Spotify's Most Common 'Desert Island Discs' Playlist Songs Revealed

3 June 2023 | 9:20 am | Mary Varvaris

The data, most recently carried out in April, was found by basing results on 999 Spotify playlists that featured ‘Desert Island Discs’ in the title.

Drone shot of tropical island in Providencia Colombia, South America, and Spotify logo

Drone shot of tropical island in Providencia Colombia, South America, and Spotify logo (Photo by Darren Lawrence on Unsplash, Supplied)

Adventure travel company Explore Worldwide has carried out fresh research and hosted a new study to reveal the most common tracks that appear on “Desert Island Discs” playlists on Spotify.

The present iteration of BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs program was first broadcast in 1942.

A simple premise that features special guests appearing on the radio and sharing the songs they couldn’t live without if stranded on an island alone has expanded to everyday conversations and streaming services, such as Spotify, which means that we can now track down the definitive Desert Island Discs.

The data, most recently carried out in April, was found by basing results on 999 Spotify playlists that featured ‘Desert Island Discs’ in the title. 

33,332 individual tracks featured in the 999 playlists were analysed in order to discover the most popular artists and songs in said playlists. Of the 33,332 tracks analysed, Explore Worldwide found that 10,880 were unique songs by 311 different artists.

You can see the results for yourself: here are the 30 Most Often Used Songs in Spotify ‘Desert Island Discs’ Playlists found by Explore Worldwide.

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Rank

 Track Title

Artist Name

Playlist Frequency Percentage

1

Landslide

Fleetwood Mac

4.6%

2

Fast Car

Tracy Chapman

4.4%

3

The Chain

Fleetwood Mac

4.0%

4

Wish You Were Here

Pink Floyd

4.0%

5

I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free

Nina Simone

3.8%

6

This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)

Talking Heads

3.8%

7

Love Will Tear Us Apart

Joy Division

3.8%

8

Romeo And Juliet

Dire Straits

3.5%

9

Here Comes The Sun

The Beatles

3.4%

10

Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)

Kate Bush

3.4%

11

Go Your Own Way

Fleetwood Mac

3.4%

12

Tiny Dancer

Elton John

3.2%

13

Dreams

Fleetwood Mac

3.2%

14

American Pie

Don McLean

3.2%

15

One Day Like This

Elbow

3.2%

16

Into My Arms

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

3.2%

17

Bohemian Rhapsody

Queen

3.2%

18

Unfinished Sympathy

Massive Attack

3.2%

19

Walk On The Wild Side

Lou Reed

3.0%

20

Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Tears For Fears

3.0%

21

Brown Eyed Girl

Van Morrison

3.0%

22

Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time)

Elton John

3.0%

23

Everywhere

Fleetwood Mac

3.0%

24

Perfect Day

Lou Reed

2.8%

25

Mr Brightside

The Killers

2.8%

26

Common People

Pulp

2.8%

27

(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Day

Otis Redding

2.8%

28

Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes

Paul Simon

2.8%

29

The Whole Of The Moon

The Waterboys

2.8%

30

Harvest Moon

Neil Young

2.6%


In April, Spotify Australia introduced new playlists to platform Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. The playlists include Proppa Bars, a hip-hop playlist; a mood playlist called Big Ancestor Energy; and two new kids’ playlists, Too Deadly Bub and Blak Hits For Kids.

The streaming giant’s current playlists dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have been revamped, featuring new designs created in collaboration with Aboriginal artist and designer Arkie Barton

Barton said the new designs “represents a coming together of community and mobs from all across so-called Australia, specifically within the digital space of the Spotify First Nations arena.”