As most of the world is indoors because of the Coronavirus or COVID-19, working from home and relying on streaming services to get their fix on entertainment, music streaming giant Spotify has shared some rather interesting stats on what people are listening to these days. Let us get this out of the way first and foremost—The Police’s track Don’t Stand So Close to Me has seen a 135% spike in streams in the recent weeks, says Spotify. Quite relevant, as authorities around the world are urging everyone to keep a distance of 6 feet from each other.
One of the biggest worries for parents is how keep their kids busy. This, while trying to keep them away from screens, make them learn something new at the same time and also get some of their own work done. Spotify’s data suggests that some of the podcasts which continue to be popular are Story Pirates, Chompers, Every Little Thing and The Two Princes. Spotify also says that there has been a rise in listening stats of music playlists and podcasts related to staying healthy and fit. The searches with words “cooking” or “recipes” have also gone up.
One probably worrying thing from these Spotify stats is that people seem to be in a slightly more somber mood these days. Perhaps that’s a result of working from home. “During this time, we’ve also noticed that the songs Spotify listeners are adding to their playlists are more “chill”— meaning they’re more acoustic, less danceable, and have lower energy than songs previously added. Plus, the music tends to be more instrumental, featuring instruments rather than vocals,” they say. Quite helpful then is the Chill shelf which hosts some of the most popular tracks of its kind—Chill Tracks, Lo-Fi Beats, Romantic Acoustics, and Modern Chill Rock, to name a few. Hopefully, music will prove to be the warm hand over those furrowed brows.
“During this time, we’ve also noticed that the songs Spotify listeners are adding to their playlists are more “chill”— meaning they’re more acoustic, less danceable, and have lower energy than songs previously added" - Spotify
You might have seen those tearjerker social media posts recently where residents in countries including Spain and Italy stood on their balconies and rooftops to clap for their health workers and also sang along a few songs to keep spirits up. The Spotify data suggests that in Italy, streams of “Abbracciame” increased by 820% on March 13, and streams of “Azzurro” saw an increase of 715% on March 14. In Spain, streams of the ’80s track “Resistiré” (I Will Resist) by Duo Dinamico shot up by more than 435% starting March 15, after videos of the event started circulating on social media.
With concerts currently out of the picture thanks to the Coronavirus lockdown, virtual concerts seem to be quite popular these days. “James Blake, Indigo Girls, Ben Gibbard, Chloe x Halle, Code Orange, and Jewel are just a few of the many artists to see spikes in streaming so far,” says Spotify.
Spotify is the most popular music streaming app in the world. In India, Spotify Premium is available for Rs 119 per month through you can remain with the ad-supported free subscription tier as well and still get access to the entire library of content. In India, Spotify competes against the likes of Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Prime Music, JioSaavn, Airtel Wynk Music and Hungama Music, to name a few.
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