Did YouTube Lie to Us? The Shocking Truth Behind the Most Watched Music Videos of 2021

Posted by Doug Klinger on January 6, 2022 in Most Popular Music Videos

Staff Post


Last month, YouTube put out a list that claimed to show the "top trending" music videos of 2021. We're here to tell you that this list is a hoax. 

Not only does it omit several of the most watched videos of the year, it's not even ordered based on view count. Say what?! Yes.

Here is the actual list of the most watched music videos from 2021:

The Weeknd 'Save Your Tears' music video

1. Save Your Tears

The Weeknd

Director: Cliqua

1.7B
Bad Bunny 'Yonaguni' music video

2. Yonaguni

Bad Bunny

Director: Stillz

935.4M
Silk Sonic 'Leave the Door Open' music video

3. Leave the Door Open

Silk Sonic

Director: Bruno Mars, Florent Dechard

826.7M
Justin Bieber 'Peaches' music video

4. Peaches

Justin Bieber

Director: Colin Tilley

768.5M
Bad Bunny 'La noche de anoche' music video

5. La noche de anoche

Bad Bunny

Director: Stillz

667.1M
The Kid LAROI 'Stay' music video

6. Stay

The Kid LAROI

Director: Colin Tilley

963.2M
Lil Nas X 'Montero (Call Me By Your Name)' music video

7. Montero (Call Me By Your Name)

Lil Nas X

Director: Tanu Muino, Lil Nas X

592.4M
BTS 'Permission to Dance' music video

8. Permission to Dance

BTS

Director: Yong Seok Choi, Woogie Kim

660.4M
Bella Poarch 'Build a B*tch' music video

9. Build a B*tch

Bella Poarch

Director: Andrew Donoho

505.0M
Olivia Rodrigo 'Drivers License' music video

10. Drivers License

Olivia Rodrigo

Director: Matthew Dillon Cohen

558.0M

And here is YouTube's bogus list:

Pooh Shiesty 'Back In Blood' music video

1. Back In Blood

Pooh Shiesty

Director: Jerry PHD

385.9M
The Weeknd 'Save Your Tears' music video

2. Save Your Tears

The Weeknd

Director: Cliqua

1.7B
Lil Nas X 'Montero (Call Me By Your Name)' music video

3. Montero (Call Me By Your Name)

Lil Nas X

Director: Tanu Muino, Lil Nas X

592.4M
Polo G 'RAPSTAR' music video

4. RAPSTAR

Polo G

Director: Arrad

238.7M
DJ Khaled 'EVERY CHANCE I GET' music video

5. EVERY CHANCE I GET

DJ Khaled

Director: Joseph Kahn

221.3M
Mo3 'Outside' music video

6. Outside

Mo3

Director: Prophecy

184.6M
Silk Sonic 'Leave the Door Open' music video

7. Leave the Door Open

Silk Sonic

Director: Bruno Mars, Florent Dechard

826.7M
Cardi B 'Up' music video

8. Up

Cardi B

Director: Tanu Muino

298.9M
Olivia Rodrigo 'Drivers License' music video

9. Drivers License

Olivia Rodrigo

Director: Matthew Dillon Cohen

558.0M
Rod Wave 'Street Runner' music video

10. Street Runner

Rod Wave

Director: Rod Wave, Yawn Rico

249.3M

We're not sure why more people aren't talking about this major conspiracy in the world of music video view counts, and we're damn not sure what YouTube is trying to pull, but either way we're blowing the lid off of the whole charade! 

YouTube tries to hide behind a loophole, claiming these are the "top trending" videos of the year and not the "most popular," but no one asked for a pretend metric that YouTube invented. It's undemocratic and unAmerican and we're calling on the music video community to publicly denounce this list as a lie. 

Send us a tip if you have a theory about why YouTube lied to the whole ass internet. And for anyone who is outranged, especially any musicians who were unfairly left off the YouTube list, we made you this very funny custom meme to share. 


Doug Klinger is the co-founder/content director of IMVDb and watches more music videos than anyone on earth. You can find him on twitter at @doug_klinger.



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