New research from SportsShoes.com reveals the most popular artists and songs the world listens to while running.
For most people listening to music while running is essential; many runners won’t step on the treadmill or hit the pavements without their favourite playlist. In fact, there’s scientific evidence that listening to music while running increases athletic performance and recovery.
With this in mind, SportsShoes.com analysed more than 30 000 songs from 750 playlists that included “running”, “jogging” and “treadmill” to find the favourite artists and songs people listen to whilst on their daily run.
The data revealed that the aptly named Work B**ch track by Britney Spears is the most popular running song, followed by The Weeknd’s synthpop tune Blinding Lights. The latter, along with Lose Yourself by Eminem are the fastest-paced songs in the top 10 with 171 bpm (beats per minute), meaning if you run to match the beat of either of these you’ll roughly cover a mile in 12 minutes.
Most Popular Running Songs
Work B**ch – Britney Spears - 128bpm
Blinding Lights – The Weeknd - 171 bpm
Roses (Imanbek Remix) – SAINt JHN - 122 bpm
Eye of the Tiger – Survivor - 109 bpm
Titanium (feat. Sia) – David Guetta - 126bpm
Can’t Hold Us – (feat. Ray Dalton) – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - 146 bpm
CAN’T STOP THE FEELING! – Justin Timberlake - 113 bpm
Uptown Funk (feat. Bruno Mars) – Mark Ronson - 115 bpm
This Is What You Came For (feat. Rihanna) – Calvin Harris - 124 bpm
Lose Yourself – Eminem - 171 bpm
More than 11 000 artists were also analysed to reveal that Scottish EDM DJ Calvin Harris is the most common artist people run to, appearing in 4.5% of all running playlists worldwide. His most popular running songs include This Is What You Came For (feat. Rihanna), One Kiss (with Dua Lipa) and Summer.
EDM (electronic dance music) came out as the most popular running genre, with producers Avicii and David Guetta both making the top 10, but hip hop and pop also featured highly in running playlists. Hip hop rappers Eminem and Drake both feature in the top 5, while pop icon Lady Gaga is the most popular female running artist. Gaga’s top songs include recently released tune Rain On Me (with Ariana Grande) and Poker Face.
Most Popular Running Artists
Calvin Harris
Eminem
David Guetta
Drake
Kanye West
Lady Gaga
Rihanna
Avicii
Ed Sheeran
Pitbull