Here are the artists, albums, and songs we couldn't stop listening to this year
Callie Ahlgrim
- The annual release of Spotify Wrapped inspired Insider's biggest music fans to compare notes.
- Taylor Swift was the most common appearance in our top artists and songs, especially tracks from her newest album "Folklore."
- We loved songs like The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights," Chloe x Halle's "Do It," and Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now."
- Other standout artists included Halsey, Ariana Grande, Harry Styles, The 1975, Tame Impala, Phoebe Bridgers, and Frank Ocean.
December is the month of reminiscence - a fact that Spotify knows all too well.
On Tuesday, the streaming app unveiled 2020 Wrapped, an annual summary of listening habits that's personalized for each user.
Music is always a connective force. But in a year that doesn't have much we'd like to revisit, it was especially fun to pay tribute to the sounds that kept us sane - and, of course, to compare notes with fellow fans.
Insider's music team (reporter Callie Ahlgrim and editor Courteney Larocca) was inspired to do just that. We collected Spotify Wrapped data from nine fellow music lovers at Insider, seeking patterns and shared favorites to figure out the defining artists, albums, and songs of 2020.
Below, you'll find our 11 biggest takeaways.
We listened to a lot of Taylor Swift.
Taylor Swift was the No. 1 artist for freelance fellow Crystal Wall, freelance editor Paige DiFiore, and Larocca — who was in the top 0.05% of Swift's listeners this year.
Swift was also the No. 3 artist for Ahlgrim.
Our favorite song by Swift was "The 1," which was the No. 1 song for Larocca, No. 2 for DiFiore, and No. 3 for Ahlgrim.
But "Folklore" was a popular album across the board. Our top five songs also included "Cardigan," "The Last Great American Dynasty," "August," "This Is Me Trying," "Illicit Affairs," "Invisible String," "Peace," and "Hoax."
Predictably, The Weeknd's hit "Blinding Lights" was very popular.
After "The 1," The Weeknd's smash hit was the most common song that appeared in Insider's top-five lists.
"Blinding Lights" was the No. 1 song for entertainment correspondent Kim Renfro and No. 3 for entertainment reporter Olivia Singh.
The Weeknd was also the No. 1 artist for Insider's London-based entertainment editor Tom Murray.
Chloe x Halle's "Do It" was another favorite track.
"Do It" appeared on both Ahlgrim and Larocca's "Your Top Songs 2020" playlists.
Chloe x Halle was also the No. 5 artist for deputy entertainment editor Joi-Marie McKenzie.
Halsey was a top artist for three people.
Halsey was the No. 2 artist for Ahlgrim, No. 4 for Larocca, and No. 4 for DiFiore.
Ahlgrim's top five songs included "You Should Be Sad" (No. 2), "3am" (No. 4), and "I Hate Everybody" (No. 5).
"929" was also listed at No. 8 on Larocca's "Your Top Songs 2020" playlist.
Dua Lipa dominated pop music with her sophomore album "Future Nostalgia."
Dua Lipa was the No. 2 artist for entertainment reporter Libby Torres, No. 4 for Ahlgrim, and No. 4 for Singh.
Lipa's hit single "Don't Start Now" was tied with "Blinding Lights" for top-five appearances. It was the No. 1 song for Ahlgrim this year and No. 3 for Torres.
"Physical" was No. 5 for Singh.
Other tracks from Lipa's excellent album "Future Nostalgia" also placed high on Ahlgrim and Larocca's "Your Top Songs 2020" playlists, especially "Break My Heart" and "Levitating."
Ariana Grande made up a lot of ground with "Positions."
Despite the late-year release of her album "Positions," which dropped in October with little prior notice, Ariana Grande still racked up streams this year.
Grande was the No. 1 artist for Ahlgrim — who was in the top 0.1% of the singer's listeners — and No. 2 for Larocca.
"POV," the final and best song from "Positions," just missed the cut for Wall's top five. It landed at No. 6 on her "Your Top Songs 2020" playlist.
Older songs from Grande's catalog also appeared throughout Ahlgrim and Larocca's playlists, including "Needy," "In My Head," "God Is a Woman," "Into You," and "Greedy."
Harry Styles songs popped up a lot.
Harry Styles released his second solo album "Fine Line" in late 2019, but clearly maintained relevance throughout 2020.
Styles was the No. 5 artist for Larocca; "Treat People With Kindness" was the No. 2 song for London-based entertainment fellow Zac Ntim.
"Watermelon Sugar," "Adore You," and "Cherry" featured prominently on Ahlgrim and Larocca's "Your Top Songs 2020" playlists, while Wall favored "Golden."
Bonus: Styles also appeared in the form of his former band. Five years after announcing their hiatus, One Direction was the No. 5 artist for Wall, Singh, and DiFiore.
We loved The 1975's new album "Notes on a Conditional Form" - especially the song "Tonight (I Wish I Was Your Boy)."
The 1975 was the No. 1 artist for Renfro this year, largely thanks to their fourth album "Notes on a Conditional Form." Her top five songs included "Frail State of Mind" at No. 2, "Tonight (I Wish I Was Your Boy)" at No. 3, and "Yeah I Know" at No. 4.
Renfro's "Your Top Songs 2020" playlist was littered with songs from the band's catalog, including "Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America," "Love It If We Made It," and "Somebody Else."
"Tonight (I Wish I Was Your Boy)" also appeared on Ahlgrim and Larocca's playlists.
Our resident rock expert loved "The Slow Rush" by Tame Impala.
Tame Impala was the No. 2 artist for editorial fellow Max Kalnitz, whose top song of the year was "Tomorrow's Dust."
Kalnitz's top five also included "On Track" at No. 2 and "Borderline" at No. 3.
Phoebe Bridgers was a top-five artist for two people, and "Graceland Too" was another's third-favorite song.
Phoebe Bridgers was the No. 3 artist for Larocca and No. 5 for Renfro.
Songs from "Punisher," the singer's Grammy-nominated sophomore album, littered both of their top songs playlists.
"Graceland Too" was also Murray's third most-streamed song, while "ICU" was Renfro's fifth and "Moon Song" was Larocca's seventh.
This was a year that called for Frank Ocean, even though he didn't release any new music.
Despite near-complete silence from Frank Ocean this year — save for two acoustic songs that appeared on Spotify in April — the enigmatic singer still managed to capture our attention.
Ocean was the No. 2 artist for Ntim and No. 3 for Renfro, who most favored the songs "In My Room" and "Nights."
Of course, 2020 was stressful and weird, so retreating to Ocean's intensely emotive music makes perfect sense.
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