Google, Spotify compile quarantine and ‘summer listening trends’ from Nest devices

Despite the competition on music and lately podcasts, Google and Spotify have a relatively close relationship. The two companies today compiled “Summer Listening Trends” to see how music listening is impacted by the quarantine.

The following worldwide data ranges from May 10 to June 10 and shows what people on Google Home and Nest devices have been streaming on Spotify. Highlights include:

• 45% increase in user generated summer related playlists on Spotify
• Searches for “summertime songs” has increased 1,150% according to Google Trends
• Searches for “songs that remind you of summer” have increased 1,000% according to Google Trends

Finland, Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, and Norway make up the top five “countries streaming summer music at the highest rate on Google devices.” The top song is ‘Blinding Lights’ by The Weeknd, while Drake is the top artist followed by Lady Gaga.

Despite summer just starting, Spotify “predicts that ‘This is America’ by Childish Gambino and ‘Alright’ by Kendrick Lamar are likely to be mainstays during summer 2020.” That might be a self-fulfilling prophecy as Spotify has compiled a “Songs of Summer” playlist.

The resurgence of these older tracks is likely due to cultural conversations focused on supporting the Black community. In fact, global Google Trends searches for the meaning of “This is America,” by Childish Gambino spiked more than 700 percent over the past month.

Meanwhile, this data graphic is meant to promote the Northern Hemisphere availability of Spotify’s Your Summer Rewind playlists that consists of “your favorite summer jams from previous years” — “Hey Google, play Your Summer Rewind playlist on Spotify.”