Since the onset of COVID-19, countries have announced their ways of implementing social distancing with us Malaysians being kept at home with the Movement Control Order. Since then, there had been a shift in pattern of music listening on Spotify as noted by the music streaming giant.

Domestic & Fitness

Based on listening data collected, there had been a spike in playlists related to gastronomy and housework, showing that users are focusing more on domestic tasks rather than social activities. Users are also streaming more podcasts with keywords of “cooking” or “recipes” in the past week.

Streaming of Kids & Family content also saw a rise, especially for music intended to help kids to sleep. As a matter of fact, children’s music and classical music have seen boosts over the week as parents try to keep children entertained while staying at home so the kids can learn something while the parents can get their work-from-home jobs done.

Another trend observed by Spotify is an increase in listeners of podcasts in the Health & Fitness and Lifestyle & Health categories, with more playlists for workouts, running, yoga, nature sounds and mediation being created and streamed. This shows a shift in priority for wellness and inner peace since people have been working from home.

News & Concerts

There has also been an increase in interest in news podcasts, especially since the launch of a COVID-19 hub on Spotify itself to provide users a one-stop place for the latest news and information from news sources such as CNN and BBC. as well as shows such as Gimlet’s Science Vs. Artists are turning to live-streaming concerts online since live tours are postponed, and since then an upgoing trend in listeners have been noted for artists such as James Blake, Indigo Girls, Ben Gibbard and Jewel, just to name a few.

Mood & Balcony Serenades

Users have also been noted to be favouring a “Chill” music mood during this past week. Music that are more acoustic and instrumental, less danceable and energentic, are preferred over the songs added to their playlists before. Collaborative playlists have also seen a healthy increement that allows people to connect over shared music and have virtual jam sessions, along with having more users sharing their content on social networks than usual.

If you’re not a fan of live-streamed concerts but instead prefer to sing to the top of your lungs at your apartment or residential area much like the residents of Spain and Italy, know that you efforts may boost listeners for the songs too. For example, Abbracciame and Azzuro both soared by over 700% in listener count since the videos of the events circulated on social media.

Creative Playlists & Popular Songs

Since the onset of the pandemic, more and more users are listening to music that has a catchy title related to the disease spread and social distancing effort. Besides playlists that have a playful twist on the current situation, The Police’s “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” in particular has caught the eye of many as evident by the 135% increase in streams.


How are you coping with the current Restricted Movement Order? Are you keeping yourself entertained with music? Also, if you ever think of serenading your neighbours with well-known pieces like, say our National Anthem Negaraku, please text me and let me see a livestream of it. That would be much appreciated. 

Listen to our playlist while you are at it.