New research has revealed the best songs to accompany summer travellers this year. The study, conducted by travel company Rustic Pathways, revealed the top hits using the tool Spotify Playlist Miner, where the top 100 most common songs in playlists titled ‘road trip’ were found and ranked according to the number of appearances across 1,000 playlists.
The Results
The study revealed Noah Kahan’s ‘Stick Season’ to be the most popular song featuring in playlists titled ‘road trip’. The song featured in 116 of the 1,000 playlists surveyed and has so far been streamed over 973 million times on Spotify.
Following Kahan’s hit is the classic ‘Riptide’ by Australian singer-songwriter Vance Joy. The song features in 100 playlists and has been streamed over 2.5 billion times on Spotify so far.
The joint third most popular tracks proved to be Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and The Killers’ ‘Mr. Brightside’, both of which feature in 97 playlists.
Ranking as the fourth most featured track is ‘Little Talks’ by Of Monsters and Men. The song featured in 84 playlists and has been played over 1 billion times on Spotify.
The fifth most popular is Foster the People’s ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ which featured in 83 playlists. The song, controversial for its theme and lyrics, is an alt-pop dance hit which has seen over 1.7 billion plays on Spotify.
Top 10 songs in ‘road trip’ playlists
| Rank | Title | Artist | Number of appearances |
| 1 | Stick Season | Noah Kahan | 116 |
| 2 | Riptide | Vance Joy | 100 |
| =3 | Sweet Home Alabama | Lynyrd Skynyrd | 97 |
| =3 | Mr. Brightside | The Killers | 97 |
| 4 | Little Talks | Of Monsters and Men | 84 |
| 5 | Pumped Up Kicks | Foster The People | 83 |
| 6 | Shut Up and Dance | WALK THE MOON | 81 |
| 7 | Life is a Highway | Rascal Flatts | 80 |
| 8 | Don’t Stop Believin’ | Journey | 77 |
| =8 | Africa | TOTO | 77 |
| 9 | Unwritten | Natasha Bedingfield | 73 |
| 10 | Hey, Soul Sister | Train | 72 |
Sixth most played is WALK THE MOON’s ‘Shut Up and Dance’ which featured in 81 playlists. The music video currently has over 141 million views on YouTube alongside 1.6 billion plays on Spotify.
The seventh top song is ‘Life is a Highway’ by Rascal Flatts. The song featured in 80 playlists and has seen 700 million streams on Spotify. The song was a cover of Tom Cochrane’s 1991 hit and was released as part of Disney’s Cars soundtrack in 2006.
In joint eighth place are the classic hits ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ by Journey alongside TOTO’s iconic ‘Africa’. Both featured in 77 playlists, and each has nearly 2 billion streams on Spotify.
The next song to include on your road trip playlist is Natasha Bedingfield’s ‘Unwritten’ which placed as ninth most popular, featuring 73 times in the playlists surveyed.
Rounding off the list, Train’s classic ‘Hey, Soul Sister’ is another song not to leave off the playlist, having been found the tenth most popular. The song featured in 72 of the playlists and presently has 1.5 billion global streams.
Shayne Fitz-Coy, CEO of Rustic Pathways said: “There’s nothing more fun than hitting the open road. Road trips have long been a staple of the summer and globally there are so many iconic scenic routes to choose from.
“Traveling with family and friends provides that exciting adventure and can open your eyes to the beauty of your country, all within the confines of your car. You pair this with a great playlist and you’re in for one of the best trips of your life. It could even inspire you in creative ways as it has done for many authors, poets, and singers already.”
