Here’s who stole Kiwi hearts this Spotify Wrapped day

The release of Spotify Wrapped is a day I look forward to every December – when streaming platform Spotify gives users an early Christmas present by revealing the songs and artists they listened to the most that year.

There’s something gleefully exciting about knowing just how many times you played that (ahem, Bruno Mars) song on repeat, or in what percentage of listeners you rank in globally – just how much of a fan are you really?

While I love analysing my own results, the national results are even more interesting, painting a picture of the musical and audio trends that sweep across Aotearoa.

Swifties rejoice: Taylor holds top spot

It may come as no surprise, especially after two years of Eras Tour shows and a new albumm that Taylor Swift has kept her position at the top as the most streamed artist in Aotearoa for 2024.

That new album, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, was an absolute hit with Kiwis. It was the country and the world’s most streamed, followed by Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft, and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet.

Swift held the top spot the world over – with more than 26.6 billion streams globally, she is named as Spotify’s 2024 Global Top Artist for the second year in a row. In recognition of this honour, Swift will have a Wrapped badge on her Spotify profile.

Her fans will also get some unique surprises when they listen to her music – custom mini-animations displayed on the Spotify Play Button will take you through the eras of her discography; there will Sparkles for ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ and seagulls for ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’. Finally, Swifties will find special 2024 Wrapped friendship bracelets, generated through augmented reality. The bracelets feature a global top artist badge charm.

Swift will also be celebrated via dedicated out of home installations in New York City, Toronto, Jakarta, São Paolo, Manila, Mexico City, London, Berlin, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Miami.

For top artists globally, The Weeknd came in second, Bad Bunny in third, Drake in fourth and Billie Eilish in fifth.

Six60 a national treasure

Meanwhile, pop singer Benson Boone made his Wrapped list debut, with his track ‘Beautiful Things’ the most streamed song in New Zealand.

For local artists, Corella’s hit, ‘Blue Eyed Māori’ was the most streamed local song. National treasure Six60 was our most streamed local artist, followed by reggae band L.A.B.

Carpenter’s smash hit ‘Espresso’ was the world’s most streamed song, with more than 1.6 billion streams. She was joined up the top by Boone’s ‘Beautiful Things’ and Eilish’s ‘Birds Of A Feather’.

Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga went viral with ‘Die With A Smile’, the song most frequently shared from Spotify to social platforms, followed by ‘Birds Of A Feather’ and ‘Beautiful Things’.

In the world of podcasts

New Zealand’s most popular podcast was The Joe Rogan Experience once again, followed by The Diary of A CEO with Steven Bartlett, The Morning Shift, Call Her Daddy and Huberman Lab.

The rest of the world agreed, with The Joe Rogan Experience named as Spotify’s top podcast globally, the fifth year in a row it’s claimed that title. It was joined in the top five by Call Her Daddy, Huberman Lab, This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von and The Diary of A CEO with Steven Bartlett.

According to Spotify, over half a billion people have listened to a podcast on its platform since it entered the podcast world in 2019.

Just one more chapter

Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, released last January, was named the most popular audiobook across the country in 2024.

In second place was Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us, which was released as a major motion picture in August, followed by fantasy favourites: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien and A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. The top five is rounded out by self-help book Atomic Habits by James Clear.

Maas also claimed the top spot globally for A Court of Thorns and Roses and fourth place for A Court of Mist and Fury. The Fellowship of the Ring came second, and Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died was third.

Celebrate your year, your way

Spotify has also launched some new featured in this year’s personalised user experience, including a celebration of your year on the platform, your musical evolution throughout 2024 and clips from your most listened to artists.

As a fan-favourite feature, AI DJ provides a next-level listening experience to Wrapped, providing commentary about your year alongside the music that soundtracked it. Also available in Spanish this year, DJ will tell you about your year in listening, and even tell you about your unique relationship with the DJ itself.

There’s a Wrapped take over of Spotify’s AI Playlist feature, allowing Premium users to create personalised playlists using their Wrapped data.

Additionally, Spotify has also launched its 2024 Wrapped Creator Experience for Podcast Creators, Artists, Advertisers and – new for 2024 – Authors. With access to their own individualized Wrapped microsite experience, artists, creators, and for the first time, authors, can dive into all the ways in which their fans listened this year.

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