Oreen Cohen
December 16, 2021, Updated December 20, 2021

In a year where everyone tried hard to restore some type of normalcy, Israelis turned to domestically produced music more than ever before.

This year’s Spotify and Apple Music rankings of favorite artists and songs in Israel list virtually all local singers — a first for this country in decades.

Apple Music’s top 20 songs listened to in Israel for 2021 are all native hits. The No. 1 hit was “Shkiyot Adumot” by singer Eden Hason, followed by “Paskol Chayai” by Omer Adam and “Beit Meshugaim” by Ran Danker.

In contrast, last year six global songs made it onto the top 20 list, even taking the first and second spots.

Spotify’s stats show that even in these unprecedented times, some things just never change. Omer Adam remains the most listened to singer in Israel for the past four consecutive years.

At just 28 years old, Adam has already produced six studio albums, three mini albums and three albums recorded at live performances.

Adam’s most popular songs on Spotify are “Shnei Meshugaim,” with 12.5 million streams, “Tel Aviv” with 12.4 million streams, and “The Soundtrack of My Life” with 4.6 million streams.

Adam earned 12 songs on Apple Music’s charts, the most for any single Israeli artist. His newest album, “The 8,” released in February 2021, was ranked by Spotify as one of the top five listened-to albums in Israel.

Next sweeping the charts is Israeli pop singer Eden Hason, with an impressive 10 songs on the Apple Music list. Osher Cohen was right up there with six songs.

Gal Adam and Noga Erez also deserve honorable mentions for their breakthrough success this year.

After Omer Adam and Eden Hason, the most listened to singers in Israel are veteran artists Eyal Golan and Raviv Plotnik, topped off by Canadian superstar Justin Beiber (who is scheduled to perform in Tel Aviv in 2022).

Eyal Golan in concert. Photo by Oreen Cohen

Among female singers, Israeli pop star Eden Ben Zaken takes the lead as the most listened-to female performer in Israel.

Next is the young and impressive Noa Kirel, another Israeli singer whose rise to fame was fast and enduring. She has yet to produce a full album but already has more than 628,000 monthly streams on Spotify, including 6.2 million for “Million Dollar.”

After those two Israeli women, the rest of the top five female artists listened to by Israelis are American icons Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift.

Last year’s Spotify statistics showed an increase in Israelis listening to Israeli music, and this year the trend only strengthened. These are good times for the Israeli music industry.

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