From one year to the next, there are, in the end, relatively few surprises. The trend is confirmed each time, on streaming platforms, rap artists (and more generally so-called “urban music”) reign supreme. The retrospectives offered this week by the major streaming platforms as the end of the year approaches prove it again.
Jul, Ninho and Alonzo in the tops
Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music revealed their list of the year (December excluded, therefore) this week, at the same time as they offer everyone the opportunity to discover their own ranking. And with a few differences, these are the same artists and the same songs that we find at the top of the charts: on Spotify for example, Jul explodes the records. “This is the second consecutive year that Jul is the most listened to artist; he exceeded five billion streams, all albums combined, a few days ago on Spotify“, explains Nicolas du Roy, culture & editorial director at Spotify. Same result on Deezer, where Jul is the most streamed artist.
French rap is doing the best: on Spotify, for example, of the ten most listened to artists, nine are French. With “Jefe”, Ninho wins the prize for the most streamed album, all platforms combined – and the eponymous title is vying for the status of the most streamed song with “Tout va bien” by Alonzo (on which Ninho, as well as Naps, also appears). “This means on the one hand that the rap aesthetic is very varied, on the other hand that we have an audience that is still very young.“, analyzes Nicolas du Roy.
But according to him, the next few years could see the trends shaken up as the public diversifies: “We’re also seeing more adult pop artists and French variety artists hitting the charts, as more adult audiences (those 35+) embrace Spotify and listen to artists.s that they like.“
Rosalia, Angèle, Dua Lipa and Aya Nakamura among women… but far from the top 10
In addition to the omnipresence of rap, there is also that of male artists. None of the top 10 (artists, albums, titles) on any of the three platforms (Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer) has female artists, with the exception of singer Rosalia, whose song “La fama” is the ninth title the most listened to on Deezer. “Today, the most consumed genre is rap, which is a genre dominated by men. Until there are enough role models, successful rappers, there will be a little way to go», Analyzes Julie Beherec, director of the Equal program of Spotify, intended to promote women artists.
But there too, the situation is not necessarily irremediable: “In the United States, there are female rappers like Cardi B who are very aired and very popular. In France, we have a pool of rappers who are starting to make themselves heard, but not yet a superstar rapper in France“, explains Julie Beherec, who cites rappers like Le Juiice or Chilla. However, for the time being, it is pop artists who are in the rankings: at Spotify, the most listened to female artist is Angèle, followed by Dua Lipa, Aya Nakamura and Rihanna.