When you reach a certain age, celebrity news headlines all kind of read like "CURTAINS FOR ZOOSHA? K-SMOG AND BATBOY CAUGHT FLIPPING A GRUNT." I'm not even 30, but looking at this Year on TikTok 2024 data is certainly making me feel geriatric.
Because of course Spotify couldn't be alone with its Wrapped day in an oversaturated market, the clock app — as well as Apple Music, Amazon and everyone else — has unveiled its annual user trend data today, and it's never clear whether you're meant to be more embarrassed for yourself or for the collective.
Okay, so the national TikTok data is holistically probably less shameful than Spotify's, but it is a glaring reminder that this is a Gen Z-centric platform. Names are at least more familiar when it comes to the Canada-specific top songs and top artists, but when the No. 2 song in the country was from VULTURES 1, that isn't saying much. (I've said it once and I'll say it again: y'all seem to be a little too good at separating the art from the artist.)
The No. 1 song in Canada (and No. 4 globally) was Tommy Richman's runaway hit "MILLION DOLLAR BABY (VHS)." As someone who has evidently never repped a set, I have no idea what he's talking about, but I get the appeal! Familiarities between the two lists continue with Lay Bankz's "Tell Ur Girlfriend," Benson Boone's "Beautiful Things" and Billie Eilish's "BIRDS OF A FEATHER" — notably the only track that even came within spitting distance of Exclaim!'s 20 Best Songs of 2024 list.
Sabrina Carpenter, who landed on both that ranking and our 50 Best Albums list, was No. 10 on globally among TikTok's top artists; those ahead of her were mostly K-pop groups, as well as Mexican sensation Yeri Mua. The Canadian chart is a little more confusing, because all of the top Canadian artists are also Canadian. That feels like it can't be a coincidence, but it just begs the question: who were the artists from anywhere in the world whose music was used most by Canadian creators? Probably not these ones!
Anyway, we got what we got — and perhaps unsurprisingly, Calgarian pop princess Tate McRae was No. 1, continuing to ride the success of her 2023 Think Later singles "greedy" and "exes" while also making waves with new tracks "It's ok I'm ok" and "2 hands." It was also another big year for Vancouver's bbno$, whose song "it boy" was used in almost a million videos on the platform, as well as Nelly Furtado's music new and old blowing up during her comeback season, which we really do love to see.
Despite dominating on Spotify and Apple Music, Taylor Swift is inconspicuously absent, possibly due to those few months of her catalogue being unavailable on TikTok during the Universal licensing dispute. Check out the full Canadian and Global lists of the top songs and artists on TikTok below.
Top Songs (Global)
1. "Gata Only" - FloyyMenor and Cris Mj
2. "Pedro" - Jaxomy, Agatino Romero and Raffaella Carrà
3. "Alibi (feat. Pabllo Vittar and Yseult)" - Sevdaliza
4. "MILLION DOLLAR BABY (VHS)" - Tommy Richman
5. "Tell Ur Girlfriend" - Lay Bankz
6. "La Diabla" - Xavi
7. "Nasty" - Tinashe
8. "BIRDS OF A FEATHER" - Billie Eilish
9. "Forever Young" - Alphaville
10. "Beautiful Things" - Benson Boone
Top Songs (Canada)
1. "MILLION DOLLAR BABY (VHS)" - Tommy Richman
2. "CARNIVAL (feat. Rich the Kid and Playboi Carti)" - ¥$, Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign
3. "Tell Ur Girlfriend" - Lay Bankz
4. "Lady Killers II" - G-Eazy
5. "Type Shit" - Future, Metro Boomin, Travis Scott and Playboi Cart
6. "Never Lose Me (feat. Lil Yachty)" - Flo Milli
7. "Beautiful Things" - Benson Boone
8. "BIRDS OF A FEATHER" - Billie Eilish
9. "End of Beginning" - Djo
10. "Champagne Coast" - Blood Orange
Top Artists (Global)
1. Yeri Mua
2. ENHYPEN
3. NCT
4. LA SSERAFIM
5. Stray Kids
6. aespa
7. TOMORROW X TOGETHER
8. Kim Loaiza
9. TWICE
10. Sabrina Carpenter
Top Artists (Canada)
1. Tate McRae
2. Dax
3. Tiagz
4. bbno$
5. Crash Adams
6. Gabriela Bee
7. Alexander Stewart
8. Nelly Furtado
9. Lauren Spencer Smith
10. Connor Price