotify 2020 Wrapped U.S. Top Lists
U.S. Most Streamed Artists
Juice WRLD
Drake
Lil Uzi Vert
Post Malone
Taylor Swift
U.S. Most Streamed Female Artists
Taylor Swift
Billie Eilish
Ariana Grande
Halsey
Megan Thee Stallion
U.S. Most Streamed Tracks
“The Box” by Roddy Ricch
“Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd
“Blueberry Faygo” by Lil Mosey
“ROCKSTAR (feat Roddy Ricch)” by DaBaby, Roddy Ricch
“Life Is Good (feat Drake)” by Drake, Future
U.S. Most Streamed Albums
Legends Never Die, Juice WRLD
Eternal Atake (Deluxe) – LUV vs. The World 2, Lil Uzi Vert
Hollywood’s Bleeding, Post Malone
After Hours, The Weeknd
Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial, Roddy Ricch