YouTube Music 2021 Recap
Dec 06, 2021 – minute read
Dive Into Your YouTube Music 2021 Recap
This year, YouTube Music is taking you on a journey through your year in sound with 2021 Recap, a first-time experience that will bring you fun, shareable stats, and a personalized playlist to help you relive all your favorite music from the past year. Whether Dua Lipa had you “Levitating” for hundreds of plays or Olivia Rodrigo was “good 4 u” for thousands of minutes of listening, the 2021 Recap lets you explore everything that made your year in music uniquely you.
Music fans can tap into their 2021 Recap landing page on the YouTube Music app.
Starting today, music fans can tap into their 2021 Recap landing page on the YouTube Music app and scroll through to see their personalized stats (top artists, songs, music videos, and playlists) from this year. To celebrate our dedicated community of music lovers, we’ve even included top playlists made by our very own YouTube Music listeners! The 2021 Recap also highlights your recent music discoveries and lets you listen to your favorites of the year in a personalized 2021 Recap playlist. Your personalized 2021 Recap playlist and stats can easily be shared with your friends and others by simply tapping the arrow at the bottom of your stats card.
To take an even deeper dive into the music that made an impact in 2021, YouTube Music is also bringing you an eclectic mix of year-end playlists. Hit play on “Hits of 2021” for some of this year's biggest hits, or dive into your favorite genres for 2021 highlights in Rock, Country, Hip Hop, Latin and more, all available through the YouTube Music app.
As we gear up for another great year of musical favorites and finds ahead, we also wanted to take a minute to look back on some of YouTube’s incredible music moments of the year.
Revisit The Year in Music Videos and Milestone Moments
Just last week, we revealed the Top 10 U.S. Music Videos of the year, which include songs from rising stars to legends in the making:
- Pooh Shiesty - Back In Blood (feat. Lil Durk)
- The Weeknd- Save Your Tears
- Lil Nas X - Montero (Call Me By Your Name)
- Polo G - RAPSTAR
- DJ Khaled - EVERY CHANCE I GET ft. Lil Baby, Lil Durk
- MO3 & OG Bobby Billions - Outside (Better Days)
- Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic - Leave the Door Open
- Cardi B - Up
- Olivia Rodrigo - drivers license
- Rod Wave - Street Runner
In 2021, we worked with many of the biggest names in music to connect them with their fans around the world by creating distinctive content together. BLACKPINK, who became the most-subscribed artist on the platform in September 2021, delivered dazzling moments during their global livestream THE SHOW and Selena Gomez shared personal stories with fans through her intimate installment of YouTube’s Artist Spotlight Stories inspired by her debut Spanish-language EP, “Revelación.” The global expansion of YouTube Shorts led to unprecedented partnerships with the likes of global icons BTS on the viral “Permission to Dance” Challenge followed by the first-ever album preview from the incomparable Ed Sheeran — who now has over 50 million YouTube subscribers — a single sneak peek from Australian pop superstar Ruel, and so much more, only on YouTube Shorts.
This year brought us history-making artists like Lil Nas X, who dominated the charts with his game changing videos for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and “Industry Baby,” and Olivia Rodrigo, whose breakout year with her must-watch, record shattering debut “drivers license,” earned her 6 Grammy nominations. What’s more, YouTube’s infamous Billion Views Club welcomed iconic videos from Rick Astley, Shakira, AC/DC, Bon Jovi, 4 Non Blondes, Nelly, Metallica and many more in 2021.
Rediscover New and Extraordinary Global Voices
Support for artists and creators continues to be a major focus for YouTube. 2021 saw the introduction of Foundry's biggest global artist development class to date, with 27 artists representing 14 countries, and Grammy nominations for three of the program's alumni including Arlo Parks, Dua Lipa and Tems. And while celebrating the success of its 2021 grantees, the #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund also announced a program expansion to include songwriters and producers ahead of the introduction of its #YouTubeBlack Voices Artist Class of 2022.
We are committed to collaborating with and raising up the voices of all artists and will continue to do so in 2022 and for years to come. Thank you for watching and listening to music with us on YouTube this year.
Happy holidays!
*Methodology: 2021 Top 10 US Music Videos: US views of official music videos uploaded in 2021 from January 1st, 2021 - October 31st, 2021.