With a growing grassroots movement pushing for a ‘Death to Spotify’ boycott this month, where independent artists and fans are challenging Spotify’s royalty model and algorithmic power, questions about who truly profits from streaming are more urgent than ever. In this climate, I’m reaching out with a new report that highlights Spotify’s most-streamed (and most lucrative) songs by local artists around the world.
To identify each country’s most-streamed song by a local artist, the team at TradingPlatforms used data from Kworb, reviewing Spotify’s all-time charts for the top domestic performer in 73 available countries. For each track, we estimated global and local revenue by multiplying total streams by $0.004, the midpoint of Spotify’s reported payout range ($0.003-$0.005 per stream). We also analysed global and historical data using the same model to assess top songs from past decades and today’s most-streamed artists, along with 2025’s fastest-growing releases. The full dataset is available on Google Drive via this link.
Data reveals that the most profitable songs dominating local all-time weekly Spotify charts include hits from established artists like The Weeknd, Hozier, and Avicii, each generating over $11 million in revenue, alongside emerging stars such as K-pop sensation Jimin, whose most-streamed song (Who) amassed $8.16 million in revenue in just a single year.
Here are the highest-earning songs on Spotify from local artists:
The Weeknd – Blinding Lights – $20,259,662, 3.14% from Canada
Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved – $16,321,708, 8.13% from the UK
Vance Joy – Riptide – $13,266,795, 6.24% from Australia
Hozier – Take Me To Church – $12,826,765, 0.84% from Ireland
Avicii – Wake Me Up – $11,501,902, 5.21% from Sweden
J. Cole – No Role Modelz – $10,810,239, 44.33% from the U.S.
Alan Walker – Faded – $9,031,440, 2.16% from Norway
Jimin – Who – $8,164,895, 3.89% from South Korea
FloyyMenor – Gata Only – $7,262,755, 6.57% from Chile
Lost Frequencies – Where Are You Now – $6,458,798, 1.96% from Belgium
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