Spotify Launches Podcast Recapping the 2010s Biggest Music Artists, Trends

By Variety Staff

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – It’s another end-of-the-decade walk through memory lane: Spotify is taking listeners on a journey through the last 10 years in music with a new original podcast, “The Decade Wrapped.”

“The Decade Wrapped” podcast is hosted by Eric Eddings, who is joined by critics, comedians, influencers and writers — with special guests including Lele Pons, Robin Thede and Hannah Bronfman — as they look back at the music stories that defined pop culture between 2010 and 2019.

The 10-episode series incorporates data and insights from ’s Wrapped campaign, which revealed through personal e-cards what the platform’s listeners have been streaming in 2019 and over the past decade.

The first three episodes are available starting Dec. 16, in the U.S., with the next seven episodes to be released daily over the course of the week.

Some of the highlights of Spotify’s analysis of artists featured in the podcasts:

• “Despacito” has over 1.3 billion all-time streams
• Kendrick Lamar’s top song of all time, “Humble,” has more than 1.1 billion streams
• Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk” hit more than 1.08 billion streams
• Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next” has over 973 million streams to date
• Nicki Minaj’s most popular song, “Bang Bang,” has more than 730 million streams
• Beyoncé’s “Halo” has more than 705 million all-time streams
• One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” is at over 270 million streams
• Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” one of the most-viewed videos on YouTube, has received more than 205 million streams since its debut in 2012

Here’s a breakdown of the artists and trends in each year covered in “The Decade Unwrapped”:

2019: The end of the decade gave us giant breakthroughs for two artists. For Lizzo, it’s a story of years of hard work that culminated in the artist’s becoming a mainstay in the mainstream. And for LilNas X, it was the perfect storm of a catchy song on TikTok and a cowboy hat.

2018: The year was all about Ariana Grande. She returned to music with the One Love Manchester concert and came out on top with “thank u, next,” proving that music has the power to help us process, heal, and face what’s next.

2017: “Despacito” from Luis Fonzi and Daddy Yankee, crossed a huge milestone to become the most-watched video on YouTube for the year and surpassed 1.3 billion streams on Spotify, making it the first Spanish-language song to reach the billion-stream milestone.

2016: With her release of “Lemonade,” Beyoncé solidified her status as a powerful force in music. “Lemonade” appeared to divulge intimate details about her life while at the same time commenting on black life in America. It was universally praised for its personal and political content—and also for crossing genres. Its controversial snub at the Grammys also marked the beginning of a broader conversation around recognizing black musicians.

2015: There were three differing perspectives on what the biggest musical story of 2015 was. Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” cemented Lamar as a cultural icon as it examined race, discrimination, anger, and violence. Meanwhile, Drake’s “Hotline Bling” and his dis-track feud with Meek Mill fueled a massive year for him. And Lin-Manuel Miranda turned Broadway upside down when his hip-hop musical “Hamilton” exploded as a hit inside and outside the theater.

2014: The 1980s came back to the top of the charts as Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” and Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk,” featuring Bruno Mars, battled for number one. “Uptown Funk” propelled producers to the forefront; it became one of Ronson’s biggest hits and underscored the increasingly key role of producers in music then and today.

2013: If there was any year that your grandma might be caught dancing to an EDM song, 2013 was it. The “Harlem Shake” showcased the immense viral power of crossover appeal and memes, and the song became a mainstream number-one hit, with more than 2.1 million streams on Spotify. The 2010s were the decade of user-created content—and this song embodied that ideal.

2012: One of the most-watched videos in the history of YouTube, “Gangnam Style” set the stage for K-pop acts like BTS to come. The song, which has been streamed over 208 million times on Spotify, is credited with bringing Korean culture into the American mainstream.

2011: British boy band One Direction recorded their first album, released “What Makes You Beautiful,” and finished up their first tour. One Direction’s teen audience was fully internet literate and ready to make the band their own. Fanfiction and fanart take flight. So of course we had no choice but to stan.

2010: In the early 2010s, women like Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and Katy Perry took the stage — but no one matched the omnipresence of Nicki Minaj. Before even dropping a full album, she was featured on tracks by Lil Wayne, Kanye, will.i.am, and Gucci Mane. Her debut album, Pink Friday, didn’t disappoint—and over the years she became a force in hip-hop.