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There is no single objective list of the best songs of 2022. This guide separates critics’ year-end selections from Spotify’s measured listening rankings, then highlights specific songs and listening paths supported by those sources. The examples are not a definitive ranking of each featured artist’s catalog.
What “best songs of 2022” means
A year-end “best” list reflects its editors’ choices and eligibility rules; a streaming chart reflects activity on a particular platform and in a defined territory. Those are useful but different ways to find music. The Los Angeles Times published 50 ranked picks followed by 50 additional songs, and limited its ranked section to one entry per artist. Pitchfork published its own 100 best songs list and excluded “Running Up That Hill,” although the song became prominent again in 2022, because it was originally released in 1985.
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The Los Angeles Times described its approach as “our picks for the 50 best of 2022” and noted the one-song-per-artist restriction. Its accompanying Spotify playlist contains all 100 selections in alphabetical order, so the playlist order is not a ranking. Read the Los Angeles Times list and find its playlist. Pitchfork’s separate list and release-year eligibility note are available in its 100 best songs of 2022 feature.
Spotify’s most-streamed songs of 2022
Spotify Wrapped offers a platform-specific view of what listeners played, not a critics’ verdict. Its global top five songs for 2022 were:
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- “As It Was” — Harry Styles
- “Heat Waves” — Glass Animals
- “STAY” — The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber
- “Me Porto Bonito” — Bad Bunny featuring Chencho Corleone
- “Tití Me Preguntó” — Bad Bunny
Bad Bunny was Spotify’s most-streamed artist globally that year, with Taylor Swift second. Spotify’s U.S. song ranking also placed Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” third. These results describe Spotify listening in 2022; they do not establish a universal ranking or measure critical quality. See Spotify’s 2022 Wrapped results.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where to start with the four featured artists
Bad Bunny
For a quick entry point, Spotify’s global list puts “Me Porto Bonito” and “Tití Me Preguntó” fourth and fifth, respectively. Spotify also ranked Un Verano Sin Ti as its most-streamed album globally in 2022. These are platform popularity markers, not an exhaustive selection of Bad Bunny’s strongest work.
Rank #2
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Beyoncé
The cited year-end sources do not establish a specific Beyoncé song ranking comparable to the Spotify placements above. Luminate’s U.S. year-end report does identify her among artists with a number-one album in 2022, in a report that discusses albums reaching the top through different combinations of streaming and sales. That album-level result should not be mistaken for a song ranking. See Luminate’s 2022 U.S. year-end report.
Steve Lacy
“Bad Habit” is the clearest supported starting point: Spotify placed it third among its U.S. songs of 2022, and Pitchfork identifies it as a song from Gemini Rights. Explore the album as a next step rather than treating one song’s chart position as a complete guide to Lacy’s work. Pitchfork’s list and playlist links are available with its 2022 selections.
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Rank #3
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift was Spotify’s second-most-streamed artist globally in 2022. Luminate also names her among artists whose albums reached number one in the U.S. that year. Those findings establish broad listening and album context, but the cited material does not supply a definitive best-song list for Swift.
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Rank #4
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How to choose a list or playlist
- For editorial discovery: Compare critics’ selections, keeping in mind that each publication sets its own rules.
- For popular listening: Use Spotify’s rankings as Spotify-specific data, and distinguish its global results from its U.S. chart.
- For older songs returning to attention: Check release-year eligibility. Pitchfork’s exclusion of a 1985 recording shows that “of 2022” can mean released that year, not simply popular during it.
- For an easy listen-through: The Los Angeles Times playlist collects 100 songs alphabetically, while Pitchfork links Spotify and Apple Music playlists for its selections.
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