One thing that's constant is change. With the evolution in the music industry, change is imminent and people's preferences accordingly. While classics remain so, new releases by favourite artists refresh our playlists. 2022 has been an interesting year, and Apple has released this year's trends by gathering inputs from its celebrated Apple Music.

Biggest hits of 2022

Harry Styles surely made it big this year on Apple Music. His latest release "As It Was" became the artists' first Number One on the Global Daily Top 100, and broke two two worldwide records: The most first-day streams for a song released in Spatial Audio, and the most first-day streams for a song released in 2022.

"As It Was" turned out to be a great one for Styles in the last two years since the release of Fine Line. After topping the Global Daily Top 100 for a whole week, it ranked Number One again when Styles' House album was released. It has consistently held its ground in the top-three since.

Harry Styles

We are only half-way through 2022 and some of the hits are already reshaping our music library. Future's ninth studio album, I NEVER LIKED YOU, was a spectacular hit on Apple Music. It had the biggest first-day streams worldwide in 2022 and gave Future the biggest hit of his career on the Global Daily Top 100. The song, featuring Drake and Tems, has dominated the top trends unlike any other Future's singles.

Other spectacular hits on Apple Music include Jack Harlow's "First Class"; Glass Animals' "Heat Waves"; Bad Bunny's "Titi Me Pregunto"; and Gayle's "abcdefu".

Apple Music 2022 trends
Apple Music 2022 trendsApple

Apple's Companion Playlist 2022

Apple has also curated a companion playlist of all the popular tracks in 2022. Here are the top-five picks from Apple's Companion Playlist:

  1. "Break My Soul" by Beyonce
  2. "As It Was" by Harry Styles
  3. "Wait For U" by Future
  4. "First Class" by Jack Harlow
  5. "Big Energy" Remix version by Latto and Mariah Carey

Apple Music trends | 2022

Apple has also shared interesting insights into what's trending based on users' listening habits. Gen-Z Pop music appears to have brought back some classical feel. Tracks like "Feel like Shit" by Tae MacRae, "In the Stars" by Benson Boone, and "Flowers" by Lauren Spencer-Smith are prime examples.

Apple, Music, India, subscription, price
Apple.com (screen-grab)

Apple Music users have taken a dip in the nostalgia pool as some songs from the '90s have been popular on the streaming platform. "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, "I'll be Missing You" by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans," I'm Coming Out" by Diana Ross, and others are a few popular choices.

Interestingly, K-Pop was defined beyond BTS now as other bands like NCT Dream and girl bands like LE SSERAFIM gained people's interest. BlackPink, Fearless, and Illusion have been some popular K-Pop tracks so far this year.