Drake was Spotify’s most-streamed artist of the decade. What does that mean?

(WashingtonPost)

While critics prepare their “end of the decade” lists, Spotify released some cold, hard numbers showing which artists, songs and albums listeners streamed the most on its platform during the past 10 years. The results, while generally unsurprising, reflect the myriad ways streaming has shifted how “popularity” is both measured and attained.

Spotify’s most-streamed artist since 2010 is — we’d say “drum roll, please” but the answer is too obvious — Drake, followed by Ed Sheeran, Post Malone, Ariana Grande and Eminem.

Of course Drake claimed the top spot. By gaming the streaming system, the rapper — with a boost from Spotify — engineered his own popularity.

One logical way to rack up numbers is to release more songs for fans to stream. Drake, ever the workhorse, has released at least 179 songs on Spotify since 2010. That equates to nearly an 18-track album per year, and doesn’t count singles or songs that feature the rapper only. The sheer output alone is astronomical, but Drake seems to have another trick up his sleeve: He creates soundscapes more than albums — sets of songs that bleed into each other, encouraging a listener to just let it ride.

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