Top artists on Apple Music and Shazam in 2020 revealed

Taylor Swift, Tones And I, The Weeknd, Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa were ranked among the most popular acts for Australian listeners this year, according to new data released by Apple Music and Shazam.

For 2020, Swift, Sheeran, Eminem, Post Malone and Drake were the top five artists streamed by Australians. Billie Eilish, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown and Khalid round out the top 10.

It comes as no surprise that ‘Dance Monkey’ took out this year’s most streamed song on Apple Music. The viral hit is followed on the chart by The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’, Dua Lipa’s ‘Don’t Start Now’ and ‘Circles’ by Post Malone.

Over on music identification app Shazam, users most wanted to know who was behind the Imanbek remix of ‘Roses’ by US rapper SAINt JHN. ‘Blinding Lights’ also made the list, as well as the Topic-A7s collaboration ‘Breaking Me’, Regard’s ‘Ride It’ and ‘Don’t Start Now’. Ultimately, The Weeknd was crowned the most Shazamed artist in Australia this year.

“As a central part of our lives, music provides a daily soundtrack as it motivates, inspires, comforts, and gives us a voice at times when we need the world to listen,” an Apple spokesperson said.

“In 2020, we turned to music in record levels, listening to and discovering more music than ever before.”

The charts arrive weeks after Tones And I was given the top spot on the most Shazamed tracks of all time with ‘Dance Monkey’, recording more than 36.6 million Shazams since its global release in May 2019.

“Shazam has been a huge platform for me in terms of reaching people,” the singer, real name Toni Watson, said in a statement to the BBC.

“I didn’t have a following when I released ‘Dance Monkey’, but it gave me the opportunity to reach more people and elevate my fanbase, which has all let to creating a career for myself.”