Last Updated on January 28, 2024 by J.SCALCO
New Songs
Which new songs are shaking up the airwaves? What are today’s top hits?
Let’s not kid ourselves—keeping track of the best new songs is an uphill battle. New and established artists keep churning out hit after hit in a seemingly relentless zeal.
So how do you stay “hip” with minimal hassle?
Gone are the days when you had to constantly listen to radio personalities or dig through blogs to navigate the musical wilderness.
Thanks to the unprecedented growth of music streaming services, you can sit back, relax, and leave the dirty work to the likes of Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon. If you want to broaden your musical horizons, these streaming services are a good shout.
But as on-demand streaming becomes the norm, services are competing to win over subscribers and out-curate one another.
For this reason, discovering good music among the never-ending supply of new songs, countless artists, and massive collections of sounds can be a daunting task.
Luckily, most streaming services have invested considerable resources in creating home-brewed and curated playlists. Sure, you can choose to be a free soul by making your own playlists—but that calls for substantial commitments as you pore through the depths of Spotify or Apple Music.
Regardless, I believe that whether you’re looking for smooth vibes to set the mood for a date night, workout tunes to get you riled up, slow songs to help you unwind after a long day, the saddest songs ever written or some tracks to keep you focused as you work from home—there’s a playlist to match the energy.
zRead on for a break down of the top playlists to discover new songs and top hits among the best music streaming services.
New Songs / Today’s Top Hits – Spotify Playlist
The crème de la crème of music streaming services, the guys at the throne—Spotify doesn’t need an introduction. It’s the go-to service for nearly 300 million users (and 130 million subscribers) spread across over 70 countries around the globe.
According to the company, their music catalog boasts of over 50 million tracks and 4 billion playlists. Mind-blowing, right? While this is a testament to the colossal size of the streaming service and its diversity, finding your way through this maze sounds unnerving. Where do you even start?
New Songs on Spotify
The easiest and most popular route to discovering new songs and top hits on Spotify is listening to the most popular playlists.
With the help of Spotify “editors” and a ruthlessly data-driven approach, Spotify runs a beta test on all tracks—cranking up those that work and killing off what doesn’t.
This means that before a new song is peppered into a popular playlist, it has been relentlessly tested to appeal to the masses. So, subject to your sophisticated taste in music, any song on some of Spotify’s most popular playlists is a top hit—guaranteed to get your groove on, feet tapping, vocal cords humming, and head bobbing.
But the same way Spotify sits at the top in the industry, one playlist runs the show at Spotify—case in point, the “Today’s Top Hits” playlist.
At the end of 2019, the playlist hit a staggering milestone by laying claim to 25 million followers.
Keep in mind that this number stood at 11.6 million in 2016 and 18.2 million in 2017.
As if these figures are not impressive enough, a recent report by Spotify notes that “Today’s Top Hits” has been streamed a whopping 20 billion times—with more than 70 of the artists featured in the playlist over the years garnering more than 100 million plays.
Unsurprisingly, the premier hip-hop and pop playlist is partly responsible for the breakout success of artists such as:
- Ant Saunders
- Tones and I
- Arizona Zervas
And boosting the mass appeal of tracks by popular artists like:
- Camila Cabello
- Halsey
- Khalid
- Selena Gomez
- Post Malone
Takeaway? Strap on some headphones and crank up Today’s Top Hits.
Top Hits 100 Global – Apple Music
Ever owned an Apple device—HomePod, iPad, iPod, iPhone, or a MacBook? If so, you’re likely all-too-familiar with Apple Music.
This is the Cupertino-based tech titan’s built-in answer to grabbing a share of the lucrative music streaming market.
But as far as market share is concerned, Spotify relatively dwarfs Apple Music with nearly twice as many subscribers—i.e., 68 million versus Spotify’s 130 million.
Regardless, Apple Music is one of the fastest-growing music streaming services in the industry.
According to data provided by Counterpoint Research, the service expanded its subscription base by an impressive 39% year-over-year. This burgeoning popularity is attributed to the company’s welcome efforts in improving its features and pushing its services to a broader audience—including the introduction of night mode to appeal to a certain target audience.
Like Spotify, Apple Music diligently makes sense of the never-ending stream of new songs and delivers them in a digestible form (i.e., playlists). Although Apple Music is often credited for hosting some of the best curators in the industry, the sheer number of possible great options can be overwhelming. So, what should you listen to?
With most of us working from home and having time to discover new songs as a way to relax or focus on work, Apple Music’s “Top 100: Global” or “Top 100: USA” offer an easy yet powerful way to enjoys top hits you’d have otherwise been blissfully unaware of.
The “Top 100 Global” is home to the most popular songs around the world. The expertly curated list is updated daily to reflect the top hits and new songs that attract the most streams globally. This ensures you’re always on the loop—or even a step ahead—of the new songs that are shaping the global music landscape and culture at any given time.
The Top 50 Most Played – Amazon Music
Yea, yea, I know! Amazon Music does not attract the same kind of buzz among music aficionados as the likes of Spotify and Apple Music. But before you discredit the Jeff Bezos-owned service, keep in mind that it’s hot on the heels on Apple Music.
In a recent update by the company, the music streaming services hit 55 million subscribers as at the turn of 2020—closing in on Apple Music’s 68 million subscribers. The service grew by around 50% across Japan, Germany, UK, and the U.S. and doubled in newer markets such as Spain, Italy, and France.
Part of Amazon Music’s success is attributed to its versatility and overall popularity of other Amazon offerings. In particular, the music streaming services gets to ride on the widespread popularity of Alexa voice assistant and Amazon’s Prime membership. (PS: One of the perks of owning a Prime account is gaining access to Amazon Music’s stream of expertly curated playlists for free).
The most popular playlists for the best new songs and top hits to match your moods on Amazon Music is arguably “The Top 50 Most Played.” It offers an overview of yesterday’s and today’s top hits from diverse genres—including dance, rock, pop, and new country artists.
To quote Amazon Music, “The Top 50 Most Played” will make you “feel in command of the current landscape in no time.” And the best way to discover whether the music streaming lives up to its promise it giving it a shot, right?
New Songs / Top Hits on Billboard Hot 100
Technically speaking, Billboard is not a music streaming service—but it’s a great avenue to discovers some of the best new songs and today’s top hits. Billboard is actually a U.S.-based record chart for the top hits around the globe. The weekly results are published weekly in the Billboard Magazine or on their official website.
Some charts focus solely on a specific genre—e.g., rock, country, or R&B—while others cover all genres. Regarding the latter, the Billboard Hot 100 is arguably one of the surest ways to keep tabs on new songs across different genres.
Billboard’s “Hot 100” is the industry’s standard for the most popular in the United States. Any track on the chart is a verified banger. The ranking of the songs is based on several metrics such as the number of online streams, sales, and airplay. This helps determine the popularity of a song and its impression on audiences.
If you want a data-driven list of the most popular songs from one of the most reputable sources in the music industry, Billboard’s Hot 100 is a no-brainer. Take a look at their new songs/today’s top hits and give them a spin!
