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One thing that felt little effect in 2020 was the fact that despite all of the chaos there were still a strong number of excellent albums and songs released during the year.
Which was a good since there are only so many true crime documentaries and movies we’ve already seen that we can watch on Netflix and HBO Max.
According to Billboard, 2020 marks the third straight year that the top album is comes from the R&B/hip-hop category.
That album this year was Lil Baby’s My Turn which MRC Data (formerly Neilsen Music) says earned 2.63 million equivalent album units (EAU) during the year. (Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album, or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.)
My Turn garnered a grand total of 3.93 billion streams during the year. Interestingly, My Turn sold just 40,000 copies in traditional physical album sales.
Taylor Swift’s Folklore spent the most time at number one in 2020 with eight weeks, and finished in second overall for equivalent album units in 2020.
TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2020 IN THE UNITED STATES
1. Lil Baby, My Turn (2.632 million EAU)
2. Taylor Swift, Folklore (2.204 million)
3. Pop Smoke, Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon (2.198 million)
4. The Weeknd, After Hours (2.032 million)
5. Juice Wrld, Legends Never Die (1.990 million)
6. Post Malone, Hollywood’s Bleeding (1.895 million)
7. Lil Uzi Vert, Eternal Atake (1.860 million)
8. Roddy Ricch, Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial (1.792 million)
9. Harry Styles, Fine Line (1.522 million)
10. Luke Combs, What You See Is What You Get (1.475 million)
TOP 10 SELLING ALBUMS OF 2020 IN THE UNITED STATES
1. Taylor Swift, Folklore (1.276 million)
2. BTS, Map of the Soul: 7 (674,009)
3. The Weeknd, After Hours (480,000)
4. Harry Styles, Fine Line (420,000)
5. Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (348,000)
6. Lady Gaga, Chromatica (331,000)
7. Juice WRLD, Legends Never Die (301,000)
8. Halsey, Manic (301,000)
9. Eminem, Music to Be Murdered By (287,000)
10. Taylor Swift, Evermore (283,000)
TOP 10 SELLING VINYL ALBUMS OF 2020 IN THE UNITED STATES
1. Harry Styles, Fine Line (232,000)
2. Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (196,000)
3. Queen, Greatest Hits (176,000)
4. The Beatles, Abbey Road (161,000)
5. Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy, Awesome Mix, Vol. 1 (152,000)
6. Bob Marley and The Wailers, Legend: The Best Of… (148,000)
7. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (138,000)
8. Billie Eilish, Dont Smile at Me (126,000)
9. Michael Jackson, Thriller (125,000)
10. Kendrick Lamar, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (117,000)
As for the most-streamed singles in the United States in 2020 was also dominated by the R&B/hip-hop genre with Roddy Ricch’s song “The Box” grabbing the top spot with an eye-popping 1.32 billion on-demand streams (audio and video combined).
TOP 10 MOST STREAMED SONGS OF 2020, ON-DEMAND (AUDIO & VIDEO COMBINED)
1. Roddy Ricch, “The Box” (1.32 billion)
2. Future featuring Drake, “Life Is Good” (1.035 billion)
3. DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch, “Rockstar” (863.95 million)
4. The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights” (821.12 million)
5. Jack Harlow, “Whats Poppin” (788.74 million)
6. Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion, “WAP” (732.7 million)
7. Megan Thee Stallion, “Savage” (612.03 million)
8. Lil Mosey, “Blueberry Faygo” (593.01 million)
9. Tones and I, “Dance Monkey” (570.48 million)
10. Doja Cat, “Say So” (562.38 million)
TOP 10 ON-DEMAND STREAMS OF 2020 IN U.S., AUDIO-ONLY
1. Roddy Ricch, “The Box” (920.42 million)
2. The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights” (691.5 million)
3. DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch, “Rockstar” (673.98 million)
4. Future featuring Drake, “Life Is Good” (651.34 million)
5. Jack Harlow, “Whats Poppin” (643.67 million)
6. Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion, “WAP” (492.24 million)
7. Megan Thee Stallion, “Savage” (492.05 million)
8. Lil Mosey, “Blueberry Faygo” (490.75 million)
9. Post Malone, “Circles” (456.85 million)
10. Saint Jhn, “Roses” (454.85 million)
TOP 10 ON-DEMAND STREAMS OF 2020 IN U.S., VIDEO-ONLY
1. Roddy Ricch, “The Box” (399.22 million)
2. Future featuring Drake, “Life Is Good” (383.57 million)
3. Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion, “WAP” (240.45 million)
4. Pinkfong, “Baby Shark” (207.95 million)
5. DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch, “Rockstar” (189.97 million)
6. Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, “Old Town Road” (168.45 million)
7. Eminem featuring Juice WRLD, “Godzilla” (161.33 million)
8. Jack Harlow, “Whats Poppin” (145.06 million)
9. Tones and I, “Dance Monkey” (143.46 million)
10. 6ix9ine, “Gooba” (132.81 million)
TOP 10 SELLING DIGITAL SONGS OF 2020 IN THE UNITED STATES
1. BTS, “Dynamite” (1.26 million)
2. The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights” (580,000)
3. Gabby Barrett, “I Hope” (351,000)
4. Tones and I, “Dance Monkey” (339,000)
5. Megan Thee Stallion, “Savage” (336,000)
6. Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion, “WAP” (300,000)
7. Jawsh 685 x Jason Derulo, “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” (299,000)
8. Blake Shelton Duet With Gwen Stefani, “Nobody But You” (288,000)
9. Post Malone, “Circles” (281,000)
10. Maroon 5, “Memories” (264,000)
TOP 10 RADIO SONGS OF 2020 IN THE UNITED STATES
1. The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights” (3.81 billion audience impressions)
2. Post Malone, “Circles” (3.51 billion)
3. Dua Lipa, “Don’t Start Now” (3.14 billion)
4. Harry Styles, “Adore You” (3.07 billion)
5. Maren Morris, “The Bones” (2.46 Billion)
6. Maroon 5, “Memories” (2.45 billion)
7. Gabby Barrett, “I Hope” (2.40 billion)
8. Lewis Capaldi, “Someone You Loved” (2.28 billion)
9. Lewis Capaldi, “Before You Go” (2.07 billion)
10. Doja Cat, “Say So” (2.02 billion)