Music

Shockingly, 'Old Town Road' Is Not Spotify's Most Streamed Song This Summer

Lil Nas X’s breakout single is only the fourth most-played track on the streaming service. Here’s what beat it.
JT
Chicago, US
'Old Town Road' Is Somehow Not Spotify's Most Streamed Song This Summer

The success of Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" is the most surprising music story of 2019. The song from a 20-year-old rapper from Georgia named Montero Lamar Hill spent a whopping and record-breaking 19 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The track was inescapable thanks to its infectiously hypnotic hook, as well as marquee remixes from artists like Billy Ray Cyrus and RM of the K-Pop group BTS. But while it's undoubtedly a cultural phenomenon, according to Spotify, it's hardly the song of the summer.

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The streaming services unveiled its most played songs, and the results are pretty shocking. Crunching the numbers from June 1 to August 20 (which is an oddly specific interpretation of summer), Spotify found that globally "Old Town Road" was only the fourth most-streamed track during that time frame. The track lost out to the third place-getting Billie Eilish single "Bad Guy," which dethroned "Old Town Road" from its Billboard reign, as well as runner-up Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber's "I Don't Care." The number one song is actually the current number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello's "Señorita," which is impressive considering it came out on June 21 and was streamed a bonkers 565 million times since then.

If those totals sound surprising, the United States-specific tallies are even more chin-scratching. Here, "Old Town Road" only hit eighth on the list, falling behind Post Malone and Swae Lee's "Sunflower" and even Lil Nas X's follow-up single "Panini." Given that "Old Town Road" first hit number one in April, it had already lost momentum by the time June rolled around, but these totals are still astonishing. The most streamed song in the U.S. during that time period is Lil Tecca's "Ransom," which is currently peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. These numbers just show how streaming is only one small component of the Billboard charts, which also factor in physical sales and radio airplay. Below, check out the global and U.S. lists of the most streamed songs of the summer.

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Most Streamed Songs of the Summer (Global)

1. Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes, "Señorita"

2. Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber, "I Don’t Care"

3. Billie Eilish, "Bad Guy"

4. Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus, "Old Town Road"

5. Bad Bunny and Tainy, "Callaita"

6. Ed Sheeran and Khalid, "Beautiful People"

7. Darell and Sech, "Otro Trago"

8. Lewis Capaldi, "Someone You Loved"

9. Post Malone and Young Thug, "Goodbyes"

10. Post Malone and Swae Lee, "Sunflower"

11. Lil Tecca, "Ransom"

12. Bad Bunny, Daddy Yankee, and Lunay, "Soltera (Remix)"

13. Shawn Mendes, "If I Can't Have You"

14. Drake and Rick Ross, "Money In The Grave"

15. Daddy Yankee and Snow, "Con Calma"

16. Goodboys and MEDUZA, "Piece Of Your Heart"

17. Lizzo, "Truth Hurts"

18. Katy Perry, "Never Really Over"

19. DJ Snake, J Balvin, and Tyga, "Loco Contigo"

20. Lil Nas X, "Panini"

Most Streamed Songs of the Summer (U.S.)

1. Lil Tecca, "Ransom"

2. Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes, "Señorita"

3. Lizzo, "Truth Hurts"

4. Drake and Rick Ross, "Money In The Grave"

5. Billie Eilish, "Bad Guy"

6. Lil Nas X, "Panini"

7. Post Malone and Swae Lee, "Sunflower"

8. Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus, "Old Town Road"

9. J. Cole, Travis Scott, and Young Thug, "The London"

10. DaBaby, "Suge"

11. Post Malone and Young Thug, "Goodbyes"

12. Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber, "I Don’t Care"

13. Chris Brown and Drake, "No Guidance"

14. Polo G and Lil Tjay, "Pop Out"

15. Tyler, the Creator, "Earfquake"

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16. Khalid, "Talk"

17. Ed Sheeran and Khalid, "Beautiful People"

18. Taylor Swift, "You Need To Calm Down"

19. J. Cole, "Middle Child"

20. Shawn Mendes, "If I Can’t Have You"