Graphic by Audrey Kim
By Avery Golub
News Reporter
As the eventful year of 2020 reached its end, the News team of Denebola deemed it necessary to reflect on a component that makes up a large portion of teen life: music.
Spotify recently launched its “2020 Wrapped” to its listeners, giving personalized recaps of their listening history. Spotify users are able to see their year in review, including their top listened to artists and songs of the year, the number of minutes listened to songs and podcasts, and the number of newly discovered artists this year.
Curious about what Newton South students have listened to in 2020, we turned to Spotify’s “2020 Wrapped.” A survey of Newton South students revealed what they listened to the most, including genres, artists, and minutes spent listening.
First, the most representative statistic is the number of minutes spent listening to music on Spotify. On average, NSHS students spent 35,235 minutes listening on Spotify in 2020. That is almost 600 hours of listening, or 1.64 hours a day — a significant amount of time.
Pop music was the favorite genre among the surveyed students; 75% percent of students listed pop as their most listened to category. The second most popular genre was rap music, and the close runner-ups were folk/indie pop and EDM (Electronic Dance Music). Results of NSHS students are consistent with nationwide results of topmost listened to genres. The 5 most popular genres in the Music Industry, according to MusicianWave, are pop, rap/hip hop, rock, and EDM.
These top listed genres fill only a small portion of the vast number of genres. On average, the surveyed NSHS students listened to 244 genres of music. Every surveyed student listened to at least 200 genres, while some listened to up to 600 genres of music.
The surge of new and rising artists is evident from the student survey results. The survey revealed that Newton South students discovered, on average, 430 new artists on Spotify. Some students listened to as many as 1350 new artists, producing music from around the world.
Students in the survey were asked to list their top five most listened to artists. The most frequently listed artists were The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, Justin Beiber, Bazzi, Khalid, Shawn Mendes, Taylor Swift, and Doja Cat. NSHS student’s top artists are highly representative of the nation’s topmost listened to artists in 2020. According to Wikipedia’s “List of Most Streamed Artists on Spotify,” the top 6 artists with the most monthly listeners (in order of most listeners to least) are Justin Beiber, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Dua Lipa, J. Balvin, and Shawn Mendes. All of these artists produce music that falls within the pop music category, consistent with the statistic that pop is the most popular genre of music.
In addition to providing music from around the world, Spotify includes a wide variety of podcasts. NSHS students were polarized on their interest in podcasts; the survey indicated that they listened to almost no podcasts or listened to a plethora of podcasts. A fourth of the respondents listened to zero minutes of podcasts this year. On the other hand, there were many students who listened to over 65 hours of podcasts!
Notably, not all students listen to Spotify. Just as there is a passionate team full of Spotify supporters, there is also a passionate team of Apple Music supporters. Newton South junior Victoria Rivard articulates why she listens to Apple Music. “It comes down to familiarity and the comfort I find in the things I know. I’ve listened to Apple Music my entire life, so I never made the switch to Spotify.”
People who have switched to Spotify, however, are in love with its features. Sydney Diloreto, another junior, says “Spotify gives so many accurate recommendations based on what you listen to. I’ve discovered a ton of new music from its personalized, custom playlists every week.” Diloreto additionally mentions her love for the quirky aspects of Spotify, “I love that Spotify makes playlists for your pets based on personality traits you give them!”
Apple Music or Spotify, Newton South students were avid followers of all varieties of music this year. In a year filled with change and uncertainty, NSHS students have used music to get through their highs and lows.
Rivard concludes, “Music has helped me create a safe space to relax after long hours of online classes and overloads of negative news.”
