How Tones And I, Sia and AC/DC ruled on Deezer this year

Tones Abnd I, Sia and AC/DC were among the acts that dominated on Deezer in 2020.

Although ‘Dance Monkey’ was released in 2019, it remained the year’s most streamed song on the platform, as it did on Spotify and Apple Music.

The second and third most-streamed songs, ‘Blinding Lights’ by The Weeknd and ‘Roses (Imanbek Remix)’ by SAINt JHN, were also leftovers from 2019.

Deezer also noted that these three had a connection to cats. It analysed that the majority of its listeners were drawn to songs with 131-132 BPM – same as a cat’s internal BPM.

“So if you’ve streamed our top three tracks of the year, you are definitely a cat at heart,” Deezer said in a blog post this week.

The service hasn’t released data on streams volume by the Australian ex-busker. But estimates put the 1.9 billion streams for ‘Dance Monkey’ on Spotify alone at between $10 million and $12 million – to be shared by the singer with various rights holders associated with the song.

Tones’ The Kids Are Coming ranked #3 in the Top 10 international albums list, after After Hours by The Weeknd and Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?.

Sia was the seventh most streamed female artist, on a list headed by Dua Lipa and followed by Eilish, Lady Gaga, Anitta, Ariana Grande and Rihanna.

Not surprisingly, AC/DC was hailed among the acts with the most superfans – the top users who streamed their favourite artists the most.

The artists with the most superfans were a motley group – Eminem, BTS, Beyoncé, Queen, The Beatles, David Guetta and Maroon 5 with AC/DC in the top spots.

Deezer, which boasts a massive hard rock and metal fan following, has been highly supportive of Akka-Dakka since they debuted on the platform in 2015 with their full catalogue.

Last year it kept up the momentum behind the 40th anniversary of Back In Black.

In 2020 it dedicated 100% AC/DC playlist posted a 200% increase in streams.

Colombian superstar J Balvin was a most streamed international artist, ahead of The Weeknd, Dua Lipa and Bad Bunny at #4.

The Weeknd beat J Balvin as Top Trendsetter, defined by Deezer as an artist who has fans that are ahead of the curve, listening to an artist as soon as a track or album is released.

“This is the year of home confinement and social distancing,” Frédéric Antelme, Deezer’s VP of content and productions, said.

“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.”