An escape to the countryside for a hike or stroll has been proven to be good for your health, and obviously we know that listening to music is good for the soul. Which is why we were interested in learning about the top songs that appeared on hiking playlists on Spotify.
Daffodil Hotel & Spa in the Lake District examined 104 Spotify playlists that had ‘hiking’ or ‘hikes’ in their title, to find out which of the 25,000 songs featured in them popped up the most. They discovered that Ophelia by The Lumineers was the top song for inclusion on hiking playlists.
Actually, The Lumineers also come top of the list when it comes to the most featured artists, with 222 appearances across the total playlists. This put them ahead of Depeche Mode, the artists in second place with 149 appearances. Vance Joy came in third place, followed by Mumford & Sons and The Killers in joint fourth place.
The top songs have a definite folky vibe, as Riptide by Vance Joy took the second spot. Old Pine by Ben Howard came in joint third place along with Ends of the Earth by Lord Huron, and Vance Joy came after them with Mess is Mine. Interestingly, hikers seem to favour recent songs with just one song from the top 10 having been released before the year 2000.
To see the full report on the world's favourite hiking songs, please see here.
