At this point I’d say it was expected.
Yesterday Apple Music released their Year End reviews and Spotify followed by pushing out Wrapped today so social media is now flooded with people letting their taste in music be known to the world.
Some people get annoyed by it but I really enjoy it. Someone’s favorite songs and artists can tell you a lot more about them plus it’s fun to see if some of my favorite bands and artists were top of other’s lists as well.
Personally, my top artist was Colby Acuff and 4 of my top 5 songs were from Treaty Oak Revival, since I’m sure you were wondering…
Apple Music also put out their Top 100 most streamed songs globally yesterday and Morgan Wallen was all over the list, including the top spot for “Last Night” which set no shortage of streaming and charting records in 2023.
Well, Spotify has just released their list of most streamed artists, songs, and albums and Wallen’s name is again all over the place.
“Last Night” beat out SZA’s “Kill Bill” and Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” to take top spot on the US most streamed song list and his One Thing At A Time double album beat out SOS by SZA and Taylor Swift’s Midnights to be the US most streamed album of the year.
Wallen also clocked in at number three for most listened to artist in the US.
Spotify has a much larger global presence than Apple Music so it only makes sense that he wouldn’t have faired so well on the global charts for the streaming giant, but it’s clear the giant wave we saw him have in the country world spilled over into the mainstream in a way we really haven’t seen before.
Whether you like Morgan Wallen or not, it’s undisputable that he is helping to popularize country music, which in turn, lifts all of the undervalued artists in the genre that we hold so dear to our hearts.
If Morgan can become the gateway drug for some folks to get into country music (like Mark Cuban), it’s good for the genre that Morgan Wallen is as big of an act as he is.
