Joe Rogan top dog on Spotify. Bad Bunny top rabbit?

I need to stop spending some much time listening to classic rock and take a deep dive into Bugs Bunny (oops I meant Bad Bunny).

Spotify ‘Wrapped’ 2022: Joe Rogan, Bad Bunny Top the Charts; Everyone Gets a Music Personality

Company releases year-end listening data, tells users about their listening styles

Joe Rogan has hosted his podcast exclusively on Spotify since he struck a deal with the company in 2020.

By Alyssa Lukpat, WSJ

Updated Nov. 30, 2022 3:12 pm ET

Joe Rogan‘s podcast was the most popular on Spotify in 2022, the audio streaming giant said, a designation that came even after some of the podcaster’s comments ignited an internal controversy for the company earlier this year.

Mr. Rogan’s show, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” was the most-streamed podcast worldwide on Spotify for the third year in a row, the company said in a report released Wednesday. Spotify didn’t say how many times the show was streamed.

Mr. Rogan, 55 years old, has hosted the podcast exclusively on Spotify since he struck a deal with the company in 2020. The agreement, which the Journal has reported is worth more than $100 million, was one of the most expensive podcast licensing deals at the time.

Spotify Technology S.A. was betting that the podcast’s avid fan base would migrate to its platform. On the show, Mr. Rogan interviews notable guests, sometimes over a joint, about a range of topics like politics, science and sports.

Mr. Rogan was criticized earlier this year for spreading what experts said was misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic. Artists including the rocker Neil Young and the singer Joni Mitchell pulled their music from the platform in protest.

A representative for Mr. Rogan didn’t return a request for comment.

Mr. Rogan faced more backlash in February when a video emerged of him using a racial slur in multiple old episodes. He apologized for what he called “the most regretful and shameful thing that I’ve ever had to talk about publicly.”

Spotify Chief Executive Daniel Ek also apologized to employees at the time for the way Mr. Rogan’s comments had impacted them. He also said he had no plans to remove the star podcaster from the streaming platform and committed to spending $100 million on music and audio content from what he called historically marginalized groups.

Spotify released its year-end data about podcasts and music this week as part of its “Wrapped” campaign. Since 2016, “Wrapped” has offered one of the music industry’s most complete portraits of global listening habits. Spotify is among the most popular music streaming platforms, and the company said in October that it had 456 million monthly active users. Apple Music and YouTube also offer yearly data roundups.

The company this year also told users about their so-called listening personalities. Some listeners, for example, either had a familiar or an exploratory style depending on if they liked to stream the same artists or discover new ones. They could also have a loyal or varied listening style based on how often they repeated certain songs.

Spotify said the Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny was its most-streamed artist this year for the third time in a row, highlighting the growing popularity of Latin music.

Bad Bunny’s music was streamed more than 18.5 billion times worldwide on the platform this year, Spotify said. His album “Un Verano Sin Ti” was Spotify’s most-streamed album this year and was nominated in November for album of the year at the Grammy Awards.

Bad Bunny, 28 years old, sings and raps in Spanish and has dominated the global charts with club-ready hits like “Me Porto Bonito” and “Tití Me Preguntó.” A representative for him didn’t return a request for comment.

The company said it analyzed data from January through a few weeks ago for its “Wrapped” campaign. It didn’t specify an end date.

“Wrapped” also serves as a marketing tool for Spotify. The company advertises its year-end results on billboards and posters and its users talk about their results on social media.

Spotify said it was sending users their personal listening data on Wednesday as part of its “Wrapped” campaign. Listeners joke that their “Wrapped” lists are highly personal and sometimes reveal their embarrassing streaming habits.

Bad Bunny Tops Spotify’s ‘Wrapped’ List in 2022

News Corp‘s Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, has a content partnership with Spotify’s Gimlet Media unit.

Here is a list of Spotify’s most popular podcasts, artists and music worldwide this year, according to the company:

Most-streamed podcasts:

The Joe Rogan Experience

Call Her Daddy

Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain

Caso 63

Crime Junkie

Most-streamed artists:

Bad Bunny

Taylor Swift

Drake

The Weeknd

BTS

Most-streamed songs:

“As It Was” by Harry Styles

“Heat Waves” by Glass Animals

“Stay (with Justin Bieber)” by The Kid Laroi

“Me Porto Bonito” by Bad Bunny feat. Chencho Corleone

“Tití Me Preguntó” by Bad Bunny

Most-streamed albums:

“Un Verano Sin Ti” by Bad Bunny

“Harry’s House” by Harry Styles

“Sour” by Olivia Rodrigo

“=” by Ed Sheeran

“Planet Her” by Doja Cat

Write to Alyssa Lukpat at alyssa.lukpat@wsj.com