The Sound of 2019

Volunteer writer, Sophie Alexander, looks at who came out on top in the world of music in 2019.

In 2019 our love of music was as prevalent as ever as we uncovered new artists or rediscovered old classics, but which artists took over the charts this year.

Post Malone released his third studio album ‘Hollywood’s Bleeding’ which featured the crossover single ‘Take What You Want’ featuring Travis Scott and rock icon Ozzy Osbourne. Spotify’s figures show that Malone was streamed on their services over 6.5 billion times, making him the most streamed artist of the year. From these figures we could argue that Malone was this year’s top artist since his music was the most played. Though Malone’s popularity is impressive, would this equate to him being the best?

Lizzo and Lil Nas X, for example, gained significant recognition this year. Lizzo was named Time’s Entertainer of the Year and is the most nominated artist for the 2020 Grammy awards. Her rise in success and what she represents could make us think she was our top artist since we all became drawn towards her. Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’ featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, became longest running single at number one. Though this doesn’t mean Lil Nas X would be our artist of the year, he certainly had an impact on it. We also witnessed Billie Eilish’s rise to super stardom following the release of her album ‘WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP WHERE DO WE GO?’. The 17-year-old has amassed great praise and is currently nominated for six Grammy awards.

We could also consider artists who have had more longevity in the music business? The likes of Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Kanye West, who all produced top selling singles and albums this year, didn’t necessarily garner the best reception from listeners unlike their previous work. This made the year seeming to embrace its more recent arrivals into the industry as opposed to these more established artists. That being said, following the success of her 2018 single ‘Thank U, Next’, Ariana Grande’s album, of the same name, produced singles that made Grande the first artist to fill all three top spots on the Billboard Hot 100 (These songs being ‘7 Rings’, ‘Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored’ and ‘Thank U, Next’). Having come from some controversy in her personal life, Grande’s new music seemed to open us up to her world more than ever before which fans and listeners were able to engage with.

Many of these artists managed to reach great heights in 2019, let’s hope 2020 can provide us with more great music.