Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran was the most played song on Australian radio in 2021.
AirCheck has released the figures today (20 December 2021) showing Bad Habits in the top spot with 21,673 spins.
The smash hit debuted at No. 3 on the weekly National Radio Airplay Chart on 1 July. The following week, the song reached No. 1 and remained steadfast at the summit for an additional five weeks.
UK star Dua Lipa had the most chart entries of any artist with seven, including two Top 40 hits in the form of ‘We’re Good’ (No. 12) and ‘Cold Heart (Remix)’ (No. 16). Justin Bieber was close behind with six entries, four of those making the Top 40 (‘Stay’, ‘Peaches’, ‘Anyone’, ‘Hold On’).
NZ-born, Melbourne-based producer Jolyon Petch’s ‘Dreams’ was the most played song by a local act in 2021. The chart-topping banger was an instant success story at commercial radio, holding off hits from the likes of Sheeran, Bieber and The Kid Laroi to spend six straight weeks at No. 1.
Keith Williams, RCS Vice President Asia Pacific said: “It is great to see four Aussies in the Top 10 this year. In total, there are 21 songs by local acts in the AirCheck Top 100 Most Played Songs for 2021.”
Sony Music Entertainment Australia held the highest share of the Top 100 with 39.97%. The major had four artists in the Top 10, including Aussie acts Tones & I and The Kid Laroi. Behind Sony was Universal Music Australia with 34.51%, while Warner Music Australia closed off the year at 17.47%.
Of the Top 100 songs, ‘Africa’ by Toto is the oldest original song to feature on the list (No. 99), while Adele’s single ‘Easy On Me’ is the newest (No. 54). 52 songs on the chart were released in 2021.
Overall, the Top 100 songs shared a total of 987,860 spins throughout the year, with the Top 10 accounting for more than 20% of all recorded spins.
Click here for the full list of the top 100 plays on Australian radio stations.
AirCheck, the Leader in Local Media Monitoring in Australia, checks airplay of songs and commercials on 145 FM, AM & DAB+ stations 24/7 in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Central Coast, Wollongong, Newcastle and Geelong, plus triple j and FBi in Sydney and Fresh 92.7 in Adelaide.
AirCheck airplay data is used exclusively by Radioinfo and Mediaweek.
# Radio means radio stations monitored by AirCheck. A full list of stations monitored is available HERE