Spotify Earnings Map: The Biggest Hits from Every Country in 2026

In 2026, the streaming economy is bigger – and more complex – than ever. Spotify recently revealed it paid more than $11 billion to artists and rights holders in 2025, the largest annual payout in the music industry from any retailer in history. At the same time, streaming platforms are grappling with a new challenge: the rise of AI-generated music, as rival services like Apple Music are beginning to introduce transparency tags to identify tracks created or assisted by artificial intelligence.

As streaming revenues grow and new technologies emerge, the industry is entering another period of transformation. This inspired the team at TradingPlatforms to examine global streaming trends with a twist: instead of only the most-streamed songs worldwide, we focused on the top tracks by local artists in each country. Using data from Kworb and Spotify, we mapped each country’s most-streamed song, tracking total streams and revenue globally and domestically. We also collected historical data, from pre-1960s classics to today’s viral hits, to see how local and global appeal translates into real financial impact.

Key takeaways

• The highest-earning song worldwide is The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’, which has generated $21.3 million on Spotify, yet only around 3% of that revenue comes from streams in Canada, the artist’s home country.
• New releases can generate massive streaming revenue in a short time. ‘Who’ by Jimin (2024) has already generated $9.29 million from 2.32 billion Spotify streams, approaching the $13.5 million earned by ‘Take Me to Church’ by Hozier since its 2013 release.
• Artists from countries with relatively small Spotify audiences are racking up huge worldwide streams. For example, ‘Gata Only’ by FloyyMenor (Chile, 2024) earned $7.94 million from 1.98billion global streams, while Colombia’s ‘LUNA’ by Feid (2023) pulled in $6.23 million from 1.56billion streams. These tracks show that even smaller domestic markets can deliver outsized global Spotify earnings.
• The most streamed songs released in 2025 were Alex Warren’s ‘Ordinary’ (currently at 1.69billion streams, $6.77million) and Bad Bunny’s ‘DtMF’ (1.61billion streams, $6.46million), showing how quickly new hits can reach massive global audiences. Bad Bunny dominates the list, appearing five times in the top 20, highlighting his unmatched streaming power in the past year.

Streaming revenue today is increasingly defined by a widening divide between global dominance and local loyalty. Mega-hits like The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ have amassed over $21 million in Spotify revenue, with just 3% coming from Canada, proof that international audiences, not homegrown fans, now drive the bulk of profits. In contrast, domestic chart-toppers such as ‘Serana’ by the Indonesian group For Revenge and ‘Timanttei’ by the Finnish pop star Mirella derive more than 94% of their streams locally, showing how concentrated national fanbases can sustain high earnings even with limited global traction.

Streaming monetisation has accelerated, creating multiple paths to rapid revenue. Ecuador’s ‘VITAMINA’ by Jombriel, the only 2025 release in the dataset, has already earned $1.57 million from 391 million global streams in its first year. Meanwhile, 2024 releases illustrate contrasting dynamics: South Korea’s ‘Who’ by Jimin amassed $9.29 million from over 2.3 billion streams, with only 4.1% coming from domestic fans, highlighting the power of international reach, while Mexico’s ‘Que Onda’ by Calle 24 earned $4.35 million from 1.09 billion global streams, with a remarkable 57.8% of revenue generated locally, showing how concentrated national fanbases can sustain high earnings even without massive global virality.

Spotify’s 2026 monthly listener rankings show a subtle but significant shift at the very top. Bruno Mars has climbed into the No. 1 spot with 131.6 million monthly listeners, overtaking The Weeknd and signaling a resurgence for his timeless pop catalogue. Bad Bunny’s second place at 123.5 million listeners this year feels unsurprising given his breakout run: a historic Grammy Album of the Year win for Debí Tirar Más Fotos and a record‑breaking Super Bowl LX halftime performance that drew billions of views worldwide, propelled his music far beyond Latin genres and into mainstream pop culture icon status.

Taylor Swift, despite her latest album The Life of a Showgirl dominating charts, with lead single ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ spending over nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the longest in her career, sits in the No. 5 spot with 104.8 million monthly Spotify listeners, emphasising how even major chart success doesn’t guarantee the very top of the platform’s audience rankings in 2026.

Meanwhile, a diverse set of artists from Rihanna and Justin Bieber to Billie Eilish, Drake, and SZA keep the middle of the top 20 packed with both enduring favourites and newer forces. Together, these rankings show that Spotify listeners reward both veteran strength and fresh cultural impact, creating a streaming landscape where classic hits remain relevant while viral moments can rapidly reshape the hierarchy.

Spotify’s all-time charts read like a time capsule of modern music consumption, where viral newcomers stand shoulder to shoulder with songs older than streaming itself. Once again, The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ dominates the leaderboard, but the chase is on: 2025’s ‘Ordinary’ by Alex Warren has already racked up 1.69 billion streams and $6.77 million in revenue, while 2024’s ‘BIRDS OF A FEATHER’ by Billie Eilish reached 3.55 billion streams, generating $14.19 million in its first year.

What’s equally striking is how far nostalgia still travels. Queen, The Police, and even Brenda Lee’s ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’, recorded more than sixty years ago, continue to generate millions from Gen Z listeners. Spotify’s real power lies in collapsing musical timelines: the same algorithm that propels a viral hit to billions of plays also breathes new life into old favourites, turning the platform into both a launchpad for new icons and a preservation engine for the global soundtrack.

Spotify’s Most Streamed Songs Released in 2025

Data Sources: Kworb

Alex Warren’s Ordinary reigns over 2025 releases, amassing 1.69 billion streams and $6.77 million in revenue, solidifying its status as one of the year’s most meteoric hits and earning Warren an MTV VMA for Best New Artist. In parallel, Bad Bunny’s supremacy remains unmatched, with five songs in the top 20, including ‘DtMF’ (1.61 B streams, $6.46 M) and ‘BAILE INoLVIDABLE’ (1.32 B, $5.27 M).

Emerging artists also commanded attention. HUNTR/X’s ‘Golden’ (1.52 B, $6.07 M) captivated audiences not merely through its genre-defying production but also via TikTok virality and the fervent fanbase of the 2025 Netflix animated film KPop Demon Hunters. The film’s fictional boy band Saja Boys charted twice in the top 20 with ‘Soda Pop’ (687 M, $2.75 M) and ‘Your Idol’ (836 M, $2.71 M).

Grammy-recognised artists further distinguish themselves on the charts – Olivia Dean’s ‘Man I Need’ garnered 850 million streams ($3.40 M in streaming revenue) and propelled her to Best New Artist at the 2026 Grammys, while sombr’s ‘undressed’ reached 815 M ($3.26 M) and Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Manchild’ tallied 771 M ($3.09 M). Carpenter was the most nominated artist at this year’s ceremony, achieving remarkable recognition, despite leaving without a gramophone.

Streaming’s New Frontier

Streaming continues to redefine global music in 2026. Spotify’s latest Loud & Clear report shows more than 13,800 artists earned over $100,000 in 2025, with 1,500 surpassing $1 million, many of whom aren’t household names. The platform’s reach is now truly global: 85% of six‑figure earners are outside the U.S., spanning 75 countries and featuring music in 16 languages on its Global Top 50. Even lower-tier artists are seeing significant gains, with the 100,000th highest earner making $7,300 last year, compared with $350 a decade ago.

At the same time, Spotify faces growing pressure from both artists and listeners. Following Daniel Ek’s step down as CEO at the start of 2026, co‑CEOs Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström are tackling complaints over payouts, algorithmic bias, and AI content, while also addressing ‘algorithm fatigue’ among users seeking fresher recommendations. The leadership is prioritising AI integration, video content, and new discovery tools to maintain Spotify’s competitive edge against TikTok, YouTube, and emerging platforms.

Together, these trends highlight a music industry in flux: streaming now powers both overnight virality and long-term catalogue success, while global reach, fan engagement, and technological innovation define the paths to growth – proving that in 2026, opportunity and challenge in music are more intertwined than ever.

Methodology:

The team at TradingPlatforms sourced data from Spotify and Kworb to identify the most-streamed songs in each country, working down the charts until a local artist appeared. Kworb provides coverage for 76 countries, but Andorra, El Salvador, and the United Arab Emirates were excluded from this analysis because no local artists ranked among the top streams, leaving a total of 73 countries.

For each track, we calculated global and domestic revenue by multiplying streams by $0.004, based on Spotify’s reported payout range of $0.003-$0.005 per stream. Beyond the country-level data, we also compiled information on the most-streamed songs and artists worldwide, as well as historical top tracks spanning past years and decades, applying the same revenue calculations. Finally, we examined current 2026 trends, focusing exclusively on newly released tracks to generate a ranking that highlights which songs are achieving immediate streaming dominance.

Countries’ Most Streamed Songs on Spotify by Local Artists