What does your taste in music say about you? If you’ve listened to the likes of The Weeknd and Tones and I this year – you may be surprised to discover that your kindred musical twin is a cat. Say what? Yes, it’s true. Not only did we analyse all the tunes that got us through the year, but we also wanted to find out what our listening habits revealed about us.
Global audio streaming service, Deezer looked into the top sounds of 2020 around the world. We’ve created the ‘Animal Rhythm’ of 2020 to help you find your inner creature, based on the beats you enjoy. We discovered that the majority of our users are on average – feline first. Similar to a cat’s internal BPM, they prefer listening to artists and tracks that hit the sweet spot at 131-132 BPM. So if you’ve streamed our top three tracks of the year, you are definitely a cat at heart.
Read on to learn more about your “Animal Rhythm” as well as 2020’s most streamed artists, tracks, albums, plus a few new categories including Superfans. We’ve also added some fun facts that sum up the sounds of 2020.
Top track: It seems like tracks released in 2019 were still going strong this year. The now iconic ‘Dance Monkey’ by Tones and I was released in 2019 and held onto the position as our most streamed song for 2020 in South Africa and across the globe. The same goes for chart smash-hits ‘Blinding Lights’ by The Weeknd and ‘Roses (Imanbek Remix)’ by SAINt JHN. All three also kept fans coming back for more after its release in 2019.
Top album: In Mzansi, R&B songstress Elaine reigned supreme with ‘Elements’ topping album streams overall. Kabza De Small was also a local favourite with three of his albums ranking amongst South Africa’s top 10 most streamed albums. Outside of home, The Weeknd took the no.1 spot for most played international album of 2020 with ‘After Hours.’
Top artist: Amapiano king, Kabza De Small takes the crown as the country’s most streamed artist overall, followed by Drake at #2 and DJ Maphorisa ranking at #3. Globally, the Colombian superstar, J Balvin won for the third year in a row as the #1 most streamed international artist. The Weeknd was not far behind at #2, followed by Dua Lipa at #3 and Bad Bunny at #4.
Biggest superfans: We’re raising our glasses to all the superfans out there – the top users who streamed their favourite artist the most. When we looked at artists ranked by the number of superfans around the world – Eminem topped the list. He was closely followed by K-pop superstars BTS. Classic 60s and 70s bands The Beatles and Queen made up the top 10, while Shakira and Beyoncé also had the most loyal streamers. Fun fact – the average age of a superfan is 31 years old!
Animal Rhythm: When we looked at the average musical BPM around the world, cats clawed their way to the top of the animal kingdom with a BPM of 131-132. The giraffe wasn’t far behind coming in at #2 with a BPM (140-149) and the dog hitting the #3 spot at (127-128). However, regionally cats played second fiddle to the giraffe which took the #1 spot in countries including: Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Guatemala.
“This is the year of home confinement and social distancing. Streaming helped many people cope and it may be telling that the top 10 tracks this year are all international, dancey and positive. We also saw some interesting trends, with 40% of our top 20 international albums made by black artists, compared to a quarter the year before. And our top 10 streamed international acts were equally split between genders this year. Music has always reflected the underlying dynamics of our society and 2020 is no different. I can’t wait to see what 2021 brings,” said Frédéric Antelme, Deezer’s VP of Content and Productions.
In order to help you find all the sounds of 2020 in one place, our editors have also created a special ‘Best of 2020‘ channel. Here you’ll find all the top streamed tunes, and artists of the year. You’ll also find personal playlists from our editors that define what 2020 meant for each of them.
Don’t forget that #MyDeezerYear is back. Log into your account on your mobile device and you’ll be able to see your personal top charts to see what you listened to the most. You can head to the mobile app to find all the tunes and artists that you’ve had on repeat in 2020. Send to your friends in shareable cards, while also revealing your ‘Animal Rhythm’.
