Spotify Wrapped 2022: AP Dhillon, Sidhu Moose Wala, Arijit Singh Among India’s Most Streamed Artists This Year
The annual roundup by the music platform indicates a few surprises but also includes expected favorites like Pritam, A.R. Rahman and Anirudh Ravichander garnering millions of streams
(Clockwise from top left) Taylor Swift, Arijit Singh, Glass Animals, AP Dhillon, Sidhu Moose Wala and Shreya Ghoshal are among the most streamed artists on Spotify in India and abroad in 2022. Photos: Courtesy of the artist, Beth Garrabrant (Taylor Swift), Pooneh Ghana (Glass Animals)
The last couple of weeks saw plenty of hype for Spotify Wrapped – the year-ender stats and data for each user and the music platform’s streaming charts at large. Hilarious tweets came in and in parallel, we even saw a third-party app that created festival lineup posters based on each user’s listening habits.
All of this points to the importance to data and user-generated content from Spotify. This year, their Wrapped feature for users and artists has become even more interactive and colorful, assigning music personalities and specific data points like the most number of times you played a song in a day. The kaleidoscopic hues as a visual aesthetic serve as just the background for the artists who will pop up on various device screens starting today, after Spotify launched its Wrapped campaign, announcing the artists and albums that clocked the most plays this year (up until November, that is).
Hindi song “Kesariya” from the Bollywood film Brahmastra by Pritam, Arijit Singh and Amitabh Bhattacharya is the runaway hit, with Singh as the most streamed artist in India this year and Pritam in second place. Composers like A.R. Rahman, Anirudh Ravichander and singer Shreya Ghoshal round off the top five.
AP Dhillon takes sixth place on the list of most streamed artists in India, but his song “Excuses” is the most streamed song in India. Coke Studio hit “Pasoori” by Ali Sethi and Shae Gill takes second place, while “Kesariya” is the third-most streamed song of 2022 in India. Punjabi pop artist Shubh’s song “No Love” takes the fourth spot, while Aditya A’s “Chaand Baaliyan” is in fifth place.
Sidhu Moose Wala’s tragic passing this year undoubtedly propelled the late Punjabi star’s fandom to new levels. His collab-heavy album Moosetape is the most streamed album of 2022 in India, with film soundtrack Shershaah taking second place and AP Dhillon’s Hidden Gems landing the third spot. Moose Wala is also at number eight among the most streamed artists in India in 2022 on Spotify.
On the global front, U.K. act Glass Animals are clearly overdue for an India visit, considering their song “Heat Waves” was the seventh-most streamed song this year in the country, just ahead of the likes of hip-hop artist King (“Tu Aake Dekhle”), Anirudh Ravichander’s Tamil hit “Arabic Kuthu” and singer-composer Savera Mehta and composer-producer OAFF’s “Doobey” for the film Gehraiyaan (which took the 21st spot). More Spotify Wrapped 2022 stats from India’s independent space are forthcoming.
“Heat Waves” is also the second most streamed song globally in 2022, right behind Harry Styles’ earworm “As It Was.” With The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber’s song “Stay” taking the third spot, Latin star Bad Bunny’s songs “Me Porto Bonito” and “Tití Me Preguntó” were the fourth- and fifth-most heard songs in 2022 globally.
While familiar names like Ed Sheeran (and even Olivia Rodrigo’s album Sour) find place in the Spotify Wrapped global charts, Bad Bunny is the most streamed artist in 2022, followed by Taylor Swift, Drake, The Weeknd and BTS.
