Spotify’s highest earning songs mapped globally, with the top tune generating $4.5 million – so is YOUR favourite hit on the list?
- Experts have mapped out the world’s top earning Spotify songs in a study that may surprise you
- The Killers’ hit song ‘Mr Brightside’ is the UK’s biggest earner with over £1 million in royalties
- Meanwhile, The Weekend’s hit ‘Blinding Lights’ topped the charts in 10 separate countries
Experts have mapped out the world’s top earning Spotify songs in a study that just may surprise you.
Lewis Capaldi, The Killers and Lady Gaga are among numerous artists that have taken Spotify by storm, according to the study.
‘Mr Brightside’ is the UK’s biggest earner, with The Killers raking in more than £1 million in royalties ($1,254,087) for the 2003 classic, according to NetCredit.
Meanwhile, Scottish popstar Capaldi took the lead in Ireland with $160,403 (£128,234) for his ballad Someone You Loved, while Post Malone earned $4,507,241 (£3,603,313) for Sunflower in the US.
Post Malone’s Spider-Man soundtrack has gained the most earnings of any Spotify song, while The Weekend’s Blinding Lights topped the charts in 10 separate countries.
Spotify’s highest-earning songs: Mr Brightside is the UK’s biggest earner, with The Killers raking in more than £1million in royalties. Scottish popstar Capaldi took the lead in Ireland with $160,403 for ballad Someone You Loved, while Post Malone raked in $4,507,241 for Sunflower in the US
These results come after the music streaming platform paid $7billion in royalties to music artists just two years ago, according to NetCredit
NetCredit said: ‘There’s no doubt about it: streaming services like Spotify have revolutionized the way we listen to music.
SPOTIFY’S HIGHEST EARNING SONGS AROUND THE WORLD
‘Where once enjoying music meant first rifling through a stack of CDs or paying (and waiting) for a download, Spotify instead offers 100 million tracks at the touch of a button.
‘But the world’s most popular streaming service doesn’t get access to these tunes for free — in 2021 alone, Spotify shelled out $7billion in royalties to the music industry.’
Big names like Avicii also smashed records in Sweden with a Spotify income of $653,671 (£522,577), while James Arthur took Singapore by storm with $162,162 (£129,640).
On the flip side, Tom Odell’s 2013 hit Another Love was the highest earning song in Saudi Arabia scoring $35,287 (£28,210), and The Shallow by Lady Gaga topped Iceland with $16,904 (£13,513).
Despite this, results often appeared entirely different when categorised into the genres of rock, hip-hop, latin and electronic dance music (EDM).
To calculate this, researchers accounted for Spotify’s pay-per-stream rate in addition to chart-hit streaming data from Kworb.
It is understood that artists make around $0.005 USD – equivalent to £0.004 – every time their song is streamed on Spotify.
Bestseller Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood was not only a top rock earner in the US but in Poland and Romania too.
However, Mr Brightside took the lead yet again in the UK for the highest earning rock hit, while also topping charts in Australia and Ireland.
For the hip-hop category, it was Drake’s One Dance hit that came out on top in the UK and 13 other countries.
Theses were mainly South American and Central American nations including Chile, Argentina, Honduras and Guatemala.
In the US, Juice WRLD’s Lucid dreams topped the moneymaking chart for hip-hop with $4,371,446 (£3,494,752), while Post Malone’s Rockstar conquered Ireland and Canada.
When it came to EDM, Roses (Imanbek Remix) by SAINt JHN was the highest earning hit among 14 countries, but generated the most in Canada with $369,492 (£295,390).
In the UK and Ireland it was Joel Corry’s hit Head & Heart which earned the most, with $651,519 (£520,856) and $90,619 (£72,445) in each respective country.
Elton John’s Cold Heart (PNAU Remix) also came out on top for 12 other countries, but still made the most in Mexico with $602,910 (£481,996).
Spotify’s top-earning rock hits: Bestseller Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood was not only a top rock earner in the US but also topped the charts in Poland and Romania. But , Mr Brightside did take the lead yet again in the UK for the highest earning rock hit, leading the board in Australia and Ireland too
Spotify’s highest-earning hip-hop songs: Drake took the lead with One Dance in the UK with $948,613 and 13 other countries. In the US, Juice WRLD’s Lucid dreams topped the moneymaking chart for hip-hop with $4,371,446
Spotify’s highest-earning electric dance music hits (EDM): For 12 countries, Elton John’s Cold Heart (PNAU Remix) also came out on top. For the UK and Ireland it was Joel Corry’s hit Head & Heart
Spotify’s highest-earning Latin hits: Despacito by Luis Fonsi took the world by storm, topping charts in 17 countries, including the UK where it has raked in $529,885
While results were very diverse among previous categories, it could be argued that the Latin genre saw more unified results.
Despacito by Luis Fonsi took the world by storm, topping charts in 17 countries, including the UK where it raked in $529,885 (£423,616).
At its peak, the pop track topped the charts in 47 countries, with its music video also the second most-viewed of all time on YouTube.
In 19 other countries Pepas by Farruko was the highest earning song, while nine other nations were unified through their love of Balvin’s 2019 hit LA CANCIÓN.
MailOnline has approached Spotify for comment.
This research comes less than a month after Spotify released their new Niches playlist tool.
‘Angry Whistling’ and ‘Sad Cooking’ are among the tens of thousands of new playlists that can now be made thanks to the music platform’s new Niche Mixes maker.
No matter the occasion, Spotify claims the tool can make playlists filled with both songs you already know and others that will match any kind of atmosphere.
Spotify said: ‘If you’re looking to get super specific, search for an activity, vibe, or aesthetic that describes the moment you’re in, and then add the word ‘mix’ at the end. ‘Don’t be shy. Get creative. The more Mixes you search for, the more music you can discover.’
WHAT DO MUSIC STREAMING SERVICES CHARGE AND WHAT DO YOU GET FOR YOUR MONEY?
Spotify
Price:
Free with ads and shuffle only play
Premium costs £9.99 ($9.99) a month
Premium features:
Lets you to listen to albums from start to finish
No adverts interrupting your enjoyment
Lets you download music
YouTube Music
Price:
Free with ads
Premium costs $9.99 (or £9.99 if YouTube follows Spotify and Apple’s pricing)
Premium features:
No adverts interrupting your enjoyment.
Lets you download music
Remixes, covers and live tracks exclusive to YouTube
Apple Music
Price:
£9.99 ($9.99) a month
Features
Integrates with your existing music collection
Connects with your favourite bands
Largest music library currently
Lets you download music
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