Photo credit: Courtesy of Netflix
With the premiere of the third season of Netflix’s Stranger Things just around the corner, Spotify takes a look at how the music from the show resonates with listeners around the world. Since the popular series launched on July 15, 2016, listeners have spent more than 17 million hours streaming music related to the show on Spotify.
Perhaps it’s no surprise to fans of the spooky series that The Clash’s 1981 hit “Should I Stay or I Should I Go” ranks as the most-streamed song tied to Stranger Things, from the original soundtrack to the many playlists listeners have created themselves.
Here are some other fun stats:
• Listeners have created their own playlists based on the show’s characters, and Eleven has the most playlists, followed by Steve Harrington and Will Byers (see Spotify’s list below for the top tracks that listeners associate with their favorite characters. eg Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” is the go-to for Nancy Wheeler!)
• Listeners have created more than 3,500 playlists titled “The Upside Down” with the top tracks in these being the eerie score track “The Upside Down” from composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, as well as the instantly-recognizable “Stranger Things” theme track.
• Spotify has over 15 Stranger Things-themed podcasts and listeners have spent more than 4.6 thousand hours listening to them. The most-streamed podcast related to the show is The Stranger Things Podcast by Addi and Darrell Darnell.
• The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go” played a central role in Season 1 (Will would sing it to calm himself in the Upside Down), and Spotify saw global streams of the song go up 30% in the two weeks after Stranger Things premiered on July 15th, 2016 compared to the two weeks before.
Check out Spotify’s blog, For the Record for a post on a special playlist that actor Finn Wolfhard (“Mike”) curated based on songs he listens to on the way to and from set. He also talked about the type of music he’s into at the moment and which decade he’d like to travel back in time to.
And here are Spotify’s Stranger Things top lists:
Top tracks on Stranger Things soundtracks and playlists on Spotify:
• “Should I Stay or Should I Go” – Remastered – The Clash
• “Stranger Things” – Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein
• “Every Breath You Take” – The Police
• “Africa” – Toto
• “Kids” – Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein
• “Time After Time” – Cyndi Lauper
• “Elegia” – New Order
• “Atmosphere” – Joy Division
• “Hazy Shade of Winter” – The Bangles
• “Whip It” – DEVO
The characters with the most user-generated playlists on Spotify, and the most-added track for each character:
• Eleven – “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash
• Steve Harrington – “Africa” by Toto
• Will Byers – “INTRO – Will singing the Clash” dialogue by Will Byers
• Billy Hargrove – “Rock you like a Hurricane” by Scorpions
• Jonathan Byers – “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash
• Nancy Wheeler – “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper
• Jim Hopper – “Coffee and Contemplation” dialogue by Jim Hopper
• Joyce Byers – “Maybe I’m Crazy” dialogue by Joyce Byers
• Max Mayfield – “California Dreamin’” by The Mamas & The Papas
• Dustin Henderson – “Whip It” by DEVO
Countries that stream the most Stranger Things music:
• United States
• United Kingdom
• Mexico
• Germany
• Brazil
• Canada
• France
• Spain
• Australia
• Italy
The top 5 Stranger Things-themed podcasts globally:
• The Stranger Things Podcast by Addi and Darrell Darnell
• Stranger Danger – A Stranger Things Podcast by Fans not Experts
• Dungeons and Demogorgons – A Stranger Things Podcast by Bald Move
• Stranger Things Reviews and After Show by AfterBuzz TV
• UNspoiled! Stranger Things by UNspoiled! Network
Note to editor:
You’re free to embed Spotify’s Stranger Things playlist, based on and inspired by music from the show using this code:
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Embed Finn Wolfhard’s ST3 playlist using this code:
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