The ultimate shower playlist

Three quarters of Brits shower too much according to a YouGov survey. While reasons for this can vary, it might just come down to the fact that they do not want to cut their shower song short, but what songs are keeping people in the shower?

New research by UK Radiators has revealed the most beloved shower songs worldwide. The data also reveals the top genres and artists that people choose to play to enhance their shower experience.

The Top Shower Artists

To find out who the most popular artist to listen to in the shower was, we tallied how many songs different artists had in the top 50 most liked shower playlists on Spotify. Here is what we found:

The most beloved shower artist was undeniably Taylor Swift with 168 songs featured in the top 50 shower playlists. With over 66 million Spotify plays and her most recent album occupying all top 10 positions in the music charts, it seems like the Swifties love listening to their favourite artist in and out of the shower.

In second place we have One Direction. Although the band has been on a hiatus since 2015, their songs are evidently still popular. The boy band were included in the top 50 shower playlists 119 times. In close third, with 116 song inclusions, was Bruno Mars.  Ariana Grande respectively ranked fourth on the list with 78 song features, and Rihanna came in fifth position with 72 song features.

The Top Shower Songs

To find the top shower songs, we analysed all the songs in the top 50 most liked shower playlists on Spotify. These were the results:

Full List:

Track NameAlbum NameArtist Name(s)Number of Inclusions
TiK ToKAnimal (Expanded Edition)Kesha10
This Is What You Came ForThis Is What You Came ForCalvin Harris,Rihanna6
Sure ThingAll I Want Is YouMiguel6
Drive ByCalifornia 37Train6
That’s What I Like24K MagicBruno Mars6
BoredBoredBillie Eilish5
Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?AMArctic Monkeys5
Low (feat. T-Pain)Mail on SundayFlo Rida,T-Pain5
sex money feelings die – slowed versionsex money feelings die (slowed version)Lykke Li5
You RightPlanet HerDoja Cat,The Weeknd5
Versace on the Floor24K MagicBruno Mars5
Love You Like A Love SongWhen The Sun Goes DownSelena Gomez & The Scene5
The MiddleThe MiddleZedd,Maren Morris,Grey4
Call Out My NameMy Dear Melancholy,The Weeknd4
Only Girl (In The World)LoudRihanna4
Boo’d UpREADYElla Mai4
THATS WHAT I WANTMONTEROLil Nas X4
A Sky Full of StarsGhost StoriesColdplay4
StayUnapologetic (Deluxe)Rihanna,Mikky Ekko4
Tongue TiedNever Trust a Happy SongGrouplove4
HotelHotelMontell Fish4
It Will RainIt Will RainBruno Mars4
Collide (feat. Tyga)Collide (feat. Tyga)Justine Skye,Tyga4
Take My Breath – Single VersionTake My BreathThe Weeknd4

The most listened to song in the shower according to our research is ‘TikTok’ by Kesha! It might be the iconic opening line of the song, the catchy energetic beat, or simply due to the immense impact TikTok has had on the music industry. 

Bruno Mars is the only artist to feature twice in the top 10 with ‘That’s What I Like’ (included in six different playlists) and ‘Versace on the Floor’ (included in five different Playlists) from his hit album 24k Magic.

Top Shower Genres

To find the most loved shower genre, we tallied the number of songs each genre had in the top 50 Spotify shower playlists. Here is what we found:

Many of us want to gain a different feeling from our showers, some want to feel energetic and be woken up, whilst others want to relax and reflect on our thoughts. It makes sense that our research showed a range of genres featuring in the top shower playlists, but we can see that the the pop genre was the most popular based on the list of top songs.

Unsurprisingly, the top five shower genres are all pop or sub categories of pop. The most beloved shower genre is ‘Dance Pop’ with 398 songs included in the top 50 playlists. ‘Pop’ is the second most popular, followed by ‘Boy Band Pop’. These findings definitely explain why artists such as Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars and One Direction are so high up in our artists list, and why iconic pop songs such as ‘TikTok’ and ‘Drive By’ are amongst the most popular shower songs.

The Ultimate Shower Playlist  

To create the ultimate shower playlist, we analysed all 7251 songs to find out the different criteria for the most popular songs, such as speed, danceability, energy, and more. These were the average song criteria from the top 50 shower playlists:

Song CriteriaMaximum ValueAverage ValueMinimum Value
Duration (mins)10.23.61.0
Popularity97.062.00.0
Danceability1.00.60.2
Energy1.00.60.0
Key11.05.20.0
Loudness-1.2-6.6-25.6
Mode1.00.60.0
Speechiness0.80.10.0
Acousticness1.00.20.0
Instrumentalness1.00.00.0
Liveness1.00.20.0
Valence1.00.50.0
Tempo210.9119.743.5
Time Signature5.03.91.0

Using the averages we were able to find the perfect shower song which was the classic All Star by Smash mouth.

We also used the data to generate the ultimate shower playlist to make every shower more enjoyable! 

https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/12l4T0Jd2phsfpmyDBdGOE?utm_source=generator

Methodology

We gathered data from Spotify’s top 50 most liked playlists that include the word shower in them. We then exported the data into a spreadsheet where we analysed all 7251 songs to find the outcome of the study.