Spotify 20: What We Learned About the Internet

Spotify 20 is taking over people’s social media this week. We have learned a lot about what the Internet used to look like from this roundup.

As a part of the celebration of Spotify being 20 years old, they’ve collected users’ all-time hits into a playlist. But, that’s not all! They also reminded people of who their most-streamed artist of all-time is. And, they also dredged-up your most-streamed song.

There are some folks who are not surprised by the domination of their old favorite records. And, others are taken aback by recent faves somehow climbing the ladder in short order. However, if you’ve been on this ride for a while now, Spotify dropped some time markers that will have you reminiscing.

Technology has really come a long way in 20 years. And, we don’t even have to mention how 20 years ago was basically “Peak Millenial” dominance in pop culture. Still, here’s three things we learned about the Internet from Spotify’s findings at 20 years on.

Spotify users lean younger in listening habits

This would make sense for a streaming service that prides itself at moving at the speed of pop culture itself. Still, I was surprised to see Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors as the oldest album in Spotify’s All-Time Top 100 albums. 

We’re talking about a massive cross section of musical history here. (Well, of artists that Spotify has licensed.) But, the fact remains, things are very current on that app. The 1977 album is a classic, so it’s good to see the youths still like a tune that was around in my mother’s heyday.

I would also have to mention the effect of the 2020 global health situation on this ranking too. If that man had never skated into our lives, what year do you think the “oldest song” would have come from?

This is all a very harrowing thought. But, one I have to consider when it comes to this particular listening base. Spotify makes a point of nudging and recommending new features and artists to the people scrolling through their catalog.

It’s hard to imagine a younger person stumbling onto a record from 1977 unless they were just browsing older playlists. Rumors sits at 8.3 billion streams on Spotify. And the next two oldest albums in the Top 100 are Thriller and Nevermind.

Podcasting changed a lot?

Podcasts have been around before Spotify’s creation. But, the platform’s growing ascent in the media landscape helped push podcasts even further into the mainstream. 

Apple Podcasts and this platform have done more than anything else to make people go to Guitar Center and pick up a podcast mic. That is for good and for bad in a lot of cases. As we discovered when we realized what was the most binge listened podcast series of all time.

 Spotify is home to a bunch of wonderful podcasts like Dissect, The Ringer Verse, and Good Hang. But, the most binge listened show in the platform’s history is The Joe Rogan Experience. And, that’s a major story of the last 20 years isn’t it.

“Everyone has a platform now.” People on the Internet parrot this line at each other all the time. And, it is true, even if we wish not everyone could toss uninformed takes out there at the speed of light. But, it comes with the territory. It’s a huge reason we are where we are (*derogatory!*)

Vibes are an actual category?

One day, i’m going to google the chart that shows the usage of the word vibe skyrocketing over the last decade. Then, I’m going to lay down because it’s just a lot to think about. People became absolutely infatuated with “moods,” “vibes,” and other new age-y catchalls over the course of this app’s history. 

Spotify itself revealed that the word “Chill” is the most streamed mood on the platform. That’s a sentence that seems ripped out of a sci-fi novel from about 40 years ago. However, that’s just how things roll on social media in 2026. 

4.4 trillion all-time streams of “chill” mood music is unfathomable. The current obsession over vibe coding or optimizing everyday life cannot be understated. Some would probably argue that this isn’t that deep. But, people’s use of music and art reflect the times they’re living through. Just a strange time to be around!

Still, as we head into the future, I’m sure I’ll find some of these findings quaint as an uncertain future looms. At least we’ll have music to keep us company.

(featured image: Johan Larsson)

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