Browse through the most-streamed songs of 2019 among various music services, and you see predictably repeated names: Ariana Grande and Post Malone preeminent among them. Shazam, a popular music-ID app which identifies songs heard ambiently, shows a differentiated 2019 list. Shazam is owned by Apple, so comparing Shazam’s “Most-Shazam’d Songs” with Apple Music’s “Top 10 Streamed Songs” is illuminating.
The two lists are below. Note that Billie Elish and Lil Nas X are the only two duplicate artists. (See these lists and others HERE, thanks to Billboard.)
APPLE MUSIC’S GLOBAL TOP 10 STREAMED SONGS OF 2019
1. Lil Nas X – “Old Town Road (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus)”
2. Post Malone & Swae Lee – “Sunflower”
3. Ariana Grande – “thank u, next”
4. Ariana Grande – “7 rings”
5. Billie Eilish – “bad guy”
6. Post Malone – “Wow.”
7. Meek Mill – “Going Bad (featuring Drake)”
8. Halsey – “Without Me”
9. Gunna & Lil Baby – “Drip Too Hard”
10. Travis Scott – “SICKO MODE”
Top 10 Most-Shazamed Songs:
1. Billie Eilish – “bad guy”
2. Lewis Capaldi – “Someone You Loved”
3. Tones And I – “Dance Monkey”
4. Pedro Capó & Farruko – “Calma (Remix)”
5. Meduza Feat. Goodboys – “Piece Of Your Heart”
6. Daddy Yankee Feat. Snow – “Con Calma”
7. Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello – “Señorita”
8. Lil Nas X – “Old Town Road”
9. Ava Max – “Sweet But Psycho”
10. Calvin Harris & Rag’n’Bone Man – “Giant”
The takeaway: We ID songs we don’t know yet. We regularly stream songs we already love.