The past 11 months have been pretty goddamn great for those who've always longed for a day when borders don't matter in the world of popular music. 

Thanks to streaming services, we've been given a smorgasbord that previous generations could only dream of. Long gone are the times of blowing good chunks of one's disposable income at bricks and mortar record stores, or on iTunes while sitting in front of the Mac, hammered at 2 in the morning. 

If you subscribe to a streaming service, you might have picked up on the fact that women made some of the greatest, most vital and groundbreaking music of 2018. Take Cardi B's "I Like It", which spun pure hip-hop gold out of a Pete Rodriguez boogaloo song from 1967.

Rico Nasty proved to be the rap star you don't want to fuck with her bareknuckled, punk-as-fuck "Smack a Bitch", Casey Musgraves continued to reinvent classic country with "Slow Burn", and boygenius suggested that maybe indie rock has a future after all with "Salt in the Wound". 

So how were such breakthrough artists celebrated on the mammoth streaming service known as Spotify? Predictably they were—along with every artist in the lacking-a-penis department—buried deep down. 

According to the company's stats, the most popular artists on the site were all dudes, Drake taking over from Ed Sheeran (who slipped to number five) as the most-streamed artists of 2018. Post Malone, deceased rapper XXXTentacion, and Columbia's J Balvin rounded out the top five. 

If you twigged into the fact that hip-hop ruled Spotify this year, give yourself a gold star for being observant. 

The gender equality news was no better on the band front, with Imagine Dragons, BTS, Maroon 5, Migos, and last-year's top dogs Coldplay turning Spotify's most-streamed groups into an unrepentant sausage party. 

The most-streamed female artists were Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Cardi B, Taylor Swift, and Camila Cabello.