The end of the year is approaching and with it the time to take stock, starting with the musical rankings of the major streaming platforms. And like last year, rap largely dominates listening on Spotify. Only rappers appear in the top 10 most listened to artists in France in 2021, led by Jul, followed by Ninho, SCH, Damso, Naps, Booba, PNL, Djadja & Dinaz, PLK and Nekfeu. “It is a trend which is confirmed and not only with us, it is the trend of the French market, affirms to 20 minutes Antoine Monin, CEO of Spotify France and Benelux. We can congratulate ourselves on the dynamism of the French and French-speaking music scene. “
Among the most listened to titles, the palm goes to The Kiffance by Naps, whose album Hands made for gold comes in 3rd place on the top album dominated by Damso and QALF Infinity. Marseille rap has a very good place in these rankings. JULIUS II by SCH was the 2nd most listened to album of the year and Petrushka from Soso Maness the 2nd most popular title. “Marseille rap has been listened to no less than 2 billion times around the world and in France,” notes the Spotify press release. To note that Organized band figure for the second year in a row in the top 10 most listened to titles, in 4th place, just after Montero (Call me by your name) by Lil Nas X.
And the other musical registers? Antoine Monin nuances a little. “These tops are a bit the tip of the iceberg and we must not be fooled by this magnifying glass effect. On the whole, urban music is the dominant musical genre in the world and in France, but pop and rock are still present ”. Other big absent from the tops of the rankings: the rappers and the women in general. Only Dua Lipa is there and manages to grab 8th place in the top 10 albums with Future Nostalgia, as well as the 10th most listened to track with
Fever in feat with Angèle.
Lack of representation and visibility
The most listened to female artist in France on the platform, Dua Lipa arrives at the 19th position of the overall ranking for men and women combined. She is followed by Aya Nakamura (25th overall), Sia, Doja Cat and Billie Eilish. Note that the absence of female artists also appears on the side of the ranking of the 10 most listened to titles in France at Apple Music this year, dominated by The Kiffance, Organized band and All in Gucci by Ninho. Only Dua Lipa and Angèle manage to slip into the top ten with Fever, in 4th place all the same.
To try to counter this lack of representation, Spotify took the problem “head on” by launching EQUAL to give more visibility to these artists. “It’s a program that consists of programming surfaces like playlists, marketing actions, campaigns on social networks or specific pages that only highlight female artists,” he explains. In this EQUAL France top 5 this year, Clara Luciani is in the first place of the most listened to artists, followed by Angèle, Amel Bent, Poupie then Barbara Pravi.
And what about the rappers, absent from the rankings of this musical genre which nevertheless dominates them? “For the moment, rap is essentially a movement embodied at the level of superstars by male artists, recognizes Antoine Monin. In our EQUAL program we support artists like Meryl or Lala & ce. We must continue to push and promote them. “