Metal Bands Compared by Spotify Monthly Listeners, March 2021 Rankings
Every month we take a look at Spotify’s ‘monthly listeners’ counts for several hundred metal bands and compare them side by side to gauge their relative popularity at any given moment. For more on why we’re doing this column and the methodology behind it, read this.
The numbers for March are in, and more than 230 of the 297 artists whose numbers we compiled saw increases in listenership month over month from February. That trend tracks with the report we published earlier today showing that streaming revenue continues to rise across the board, accounting for 83% of the $12 billion in overall revenue generated by recorded music in the U.S. in 2020.
Some of the biggest gainers in the metal world over the past month included:
- Architects (22.96%)
- Gojira (26.74%)
- Cannibal Corpse (48.25%)
- Amorphis (20.56%)
- Cult of Luna (61.98%)
Artists who saw the biggest drops:
- Children of Bodom (-20.47%)
- Fleshgod Apocalypse (-35.82%)
- Gatecreeper (-28.55%)
- Tomb Mold (-30.67%)
These rankings, it must be stated, are not comprehensive: the bands included on our list were chosen manually, and it is absolutely the case that many bands aren’t included (please email [email protected] if you’d like to see them added next month). For that reason, we haven’t numbered these rankings: to do so would disingenuously give the appearance this is a comprehensive list, which it is not.
You can view the most recent chart numbers, along with the entire history of these charts, in the embed below or here.
