Spotify has released a 25 Under 25 list featuring the most played under the age of 25 based on stats from the music streamer. Eighteen-year-old Shawn Mendes tops the list followed by Ariana Grande, Chance the Rapper, Martin Garrix and Justin Bieber.
25 Under 25
- Shawn Mendes: Shawn Mendes started out posting six-second Vine clips of himself singing covers, and now, at 18, the singer-songwriter from Toronto fills major venues and attracts an impressive 25 million Spotify listeners each month. Mendes’ sophomore album, Illuminate, dropped in September and multiple tracks are popping on Spotify, with notable standout, “Treat You Better,” on track to give Mendes’ breakout smash “Stitches” (500 million plus streams) a run for its money.
- Ariana Grande: Ariana Grande might not be a dangerous woman in the criminal sense, but her music slays. Multiple tracks from the 23-year-old singer’s latest album became instant hits; “Dangerous Woman” and “Into You” have both clocked more than 200 million streams each, and “Side to Side” (with Nicki Minaj), is a top 10 song on Spotify’s global chart. Did we also mention Grande has 27 million monthly listeners? Ok, maybe she isdangerous.
- Chance the Rapper: Chance the Rapper’s gospel-inflected mixtape Coloring Book is lauded as one of the strongest releases of 2016 and features assists from fellow Chicago rapper Kanye West, as well as Justin Bieber and Future. Chance (real name Chancellor Johnathan Bennett) has more than 6 million monthly listeners who are really getting behind the 23-year-old’s track “No Problem” (feat. Lil Wayne and 2Chainz). With more than 60 million streams, it’s making serious noise on our global chart as well as on our popular “Rap Caviar” playlist.
- Martin Garrix: Having reached EDM stardom at the age of 17 thanks to several bombastic remixes, Dutch artist Martin Garrix, now 20, is at the top of his game. Garrix’ banger, “In The Name of Love,” is tearing it up on Spotify’s “Today’s Top Hits” playlist. With 21 million monthly listeners, Garrix is comfortable hanging out as one of Spotify’s top twenty most popular artists of all time. Garrix just released a new single, “Make Up Your Mind,” on October 21st.
- Justin Bieber: Justin Bieber has been on a hot streak since his comeback Diplo/Skrillex collaboration “Where Are Ü Now” dropped in early 2015. With follow-up monster solo hits that just keep coming at us, like “Love Yourself,” “What Do You Mean?” and “Sorry” – which have all passed the 700 million streams mark – there’s just no stopping the Biebs. Bieber’s collaboration with Major Lazer and MØ, “Cold Water” is currently streaming more than 2.5 million times a day.
- Alessia Cara: Alessia Cara might have made a name for herself with a song about her disdain for teen parties, but the party has definitely arrived for this talented 20-year-old from Ontario, Canada. Since the success of “Here,” Spotify’s most viral song in the U.S. last year (and #5 globally), the R&B singer has attracted more than 13 million monthly listeners. Cara’s track, “Scars to Your Beautiful,” is a favorite in our “Today’s Top Hits” playlist at the moment.
- Charlie Puth: With a whopping 20 million monthly listeners on Spotify, singer-songwriter Charlie Puth is one of the top players in pop music today. He gained worldwide recognition for the Wiz Khalifa song “See You Again” which Puth wrote, produced and sang on. His duets with leading ladies like Meghan Trainor (“Marvin Gaye”) and Selena Gomez (“We Don’t Talk Anymore”) turned to pop gold, with the latter seeming to have taken up permanent residency on our global charts.
- Fifth Harmony: This all-girl R&B group needs no introduction; more than 16 million Spotify listeners stream Fifth Harmony’s infectious tracks each month. The fun, flirty jam “Work From Home” has racked up more than half a billion listens and was a playlist staple over the summer in the U.S. and UK (much like “Worth It” from the year before), and current favorite “All In My Head (Flex)” (featuring Fetty Wap) has flexed some serious muscle on our charts.
- Hailee Steinfeld: Hailee Steinfeld’s latest track, “Starving,” is taking off, with more than 160 million streams and a confident sojourn up Spotify’s global chart. It’s safe to say the track solidifies the 19-year-old oscar-nominated actress as a top pop artist, following on from last year’s breakout single “Love Myself” (210 million streams). Steinfeld, who also starred as one of the Bardon Bellas in the accapella-celebrating movie “Pitch Perfect 2,” has 17 million monthly listeners which, I think we can all agree, is aca-astounding.
- Flume: Australian deejay/producer Flume just picked up 11 nominations for Australia’s Grammy-equivalent awards show, the ARIA’s, and is touring Europe and the U.S. to support his excellent sophomore album, Skin. Currently, Spotify listeners can’t get enough of Flume’s latest hits “Say It” (feat. Tove Lo) and “Never Be Like You” (feat. Kai). With 13 million monthly listeners, Flume (real name Harley Edward Streten), is one of the top EDM artists on the scene.
- Zara Larsson: After winning a TV talent show in her native Sweden at age ten, Zara Larsson disappeared for a while, grew up a bit, honed her singing chops, then made it her mission to tear up the world stage of pop music. Mission accomplished: monster tracks “Never Forget You” (385 million streams) and “Lush Life” (485 million streams) feature Larsson, now 18, as a genre-bending artist, blending pop, EDM and even a little hip-hop. Larsson attracts a whopping 18 million monthly listeners and her current track, “Aint My Fault,” is killing it on our “Today’s Top Hits” playlist.
- Maluma: We’d like to think we got the jump on Colombian singer Maluma’s career; he was one of the first artists featured on Spotify’s now-popular “Baila Reggaeton” playlist when it debuted three years ago, a move which helped bring his edgy-yet-also-romantic music to a wider audience. And due to popular demand, Maluma’s hit song, “Borro Casette,” has been featured in “Baila Reggaeton” for a solid year. With more than 6 million monthly listeners, as well as collaborations with Ricky Martin and Shakira, Maluma (real name: Juan Luis Londoño Arias) has earned bragging rights as the world’s top urban Latin artist.
- Tory Lanez: Tory Lanez transitions between rap and R&B as seamlessly and confidently as he “crowd walks” at live shows. Our listeners took to the Toronto-born artist’s smooth track, “Say It,” when it dropped last year, and in August, his debut album, I Told You, received almost 10 million streams in its first week of release. Lanez has 12 million monthly listeners and his track “LUV” is currently crushing it in popular playlist “Are & Be.”
- Kelsea Ballerini: One of the brightest stars to emerge from Tennessee in recent years, country singer Kelsea Ballerini has sent three tracks from her debut album, The First Time, to the top of the Billboard country music charts. Spotify listeners are particularly fond of tracks “Love Me Like You Mean It,” “Dibs” and “Peter Pan,” which collectively have clocked more than 75 million streams. Listeners stream Ballerini’s music consistently and many have discovered her music in popular playlist “Hot Country,” where her song “Yeah Boy” is kicking up dust right now.
- DNCE: Electric-rock outfit DNCE took off earlier this year thanks to their bouncy hit, “Cake by the Ocean,” now at 440 million streams. Their song, “Toothbrush,” is also a smash with about 100 million streams. Formed in 2015 and led by Joe Jonas, the U.S.-based group has an ardent following with Spotify listeners in Mexico City, and all told, boasts about 12 million monthly listeners. Let them eat cake!
- Joel Adams: Singer-songwriter Joel Adams is 19, hails from Brisbane, Australia, and has only ever released one song on Spotify. His sole ballad, “Please Don’t Go,” has received so much attention — to date it has around 210 million streams — that we couldn’t look away. Neither could the biz; Adams recently signed to independent record label Will Walker records. Now with 10 million monthly listeners and a coveted spot on Charlie Puth’s North America tour, Adams is the man of the moment.
- Desiigner: When his track “Panda” took off earlier this year, hip-hop artist Desiigner established himself as the breakout star of 2016. That song is now approaching half a billion streams. Signed to Kanye West’s record label G.O.O.D. Music, the 19-year-old from Brooklyn, is now scaling our charts with the track, “Timmy Turner,” and all told, Desiigner (whose real name is Sidney Royel Selby III), attracts more than 13 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
- Selena Gomez: Selena Gomez shed the last remnants of her children’s TV star past with the release of her sultry, coming-of-age album, Revival. With multiple songs surpassing 200 million streams like “Hands to Myself,” “Same Old Love” and “Good For You” (currently at about 330 million streams), Gomez, 24, is now one of the leading ladies of pop music. She averages 2.5 million streams a day and listeners are besotted with her current collaboration with Charlie Puth, “We Don’t Talk Anymore.”
- Glass Animals: Hailing from Oxford, England, indie-pop four-piece Glass Animals has a solid history with Spotify listeners; “Gooey” was the world’s second most viral track in 2014. The band released its album, How To Be A Human Being, to stellar reviews in August and generous streams for its energetic lead single, “Life Itself.” Glass Animals’ psychedelic jams appear regularly on Spotify’s much-loved “Rock This” playlist, and attract 2.5 million monthly listeners.
- Halsey: Many Spotify listeners have followed pop singer Halsey’s career with great interest over the last couple of years, streaming her awesome track, “New Americana,” some 130 million times. But it’s her guest spot on the world’s biggest hit of the moment, The Chainsmokers’ “Closer” that brought Halsey’s stunning voice to the masses. Her solo music now averages 1.5 million streams a day, yet it feels like the 22-year-old from New Jersey is only just getting started.
- Nothing But Thieves: Nothing But Thieves is an alt-rock ensemble from Essex, England that’s toured with Muse, beautifully blends influences like Jeff Buckley and Radiohead, and lights up Spotify’s “Rock This” playlist like a Christmas tree. All songs featured by the band enjoy a low skip rate – a clear signal that listeners approve – and tracks “Trip Switch” and “Wake Up Call”—with a combined total of nearly 28 million streams — are getting considerable attention with our U.S. listeners. Stay tuned, because with about 1 million monthly listeners, Nothing But Thieves have nothing but staying power.
- Demi Lovato: Demi Lovato commanded everyone’s attention with her assertive, no holds-barred album,Confident, which produced the mega title track as well as last year’s summer standout, “Cool for The Summer” (180M streams). Listeners are also embracing Lovato’s sultry track, “Body Say,” in a big way. Overall, the 24-year-old singer-songwriter attracts 10 million monthly listeners.
- Rae Sremmurd: This is the third time hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd has made it onto Spotify’s 25 Under 25 list. Brothers Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi impressed listeners with their 2015 album, Sremmlife, and now the track “Black Beatles” (featuring Gucci Mane) off the duo’s sophomore release SremmLife 2, is getting its day in the sun. “Black Beatles” is currently excelling on our global chart and in the popular playlist “Rap Caviar.” Overall Rae Sremmurd attracts 7 million monthly listeners.
- Cheat Codes: When Los Angeles electronic trio Cheat Codes released the song “Sex” earlier this year, it resonated in a big way with listeners in Spotify’s “New Music Friday” playlist. The track borrows from Salt N Peppa’s 1990 hit “Let’s Talk About Sex” and has amassed more than 320 million streams. Cheat Codes averages 15 million monthly users and right now listeners are into the track “Let Me Hold You (Turn Me On)” featuring Dante Klein.
- Daya: Singer-songwriter Daya can be heard all over The Chainsmokers’ massive summer ‘16 hit, “Don’t Let Me Down,” but in the summer of ‘15, her own track, “Hide Away,” (215 million streams) was already setting her stage for superstardom. The 18-year-old talent from Pittsburgh, whose real name is Martine Tandon, just dropped her full-length debut album Sit Still, Look Pretty and the title track has had an impressive run in Spotify’s “Today’s Top Hits” playlist.