News: Spotify details where, and how, the force is strongest with Star Wars streaming

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As fans gear up for the much-anticipated December 20th release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Spotify has revealed how it has engaged Star Wars mania on its music streaming platform.

It would come as no surprise that all things Star Wars are top of mind for listeners at the moment, but it also has been for several years. The company revealed that listeners have streamed more than 6.7 million hours of Star Wars music on Spotify since 2015. Naturally, John Williams’ indelible score is constantly celebrated. While the prequel trilogy wasn’t everyone’s favourite, the music from the movies was far more liked than Jar-Jar. Then again, so is a plate of rotten fish and old chips.

The most-streamed track from the veteran composer is “Duel of the Fates” from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, followed by “Across the Stars” (Love Theme) from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. “The Imperial March,” also known as Darth Vader’s Theme, comes in third, from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

Spotify also revealed some interesting factoids - it comes as no surprise that on May the 4th each year, Spotify sees more Star Wars music streaming than any other day of the year. But a little surprising is that the rather foreboding “The Imperial March” shows up in numerous wedding-themed playlists created by Spotify listeners.

As well, Spotify detailed the top ten countries for streaming Star Wars music. There are, in order: USA, UK, Germany, Canada, Spain, France, Australia, Mexico, Brazil and Sweden.

Users have also created more than half a million Star Wars-themed playlists, and many have created playlists based on their favourite characters. Yoda has the most user-generated playlists, followed by Darth Vader, Jabba the Hutt, Boba Fett and Han Solo.

The force is strong with Star Wars-themed podcasts on Spotify, too; in the lead-up to the new Disney movie’s launch, Spotify has seen an increase in Star Wars-themed podcast listening of more than 83% from October to November.

The podcasts listeners turn to the most for commentary about the popular franchise are “Binge Mode: Star Wars” by The Ringer, followed by superfan-produced and hosted podcasts “Star Wars Minute” and “Star Wars Stuff Podcast.”

If you too are anxiously awaiting the opening of the latest movie, you can check out the newest soundtrack from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker here, and stream Spotify’s Best of Star Wars playlist, which combines music from all nine Star Wars films, as well as Rogue One and Solo: A Star Wars Story while calming your nerves.

These are the most-streamed Star Wars soundtracks, globally:

1. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

2. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

4. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

5. Star Wars: Attack of the Clones

These are the most-streamed Star Wars soundtrack songs, globally:

1. “Duel of the Fates” - John Williams, London Symphony Orchestra (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace)

2. “Across the Stars” - John Williams, London Symphony Orchestra (Love Theme from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones)

3. “The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)" - John Williams, London Symphony Orchestra (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back)

4. “Rey's Theme” - John Williams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

5. “Battle of the Heroes” - John Williams, London Symphony Orchestra (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)