What Are Spotify Singles? Streaming's Biggest Cover Series

Remember when singles came with a B-side—often used by artists to cover personal favorites, nod to current chart trends, or just have some fun with a karaoke-style performance? Well, over the past decade, Spotify has tried to adapt the physical market favorite known as the 7-inch for the digital age. And as more than 750 different artists from 45 different territories can attest to, they’ve created one of music streaming’s most popular franchises as a result.

As reported back in February, Spotify Singles has racked up a colossal 10 billion streams and counting since opening up its first designated New York studio in 2016. As one of the first singles recorded at the studio, Aoife O’Donovan's "Lakes of Pontchartrain" set the template for what Spotify singles would eventually become - a cover of the artist's choosing, no matter how random or obscure (in O’Donovan’s case, a 19^th century folk ballad).

But this wasn’t Spotify’s inaugural series. Six years earlier, they launched Spotify Sessions - a kind of mini MTV Unplugged where artists performed a handful of their own songs in front of an intimate audience. However, while this content often racked up millions of views on YouTube, its popularity didn't always translate to its original home. Spotify Singles, on the other hand, quickly became the dominant brand thanks to its shorter format, appeal to casual listeners, and high curiosity factor. Its launch also happened to align perfectly with the rise of streaming, just as digital download formats began to decline.

Indeed, by the end of the year, acts as popular as John Legend, Tove Lo, and Esperanza Spalding had all contributed, resulting in the Singles first official dedicated playlist. Now boasting a whopping 1,099 tracks, the rebranded The Complete Collection reads like a who’s who of contemporary music, with everyone from Tate McRae and Troye Sivan to Hozier and Harry Styles having joined in with the fun.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, pop artists dominate the playlist with 339 tracks hailing from the genre, ahead of indie (288), R&B (144), and indiepop (143). In terms of nationalities, America reigns supreme with 378 contributions compared to Spotify's homeland Sweden (98), the UK (77), and Canada (46). And of the 420 record labels represented, Universal makes up 18%, just ahead of the 15% for both Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group.

Currently, Styles’ cover of Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” has racked up over 306 million streams, approximately 28 million more than the original. Country music’s mainstream resonance is also reflected in the fact that Luke Combs sits at the all-time list’s No.2 thanks to his rendition of Ed Sheeran’s “Dive” (240.7 million). Two places below is Lewis Capaldi’s take on Billie Eilish’s “When The Party’s Over” (167 million), highlighting how despite a pretty even gender split in both artists and listenership, the top end of the series appears to be something of a man’s game.

In fact, just two female artists appear in the top 10. At number three is Indonesia’s most streamed artist N IKI with “You’ll Be In My Heart “ (244.8 million), a cover of Phil Collins ’ Tarzan theme whose success was spearheaded by TikTok. And jazz pop chanteuse Laufey ’s take on festive standard “Winter Wonderland” (136 million) places at seven.

Both have easily eclipsed the numbers posted by Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and every other big pop girl who’s tried their hand at a Spotify Single. The fact that Yoke Lore, a one-time drummer with Walk the Moon, rounds up the Top 10 with a cover of Savage Garden’s ‘90s slushie “Truly Madly Deeply” (132 million) further proves that the series isn’t defined by the usual big hitters.

Indeed, look slightly further down the most-played list and you’ll find local Artists such as Sweden’s Benjamin Ingrosso (“All Night Long (All Night),” 100.2 million), Brazil’s Ludmilla (“A boba fui eu,” 81.6 million), and Mexico’s Fuerza Regido (“La Tierra del Corrido, 78.7 million) above traditional Western acts.

When it comes to the series’ format, however, then the familiar undoubtedly reigns supreme. In the last few months alone, Bring Me the Horizon’s reworking of Oasis’s Britpop classic “Wonderwall” has racked up 20.7 million streams, far outpacing the 1.6 million attained by the metal band’s own “YOUtopia.” Australian indie rockers Vacations have also raked in 1.8 million with their rendition of Kylie Minogue’s “Love at First Sight” compared to the 212.9k for their own song “Midwest.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Bob Dylan is one of the most popular artists to cover. Whitney (“Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You”), Grouplove (“One More Cup of Coffee”), and Margo Price (“Most Likely You Go Your Own Way”) are just a few of the names who’ve attempted to put their own spin on the Bard’s works.

For those who find the idea of the 66-hour Complete Collection a little too exhaustive, Spotify has also splintered its Singles output into several more palatable playlists. Hits, which centers on the most well-known songs, has racked up 735.6k followers, nearly a half-million more than the complete playlist. The equally self-explanatory Covers has posted 483.4k, while genre-specific curations such as Indie & Alternative (110.7k) and Country (119.7k) have also attracted sizable audiences. All Singles-themed playlists have proved to be useful in steering listeners toward new artists, too. Complete Collection, for example, is the most-followed playlist placement for Robin Nazari and Benn Good. It’s a similar story with Hits for Resistance Revival Chorus and McClenney. Of course, Singles doesn’t have to rely solely on its own playlists to get ears around its musical offerings.

Take one of the most recent additions, Lusanda. In the week her cover of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World” was released, it landed the top spot on Tantalizers (204k followers) and was added to the U.S. All-New Indie (1.3 million) and the UK’s Sad Songs (1.75 million), reaching a combined editorial audience of 3.7 million. As a result, her monthly listeners jumped from 226k to 281k in just a fortnight.

Ironically, certain Spotify Singles have received such a positive response that they’ve crossed over to the physical domain, with sessions from Local Natives, Courtney Bartnett, and Mac Miller – the latter of which premiered just two weeks after his untimely death – all getting the vinyl treatment. And if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the 2022 launch of Apple Music Home Sessions – a series which asked acts to recreate both their own and others’ hits – should have left Spotify blushing hard.

“We’re proud that our program provides artists at all levels with a space to foster their creative visions and express themselves through new sounds,” Global Music Programs manager Eunu Song recently declared. Having now opened up its Stockholm studio doors to artists across Europe, Spotify appears more determined than ever to keep growing the world’s coolest singles club.