Apple Music released its annual Top 100 chart on Wednesday, revealing the most played songs of 2021, as reflected by their user base of more than 72 million people.
Additionally, they released data on the top 20 songs of the year in Israel, all local and created by Israeli musicians. This, they said, “is a major testament to the focus Apple puts on local musicians.” By comparison, in 2020 there were six non-local songs in Israel’s top 20, including the songs in first and second place.
The top 10 songs listened to by Israelis in 2021 are:
1. Shkiot Adumot by Eden Hason
2. Paskol Hayai by Omer Adam
3. Beit Meshugaim by Ran Danker
4. Resisim by Raviv Kaner
5. Gadal Li Ktzat Zakan by Eden Hason
6. Barhovot Shel Tel Aviv by Eden Ben Zaken
7. Rotze Shalom by Raviv Kaner
8. Efes Maamatz by Static, Ben El and Netta
9. Haim Meusharim by Natan Goshen and Eden Ben Zaken
10. Parzufim by Omer Adam
Apple Music first launched in Israel in 2016, a year after its global launch, and since then has curated a large user base here. This past August, Apple Music collaborated with some of Israel's biggest artists and curated exclusive playlists ahead of the Jewish New Year in order to “look back on the year that was ending and to look ahead at the next one.”
Working with them on this limited-time project were Omer Adam, Noa Kirel, Ella-lee, Berry Sakharof and several others.
AS WELL AS releasing their global Top 100, Apple Music also announced the winners of the Apple Music Global Award – three-time Grammy Award winner The Weeknd. The Canadian-born musician was described by Apple as having “been culturally present in a way that very few stars have ever become – he's been the face of pandemic work ethic, a reliable constant in a moment of prolonged chaos.”
Apple’s breakthrough artist of the year winner is Olivia Rodrigo, an 18-year-old American singer-songwriter, who has earned seven Grammy nominations in the short time since her debut single “Drivers License” was released earlier in 2021. The lyrics to both “Drivers License” and her other smash hit “Good 4 u” were in first and second place as the most searched lyrics in Israel in 2021.
The award given to the winners of the Apple Music Award is designed to "represent the extraordinary craftsmanship integral to creating music," the tech mogul said, describing it as “Apple's custom silicon wafer suspended between a polished sheet of glass and a machined and anodized aluminum body.”
The Apple Music Top 100 playlist for Israel is now available to stream, and the full results of the Apple Music Global Awards can be viewed on the Apple music site: music.apple.com.