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Spotify's Global Top 50: Doubling Diversity and Rising Royalties

3/11/2026

50 3 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

In Spotify's Global Top 50, songs in 16 languages—Spanish and Korean among them—appear, doubling since 2020, with Bad Bunny (artist) as the most-streamed.
English songs still dominate, while Brazilian Funk and K-Pop are growing.
Spotify paid $11 billion in royalties in 2025, up from $10 billion in 2024, with UK artists receiving £860 million.
Despite criticism of artist payments, Spotify says half of royalties come from independent artists.

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Story summary

In Spotify's Global Top 50, songs in 16 languages—Spanish and Korean among them—appear, doubling since 2020, with Bad Bunny (artist) as the most-streamed.
English songs still dominate, while Brazilian Funk and K-Pop are growing.
Spotify paid $11 billion in royalties in 2025, up from $10 billion in 2024, with UK artists receiving £860 million.
Despite criticism of artist payments, Spotify says half of royalties come from independent artists.