Spotify Wrapped 2021 reveals how the world listened to K-Pop this year
Today, Spotify reveals its annual 2021 Wrapped campaign and personalized user experience unveiling the top artists, albums, songs, playlists and podcasts from the creators that helped soundtrack the year for more than 381 million users worldwide. As part of this campaign, Spotify is breaking down how the world listened to and discovered K-Pop, including the artists, albums and songs that defined this globally growing genre.
If 2020 saw BTS become bonafide global stars, 2021 was the year they became a global supernova. With more than 7 billion streams in 2021 the group is this year’s top Kpop artist globally, and also the third overall most-streamed artist across the globe, coming in after Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift.
The band also clinched the top four spots in the list of top K-Pop songs with their tracks Butter, Dynamite, Permission to Dance and Life Goes On. Their albums BE, Love Yourself 結 ‘Answer’ and MAP OF THE SOUL : 7 also emerged as the top three most streamed K-Pop albums, a testament to the global dedication and love of their fans.
BLACKPINK, TWICE, Stray Kids and TOMORROW X TOGETHER round out this year’s top K-Pop artists, with BLACKPINK’s The Album and How You Like That taking spots in the top K-Pop Albums and Songs.
As the BLACKPINK ladies carve names for themselves as solo artists, ROSÉ’s R , LISA’s LALISA and JENNIE’s SOLO emerged first, second and fourth on the list of top K-pop solo singles in 2021. Outside of the group, IU made three appearances in the top 10 most-streamed Kpop solo single list, with her tracks Celebrity, eight and Love Poem.
As K-dramas continue to gain popularity worldwide, Spotify also reveals the top OST tracks with Sweet Night by V from the soundtrack of Itaewon Class topping the list for the second year running. JIN and V’s track It’s Definitely You from HWARANG, Pt. 2 was the second most streamed Korean OST while I’m Missing You by Sunjae from the soundtrack of True Beauty rounds out the top three.
Spotify 2021 Wrapped Global K-Pop Top Lists:
1. BTS
2. BLACKPINK
3. TWICE
4. Stray Kids
5. TOMORROW X TOGETHER
6. IU
7. SEVENTEEN
8. ITZY
9. EXO
10. Red Velvet
1. Butter – BTS
2. Dynamite – BTS
3. Permission to Dance – BTS
4. Life Goes On – BTS
5. How You Like That – BLACKPINK
6. Boy With Luv (feat. Halsey) – BTS, Halsey
7. On The Ground – ROSÉ
8. Film out – BTS
9. MONEY – LISA
10. Ice Cream – BLACKPINK, Selena Gomez
Top K-Pop Albums Globally
1. BE – BTS
2. Love Yourself 結 ‘Answer’ – BTS
3. MAP OF THE SOUL : 7 – BTS
4. THE ALBUM – BLACKPINK
5. Love Yourself 轉 ‘Tear’ – BTS
6. MAP OF THE SOUL : PERSONA – BTS
7. The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever – BTS
8. You Never Walk Alone – BTS
9. Love Yourself 承 ‘Her’ – BTS
10. Wings – BTS
Top K-Pop Female Groups Globally
1. BLACKPINK
2. TWICE
3. ITZY
4. Red Velvet
5. (G)I-DLE
6. MAMAMOO
7. LOONA
8. aespa
9. IZ*ONE
10. Dreamcatcher
Top K-Pop Male Groups Globally
1. BTS
2. Stray Kids
3. TOMORROW X TOGETHER
4. SEVENTEEN
5. EXO
6. ENHYPEN
7. NCT DREAM
8. NCT 127
9. ATEEZ
10. DAY6
Top K-Pop Solo Singles Globally
1. R – ROSÉ
2. LALISA – LISA
3. Celebrity – IU
4. SOLO – JENNIE
5. eight – IU
6. Way Back Home – SHAUN (feat. Conor Maynard)
7. Love Poem – IU
8. Nevertheless, (Original Television Soundtrack, Pt. 6) – Sam Kim
9. Gangnam Style (강남스타일) – PSY
10. Chicken Noodle Soup – j-hope (feat. Becky G)
Top K-Pop OSTs Globally
1. Sweet Night – V from ITAEWON CLASS
2. It’s Definitely You -JIN, V from HWARANG, Pt. 2
3. I’m Missing You – Sunjae from True Beauty
4. Starlight – CHA NI (SF9) from True Beauty
5. Aloha – CHO JUNG SEOK from Hospital Playlist
6. ALWAYS – Yoon Mirae from Descendants of The Sun
7. Flower – Yoon Mirae from Crash Landing On You
8. Love so Fine – Cha Eun Woo from True Beauty
9. I’m In The Mood For Dancing – YUJU
10. Call Me Maybe – Saya
Spotify 2021 Wrapped Global Top Lists:
Top Global Artists
1. Bad Bunny
2. Taylor Swift
3. BTS
4. Drake
5. Justin Bieber
Most Streamed Songs Globally
1. “drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo
2. “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” by Lil Nas X
3. “STAY (with Justin Bieber)” by The Kid LAROI
4. “good 4 u” by Olivia Rodrigo
5. “Levitating (feat. DaBaby)” by Dua Lipa
Most Streamed Albums Globally
1. SOUR, Olivia Rodrigo
2. Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa
3. Justice, Justin Bieber
4. =, Ed Sheeran
5. Planet Her, Doja Cat
Starting today, eligible users can also access their personalized Wrapped experience exclusively in the Spotify mobile app (iOS and Android). In addition to what fans love most about Wrapped, we’ve added a few new features to look out for:
○ New data stories to express your year in audio – in addition to your top artists, genres, songs, podcasts and minutes listened, the personalized Wrapped experience includes several all new features, including:
- 2021: The Movie – Your top songs paired with classic scenes from a movie that’s all about you.
- Your Audio Aura – We worked with an aura expert to visualize your audio aura based on your top two music moods.
- Playing Cards – An interactive data-based game that you play, and then share with your friends. We’ll display several statements about your listening this year, and you’ll have to guess which are true.
- 2021 Wrapped: Blend – Tapping into the new Blend feature launched this year, Spotify fans can see how their 2021 music taste matches up with friends, stream their blended playlist and share their results on social.
For even more on how the world listened in 2021, check out Spotify’s For the Record blog.
