What music were Canadians listening to in 2022?

The new year is the perfect time to analyze Canadians’ listening habits

By: Daniella Lopez

A person holds a phone with the Spotify music app open. In the background are wired headphones.

Canadians’ most-listened-to artists won’t surprise you. (visualbyfath/Unsplash)

Having just said goodbye to 2022, it’s time to look back at the artists we know and love, as well as some up-and-coming musicians, who dominated the charts.

At the Grammys, Silk Sonic won Record and Song of the Year, while Olivia Rodrigo won Best New Artist. Drake won Top Artist at the Billboard Music Awards and Europe’s Eurovision winner was a Ukrainian rap group named Kalush Orchestra. Meanwhile, in Canada, Charlotte Cardin won Artist of the Year and the Arkells won Group of the Year at the Juno Awards.

With so much music to listen to, what were Canadians streaming? Thanks to Spotify Wrapped, we have our answer. As we head into 2023, here’s a look back at the top artists Canadians had on repeat this past year.

Drake

As (arguably) a Canadian icon, it’s no surprise that Drake was Canada's most listened-to artist. The Toronto-born rapper released two albums, “Honestly, Nevermind” and “Her Loss,” in 2022. 

A surprise release, “Honestly, Nevermind” focused on dance and house music. “Jimmy Cooks” featuring 21 Savage became the sole song on the album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, “Her Loss,” a collaborative album between Drake and 21 Savage, debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums chart and the Billboard 200.

Taylor Swift

Swift made headlines in 2022 with the release of her 10th studio album and an appearance in the period comedy Amsterdam. She finds herself in the No. 2 spot not just in Canada, but globally. 

Swift released her album “Midnights” in late October and it swiftly broke records. The album became Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day, meanwhile “Anti-Hero” garnered 17.4 million plays in a single day. “Midnights” debuted atop the Billboard 200 and became the first album to occupy the top 10 spots in Billboard’s Hot 100.

The Weeknd

Another Canadian star rounds out the top three most-played artists in Canada. The Weeknd had a busy year from releasing his fifth studio album to performing his stadium tour. 

In early January, The Weeknd released “Dawn FM” where it debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The album broke Billboard’s record for the most songs in a single week to chart on the Global 200 for a male artist. The Weeknd was supposed to begin his After Hours til Dawn Stadium Tour on July 8 in Toronto. But due to a Rogers outage, he had to cancel the show just an hour before it was set to begin. The Weeknd made up the performance in Toronto on Sept. 22 and 23.  

Number 4

K*nye West came in fourth on the list. While CanCulture recognizes him as well-known artist, we condemn hate speech and violence in any form so he’s not making it on any list of ours.

Eminem

The 50-year-old is still dominating the music game. Eminem performed at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show along with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige. Following the performance, his 2002 song “Lose Yourself” reached number nine on the US Spotify chart.

Eminem released his second greatest hits album in August titled “Curtain Call 2,” which featured songs from “Relapse” to “Music To Be Murdered By.” Eminem was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Dr. Dre in November.

Ed Sheeran

While taking the fifth spot as Spotify’s most streamed global artist, it’s no surprise Sheeran finds himself in the sixth spot in Canada. Throughout 2022, Sheeran released multiple collaborations with well-known artists. He released “The Joker and the Queen” featuring Taylor Swift in February, “Bam Bam” featuring Camila Cabello in March and “2Step” featuring Lil Baby in April.

In November, “Shivers” reached the one billion club on Spotify. It’s his 11th song to reach one billion streams. In a now-deleted Instagram post, Sheeran revealed he is working on his next album which is set to be released in 2023.

Juice WRLD

Juice Wrld continues to impact the lives of his fans past his death as the artist sits seventh on this list. Following his death in 2019, Juice Wrld’s estate has released multiple songs from the late artist and 2022 was no different. An updated version of his second posthumous album titled “Fighting Demons (Deluxe)” came out in March. The updated version includes songs “Go Hard 2.0” and “Cigarettes.” American rapper DJ Khaled released “Juice WRLD DID” on his 2022 album “GOD DID” which featured the late artist after rapper Lil Bibby sent DJ Khaled the song.

Justin Bieber

As the last Canadian to appear on this list, Bieber finds himself as the eighth most-streamed artist in Canada. It’s a spot down from where he sits on Spotify’s global streamed artists.

Bieber was featured on many songs this year including Jamaican-American rapper Beam’s “Sundown” and American singer Kehlani’s “Up at Night.” He collaborated with Nigerian singer Omah Lay to produce “Attention” and worked with American rapper Don Toliver to create “Honest.” In late February, Bieber’s song “Ghost” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart. He became the first solo male artist to have 10 songs reach the No. 1 spot on the chart.

In 2022, Bieber embarked on his Justice World Tour, originally scheduled for 2020 but postponed to 2022 due to the pandemic. In September, Bieber postponed the remaining dates to prioritize his health. It is unclear when the tour will resume.  

Lil Baby

The Atlanta-born rapper was making moves in 2022 with the release of his third studio album and a documentary.

In early February, “Do We Have a Problem?” a collaboration between Lil Baby and Nicki Minaj was released, along with a music video for the song, winning Best Hip Hop Song at the MTV Music Video Awards. This year, Lil Baby was nominated for five Grammys where he won Best Melodic Rap Performance. A documentary about his life was released in June at the Tribeca Film Festival titled “Untrapped: The Story of Lil Baby.”

In October, Lil Baby released his third studio album, “It’s Only Me,” which debuted atop the US Billboard 200. It’s his third No. 1 album.

Post Malone

Rounding out the top 10 is Post Malone. The rapper made a big jump on the Canadian list compared to the global list where he sits 17th.

In May, Post Malone released “Cooped Up,” a song from his fourth studio album “Twelve Carat Toothache,” featuring American rapper Roddy Ricch. Two days following the release, the pair sang their work on Saturday Night Live and it peaked at 12th on the Billboard Hot 100. In June, the album was released and it debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. 

Post Malone began the North American leg of his Twelve Carat Tour in September and finished in November. Up next, he’ll travel to New Zealand with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in January.

Final Thoughts

Most of the artists on this list can also be found in the top 10 of Spotify’s global artists with the exception of Juice Wrld, Lil Baby and Post Malone. Surprisingly, Bad Bunny is not in Canada's top 10 most-listened-to artists even though he takes the crown for the top global artist. Furthermore, while Harry Styles’ “As It Was” became the number one most-streamed song in Canada, Styles finds himself as the 12th most-streamed artist in Canada. 

Overall, Drake retained his title as Canada’s most-streamed artist since 2020. Swift maintained her hold of the No. 2 spot compared to 2021 and The Weeknd jumped from number five in 2021 to number three in 2022. If one thing’s for certain, Canadians love supporting their Canadian musicians.