Spotify has revealed that more pop songs performed in languages other than English are now appearing on its global charts.
The streaming platform reported that during the past year, tracks performed in 16 different languages entered the Global Top 50, according to The Times. This figure has doubled compared to 2020. The languages represented included Korean, Spanish, Arabic, Indonesian, Turkish and Portuguese.
The company also noted that Brazilian Funk has seen the fastest worldwide growth, with listenership rising by 36 percent over the last five years. K pop and Trap Latino have also grown significantly during that time, increasing by 31 percent and 29 percent.
On a global scale, IFPI reported that 14 of the Top 20 best selling albums last year were entirely in English. However, the rankings also featured a growing presence of artists performing in other languages, including K pop acts Enhypen, Stray Kids and Seventeen.
Even within the past week, Spotify’s most streamed chart featured several songs not primarily performed in English. Artists appearing included Bad Bunny, Tyla, Tems, Peso Pluma, Jung Kook and Jin, BLACKPINK and Rauw Alejandro among others.
In contrast, the UK chart showed less diversity in language, with only two songs not fully in English appearing on the Biggest Selling Songs of 2025 list. These were APT. by Rosé and Bruno Mars, and Golden from the K pop Demon Hunters soundtrack performed by Huntr/x.
BBC News noted that this global shift has been developing since 2017, which was also the year when streaming revenue surpassed physical sales to become the music industry’s largest source of income.
The momentum behind international pop music is expected to continue into 2026. Factors contributing to this include a new EP from BLACKPINK, Bad Bunny’s standout Super Bowl halftime performance, a stadium tour from the reunited BTS, and Rosalía’s widely praised BRIT Awards performance.
During that performance, Rosalía surprised fans by bringing Bjork on stage as a guest and performed material from her album LUX, which features songs in 13 languages.
LUX received a five star review from NME, which praised the record’s “astonishing scope and ambition”. The album also appeared on NME’s best albums of the year list, while the track Reliquia ranked at Number Seven on their 50 best songs of 2025 list.
Rosalía is also preparing for a major 2026 world tour, with scheduled performances across the UK, Europe and North America in the months ahead. You can see the full list of dates here and check for remaining tickets here.
Rosalía has previously spoken about experimenting with different languages in her music and stepping outside her comfort zone by doing so. She said this made her the “opposite” of Bad Bunny in that respect. She later clarified her comments, saying they had been taken “out of context” after some suggested she was comparing herself to the Puerto Rican artist.
