The current climate means millions around the world are now working from home, with many trying to perfect their work from home set-ups. But little mention has been made to how our favourite songs can motivate us, as the perfect playlist never fails to get the productive juices flowing.

So, what has the world been listening to the most whilst in lockdown?

‘Coronavirus’, ‘COVID-19’, ‘lockdown’ and ‘quarantine’ were inserted into Spotify, and the top 500 playlists* with these in their titles were collected. Totalling over 35,000 songs, each Spotify playlist was cross compared to identify any duplicate songs, any of which with the highest number of occurrences across playlists were included in the final list of most popular songs.

Results: The world’s favourite songs to listen to in lockdown

As it turns out, a climate of disaster and panic brings out the fun side in us!

As featured in 95 of the 500 playlists considered, Toxic by Britney Spears is the world’s favourite lockdown song. Britney’s iconic hit has over 407 million plays on Spotify to date, which is bound to rise further in the coming weeks and keep earning her money with its appropriate title (and even more appropriate lyrics!).

In second place is the Bees Gees with Stayin’ Alive. The Saturday Night Fever classic appears in 87 playlists, with dark humour proving a suitable coping mechanism of choice for many of us. Stayin’ Alive is a top song that has been played an impressive 16 million times on Spotify to date.

MC Hammer’s rap track U Can’t Touch This claims third place, appearing in 85 out of the 500 playlists and has a staggering 171 million streams. This is followed by:

• Don’t Stand So Close To Me – The Police (83 playlists)
• I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor (75 playlists)
• SICKO MODE – Travis Scott (70 playlists)
• Mask Off – Future (69 playlists)

In 20^th place is Toxicity by System of a Down with 51 duplicates. System Of A Down isn’t for everyone, but this band’s second most well-known song rakes in a whopping 325 million hits, and it certainly seems a fitting anthem to the chaotic world we find ourselves in at present.

Heavy metal makes another appearance in the world’s top 20 favourite songs. American heavy metal band Disturbed place in 15th with their song Down With the Sickness – 55 different playlists feature this song.

Further hit songs of interest

Many of the song titles considered in this study, even those that didn’t scratch the top 20, humorously make light of a bad situation. Some of those in particular that bring a smile to our faces include:

• I Need A Doctor – Dr. Dre, Eminem, Skylar Grey (51 playlists)
• Temperature – Sean Paul (46 playlists)
• Livin’ On A Prayer – Bon Jovi (49 playlists)
• Should I Stay or Should I Go – The Clash (36 playlists)
• Made In China – Higher Brothers, DJ Snake (35 playlists)

Do any of these hits make your lockdown playlist?

* Data extracted and analysed on 24/04/2020.