Working remotely during the pandemic has meant that more and more people are opting for a hybrid working routine – combining working from home and in the office, allowing for more flexibility than ever before. With social pressures and office politics forgotten, remote work has allowed people to listen to their guilty pleasure songs they may not be comfortable playing in the office.
Premier Inn analyzed more than 69,000 songs from 832 ‘remote’ and ‘work’ playlists on Spotify to reveal which songs, artists and genres are the most popular for all work environments.
The 10 most popular songs for office workers
| Rank | Track and artist | Number of playlist features |
| 1 | Closer – The Chainsmokers | 42 |
| 2 | Shape of You – Ed Sheeran | 40 |
| 3 | Happier – Marshmello | 40 |
| 4 | Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran | 38 |
| 5 | Don’t Stop Believing – Travel | 38 |
| 6 | How to Save a Life – The Melee | 36 |
| seven | Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me) – Train | 36 |
| 8 | Hey, soul mate – Train | 36 |
| 9 | Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison | 36 |
| ten | Memories – Brown 5 | 34 |
Chainsmokers hit with Halsey, ‘Closer’, is the most popular song for office workers, appearing in more office-related playlists than any other track, with Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ following up close with 40 playlist features.
Ed Sheeran is also in the top five again – in fourth place with a second title: ‘Thinking out Loud’. Both of these songs have low BPMs compared to other songs in the top ten, showing that office workers may prefer slower songs to help them stay focused and perform at their best in the office.
Marshmello’s “Happier” and Journey’s classic “Don’t Stop Believin” ranked third and fifth respectively for most popular office songs.
The 50 most popular songs to listen to during office work averaged a BPM of 110, with more “classic” artists like Fleetwood Mac, Van Morrison and Journey making the list.
Listen to the full Office Work playlist on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3lptrRjr3h51PNCgHAANvZ
The 10 most popular songs for those who work from home
| Rank | Track and artist | Number of playlist features |
| 1 | STAY (with Justin Bieber) – Kid LAROI | 178 |
| 2 | Heat Waves – Glass Animals | 155 |
| 3 | Peaches (with Daniel Caesar & Giveon) – Justin Bieber | 137 |
| 4 | Blinding Lights – The Weeknd | 132 |
| 5 | Watermelon Sugar – Harry Styles | 129 |
| 6 | Easy on me – Adele | 128 |
| seven | Deja vu – Olivia Rodrigo | 128 |
| 8 | driving license – Olivia Rodrigo | 124 |
| 9 | good 4 u – Olivia Rodrigo | 118 |
| ten | Dreams – 2004 Remastered Fleetwood Mac | 110 |
With 178 playlists, ‘STAY’ (with Justin Bieber) by The Kid LAROI tops the ranking of the most popular songs among teleworkers.
Olivia Rodrigo featured prominently in the top 10 remote work playlists (“already seen”, “driver’s license”, “good 4 u” in 7th, 8th and 9th positions respectively). Olivia Rodrigo’s songs, all taken from the album Sour, typically revolve around the theme of breakups and are the perfect song to sing along to at home, away from the eyes (and ears) of your co-workers.
Popular new releases from the past two years, including The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” and Adele’s single “Easy On Me,” also made the top 10, each with more than 100 features in work-from-home playlists. .
The average BPM for the work-from-home playlist was 117 – higher than the hybrid and office-work playlists, suggesting that those who work remotely may need more upbeat songs to help keep them motivated.
Listen to the full Work from Home playlist on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5obfhTAF0QrC14yOAAanS3
Top 10 artists who help us stay productive in the office
When looking at which artists feature the most in desktop-related playlists on Spotify, the top ten includes Ed Sheeran in the lead with 320 of his tracks appearing in the analyzed data, with Maroon 5 and Taylor Swift in second and third place respectively. . Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars and Coldplay all came in at number five, with their tracks appearing in 162 playlists.
| Rank | Artist | Number of playlist features |
| 1 | Ed Sheeran | 320 |
| 2 | Brown 5 | 248 |
| 3 | Taylor Swift | 220 |
| 4 | Shawn Mendes | 198 |
| 5 | justin bieber | 162 |
| 6 | Bruno Mars | 162 |
| seven | cold play | 162 |
| 8 | Ariana Grande | 158 |
| 9 | a republic | 140 |
| ten | Sam Smith | 138 |
The top 10 artists most likely to be listened to while working from home
Taylor Swift came out on top as the most popular artist in remote work playlists, with more than double the number of features compared to Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber in second and third place. BTS and Ariana Grande were the five most popular artists among home workers.
| Rank | Artist | Number of playlist features |
| 1 | Taylor Swift | 2,044 |
| 2 | Ed Sheeran | 983 |
| 3 | justin bieber | 965 |
| 4 | BTS | 906 |
| 5 | Ariana Grande | 901 |
| 6 | The weekend | 698 |
| seven | Duck | 623 |
| 8 | Billie Eilish | 619 |
| 9 | Harry Styles | 618 |
| ten | Brown 5 | 597 |
The ultimate hybrid working playlist
Using ‘remote’ and ‘desktop’ data, Premier Inn was also able to identify the most popular songs for the modern hybrid worker.
“STAY” became the most popular song among workers, with star artist Justin Bieber ranking third among the most popular hybrid artists. Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar” and The Weekend’s “Blinding Lights” also made the top five, each with more than 160 features in the work from home and office playlists.
The average BPM of this combined playlist was unsurprisingly halfway between the two playlists at 115.
Listen to the full playlist on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3VIeCeeBaBUNlHFFlgLk8u?si=2aa559c5d7004679
The top 10 most popular songs for hybrid workers
| Rank | Track and artist | Number of playlist features |
| 1 | STAY (with Justin Bieber) Kid LAROI | 178 |
| 2 | Save Your Tears (with Ariana Grande) (Remix) The Weeknd | 162 |
| 3 | Watermelon Sugar – Harry Styles | 161 |
| 4 | Blinding Lights – The Weeknd | 160 |
| 5 | Heat Waves – Glass Animals | 155 |
| 6 | Peaches (with Daniel Caesar & Giveon) – Justin Bieber | 137 |
| seven | Deja vu – Olivia Rodrigo | 128 |
| 8 | Easy on me – Adele | 128 |
| 9 | driving license – Olivia Rodrigo | 124 |
| ten | Closer – The Chainsmokers | 118 |
A full list of the most popular office playlists for different work environments can be found at: https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/business-blog/popular-office-playlists.html
