During the long weekend, Spotify released its annual ‘Spotify Wrapped’ for 2021 where the platform analyses what each user has been listening to and loving throughout the year, then collating a list of their most-streamed songs, albums, and artists.

If you had a #SadGirlAutumn when ‘All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)’ was released, then it *shows*. (Trust us, our Spotify Wrapped basically called us out.)

For the third year in a row now, Spotify is also celebrating what the Middle East and North Africa are listening to. Interestingly enough, both the UAE *and* Saudi were loving viral TikTok songs this year. According to the streaming platform, even wellness podcasts were super popular throughout 2021!

Check out the songs, artists, and albums that were the soundtrack of the year for the UAE and Saudi Arabia…

UAE’s Most Streamed Artists:

  1. BTS
  2. Drake
  3. Justin Bieber
  4. The Weeknd
  5. Taylor Swift

UAE’s Most Streamed Songs:

  1. “MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)” by Lil Nas X
  2. “Astronaut in The Ocean” by Masked Wolf
  3. “Stay” by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber
  4. “Levitating” (feat. DaBaby) by Dua Lipa 
  5. “Drivers License” by Olivia Rodrigo

UAE’s Most Streamed Albums:

  1. SOUR By Olivia Rodrigo
  2. Future Nostalgia By Dua Lipa
  3. Justice By Justin Bieber
  4. Planet Her By Doja Cat 
  5. “=” By Ed Sheeran

KSA’s Most Streamed Artists:

  1. BTS
  2. Abdullah Farwan
  3. The Weeknd
  4. Travis Scott
  5. Drake

KSA’s Most Streamed Songs:

  1. “Astronaut In The Ocean” – Masked Wolf
  2. “Leh El Gafa” – Abdullah Al Farwan
  3. “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” – Lil Nas X
  4. “Ashkor Jamalik” – Abdullah Al Mukhles
  5. “Another Love” – Tom Odell

KSA’s Most Streamed Albums:

  1. Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa
  2. Planet Her by Doja Cat 
  3. SOUR by Olivia Rodrigo
  4. “?” by XXTENTACION
  5. After Hours by The Weeknd

Ofc, according to 2021’s Spotify Wrapped, Korean boy band BTS is both the UAE and Saudi’s most-streamed artist, with their huge hit ‘Butter‘ that came out this year, we’re not even surprised.

(I mean, they did break a major record at the AMA’s as well.)

Spotify Wrapped

As for the tunes that were on repeat this year, Spotify’s reported that users in the UAE and Saudi were loving viral TikTok sounds ‘MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)‘ and ‘Astronaut In The Ocean‘.