Spotify had a big year. The music streaming giant kicked off the year with a new $67 billion valuation and stock prices that tripled. The brand ended the year strong, too, releasing an annual music recap, announcing new partnerships, and making investments in new podcasting tech.
BrandGraph’s year-end data on Spotify
As a result of the brand’s achievements, Spotify climbed to the top of the BrandGraph 500, IZEA’s social measurement platform. This list of 500 brands could be considered the most talked about brands on social — and Spotify topped the chart in December. The streaming brand went up 31 spots from the month before to achieve the top rank. TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube followed behind Spotify in the rankings.
Here’s a look at the top 10 brands in December via BrandGraph:
Aside from topping the list of 500, BrandGraph offers additional data about the trending brand.
Share of voice spikes
Spotify saw a spike in its share of voice in December, too. Influencers took to their social channels to share everything from their favorite playlists to hot podcasts.
BrandGraph shows Spotify’s share of voice in the music-streaming category spiked on Dec. 21, reaching 92% after remaining fairly constant at 80% most of the year.
Content volume increases
Organic content surrounding Spotify shot way up in December. Take a look at the graph below that represents the volume of content on social media, both organic and sponsored, from February 2021 to January 2022.
You’ll notice a spike in the organic content from Nov. 21 to Dec. 21. The spike follows a downward trend that started back in July.
The reasons behind Spotify’s top marks on BrandGraph
The data is impressive, but why is the brand receiving these top marks? Why are so many influencers talking about the brand?
In this case, there isn’t a singular event that helped Spotify climb the charts in December. Instead, it’s likely a series of releases and announcements that led to the shift, which include:
Spotify Wrapped
Spotify Wrapped got a lot of attention last year. Originally launched as Year in Music in 2017, Wrapped gives listeners an annual list of their favorite songs, stats on their listening habits, and provides general listening trends. Artists can see similar stats to gauge their listener base.
The data is personalized to each listener and it’s shareable. So, if you’re the top ranked listener of funk dance music, you can share your fan status with your friends on social. #SpotifyWrapped has more than 200,000 posts on Instagram.
New to Wrapped this year, Spotify added videos from top performers, TikTok sharing capabilities, and a live chat room, Spotify Greenroom. The streaming service also threw a Wrapped party in LA with a star-studded lineup and Gwen Stefani as the headliner.
Delta offers Spotify access
Aside from recapping music stats, Spotify users were able to connect to the platform in more places in December — including airplanes. The streaming music service teamed up with Delta to offer free access to Spotify as in-flight entertainment.
The partnership started in September, but it was extended through the holiday season. News of this partnership has some speculating the partnership could become a permanent entertainment option.
Spotify purchases podcasting platform
As 2021 came to a close, Spotify announced it had purchased a podcasting platform, Whooshkaa. The Australian platform was the second podcasting platform that Spotify purchased in the second half of the year. In September, Spotify acquired Megaphone.
In an attempt to be ahead of the shifting radio industry from traditional listening to on demand, Spotify says these two companies give broadcasters easier ways to publish and promote their shows.
Spotify removed some comedic content
Adding to Spotify’s December buzz, the company chose to remove hundreds of hours of comedic content from its platform. Due to a royalties dispute filed by a group of well-known comedians, some of whom were working with rights agency Spoken Giants, Spotify removed content by Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, and the late Robin Williams rather than continue negotiations.
Spotify had a busy month with a handful of events and announcements that contributed to the brand’s rise to the top of the BrandGraph 500. Curious where your brand ranks? BrandGraph provides data-rich information to top brands so they can see how their brand — and their competitors — are faring on social media. Ready to learn more? Check out BrandGraph.
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