Johannesburg - Amapiano might have a chokehold on South Africans’ hearts for the rest of the year, but when it comes to Valentine’s Day, it’s the classics that are getting them all choked up.
Data shared by streaming giant Spotify this Valentine’s Day revealed that South Africans are adding iconic love songs by artists like John Legend, Ed Sheeran, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey to their playlists to express their feelings.
The data also showed that South Africa's music tastes also don’t differ much from global favourites, with many of these same artists featuring in the global top 10 love songs added to playlists going into Valentine’s Day.
Meanwhile, Legend’s emotional All of Me is the most added love song both in South Africa as well as globally. British pop star Sheeran occupies two spots among South Africa’s favourite love songs with Perfect and Thinking Out Loud, which is no surprise given that globally, he occupies the top artist spot when it comes to love songs.
In addition, soundtracks to romantic movies also feature strongly among South Africa’s most playlisted love songs- with Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You, featured in The Bodyguard, Bryan Adams’ Everything I do (I do it for You) from the 1991 movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Christina Perri’s Twilight theme song, A Thousand Years, all ranking in the top 10 most playlisted tracks.
A number of South Africa’s favourite love songs are also deeply nostalgic, with half of the top ten songs being more than 20 years old. Houston’s version of I Will Always Love You was released in 1992, although the original, by Dolly Parton, dates back to the 70s. Mariah Carey’s Always be My Baby is 28 years old, while Alicia Keys’ If I Ain't Got You turns 20 this year. The oldest song, however, is the Elvis Presley classic, Can’t Help Falling in Love, which was released in 1961 and is enjoying a resurgence due to the recent release of a biopic of his life.
The list of artists that South Africans are adding to their playlists has a bit more current appeal - with recent Grammy winners Beyoncé and Taylor Swift and this year’s Super Bowl halftime artist, Rihanna, all ranking in the top 10. And it seems when it comes to love - women say it best, as six of South Africa’s 10 most playlisted artists are women.
And while there are no South African artists ranking in the top 10, Spotify EQUAL alumni Elaine is tugging on South Africans’ heartstrings. Her track, You’re The One, is the literal one, as the top ranked South African love song.
Spotify is also giving music lovers the chance to skip making their own playlists and have the streaming giants make a tailored one specifically to them and their special someone.
Spotify’s Blend feature brings together the musical tastes of two or more people, using Spotify’s personalisation and collaborative tools to create a playlist based on your musical tastes.
Here’s how you can create your own Blend:
1. Navigate to the “search” tab on the Spotify app
2. Type “Blend” into the search bar, and click the “Blend” genre that shows as the first result
3. Select “Create a Blend” - this will take you to a page that prompts you to invite your friends
4. Click “invite”
5. Either copy the share link or choose the app on which you’d like to share your Blend link, and share
the link with the Spotify user or users that you’d like to create a Blend with
6. When the user/s click the link, they’ll be invited to join the Blend playlist
7. Enjoy your Blend