Why stop at the 6th biggest song ? The most listened album overall is by far Dark Side Of The Moon, and if I remember correctly Wish You Were Here, Nevermind and Abbey Road are the next most listened albums, around the same level.

Originally I started these lists including the top 4 tracks of each album. Then I expanded that to 5 and 6. Where to stop? Wish you were here has only 5 tracks, the Wall has 26!
I you wanna see album totals, I believe there's a section for that elsewhere on chartmasters.

Which versions of songs to include is often a difficult topic. Usually we combine different versions of a song, as long as it's credited to the original artist, or even if it's featuring the original artist. Examples of that include Mariah Carey's duet version of "All I Want" with Justin Bieber and Earth, Wind & Fire's "September" from "Trolls" with Justin Timberlake.

Live versions and single edits are also included. Bands like Queen, The Eagles, Metallica and Nirvana post huge numbers with live versions. Metallica's SM and Nirvana's Unplugged versions are also vastly different from the originals - as are the Marley remixes you mentioned.

That said, I don't include George Harrison's live version of "Here Comes the Sun" or Paul McCartney's live version of "Let it Be" or Sting's version of "Every Breath You Take" or Ozzy Osbourne's version of "Paranoid". Because those are not credited to the original artist, just one member of the band.

"Metallica’s SM and Nirvana’s Unplugged versions are also vastly different from the originals – as are the Marley remixes you mentioned."

So why include them ? Is it because it's more practical ? Personally I would only include the original versions (and the possible single edits).

I think you missed my point, I'm talking about people listening to entire albums, not just a few songs. The top 10 might be :

Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Nirvana - Nevermind
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Nirvana - MTV Unplugged In New York
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Metallica - Master Of Puppets
Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue
Metallica - Ride The Lightning

I listen to entire albums too. AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock" being a particular fave of mine - killler album start to finish. I love albums, still got vinyl, about 700 of them.
But these list are about biggest songs on Spotify, and due to my love of albums I think it interesting to see which albums have not just one Blockbuster hit but two or three, four, five or even six.
The fact that DSOTM doesn't appear on 2-5, but ranks 2nd on 6 (with "Brain Damage") does imply that it may not have any Blockhuster hit, but it is in fact a Blockbuster album.

Personally I think the unplugged version of Nirvana's "Come as You Are" is great. Does it differ from the original? Yup, but it's still the same song.

It's no problem looking songs up on Spotify to see which has more plays. Or simply go to Wikipedea.

The BIG work load is adding them up to see which songs have more plays all editions combined.
Disagree? Feel free to look elsewhere!

https://chartmasters.org/spotify-most-streamed-albums/?y=1973

This link shows you top albums by year, streaming totals. This does NOT include live versions, single edits, remixes etc. unless those are on the same spotify album (they sometimes are on remasters).

In 1973 you see DSOTM is indeed #1. And whereas the rest of the top 5 from 1973 rely mainly on 1 big hit (ok 3-4 in Elton and Lynyrd Skynyrds case), DSOTM can rely on all tracks to deliver.

Using those lists here are the biggest pre-2000 albums. Mind you, some of these are still boosted by a few huge songs! There's no telling who is listening to entire albums start to finish!

1 Nirvana "Nevermind" - 3.119B
2 Fleetwood Mac "Rumours" - 2.992B
3 G'n'R "Appetite for Destruction" - 2.831B
4 Michael Jackson "Thriller" - 2.709B
5 Dr. Dre "2001" - 2.655B
6 Oasis "Morning Glory" - 2.606B
7 RHCP "Californication" - 2.514B
8 Metallica "Metallica" - 2.437B
9 Queen "A Night at the Opera" - 2.406B
10 AC/DC "Back in Black" - 2.211B

Here are the top ten songs from the 50s on Spotify.

TOP SPOTIFY TRACKS OF 50s:
As of 4/1/2022
1 (1) BRENDA LEE – Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – 612.4M
2 (2) BOBBY HELMS – Jingle Bell Rock – 542.2M
3 (3) FRANK SINATRA – Let It Snow – 388.7M
4 (5) DEAN MARTIN – Let It Snow – 303.9M
5 (4) ELVIS PRESLEY – Jailhouse Rock – 288.3M
6 (7) CHUCK BERRY – Johnny B. Goode – 282.2M
7 (6) ELVIS PRESLEY – Blue Christmas – 266.3M
8 (8) JOHNNY CASH – I Walk the Line – 253.4M
9 (10) PAUL ANKA – Put Your Head On My Shoulder – 248.1M
10 (9) JOHNNY CASH – Folsom Prison Blues – 232.2M

Brenda Lee and Bobby Helms’ Xmas classics are still in a league of their own. Now both would’ve made the 60s top 10!
There are 5 Xmas entries in the top 7 songs, with Elvis’ “Jailhouse Rock” the biggest non-Xmas song on the list. Both Elvis tracks move down one spot though.
Another Xmas song, Perry Como’s “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”, is just outside the top ten (230.3M). Ella Fitzgerald is # 12 with "Dream a Litlle Dream of Me" (207.0M)

Top 10 in 2021:

1 Brenda - 152.5M
2 Bobby - 142.5M
3 Frank - 83.0M
4 Dean - 81.0M
5 Chuck - 71.0M
6 Paul - 68.1M
7 Elvis "Jailhouse" - 61.9M
8 Perry Como - 55.3M
9 Ella - 48M
10 Johnny "Walk" - 47.0M

These two Xmas classics from the 40s are still going strong! They would’ve ranked #4 and #5 in the 50s.
1 (1) BING CROSBY – White Christmas – 330.3M
2 (2) NAT KING COLE – The Christmas Song – 319.6M

Incredible how christmas music dominated this decade!
I'm starting to see it climbing the ranks in the 60's too now. I wonder if the same will happen for even later years the coming decade.

TOP SPOTIFY TRACKS OF 60s:
(As of 1-2/1/2022)
1 (2) THE BEATLES – Here Comes the Sun – 760.9M
2 (1) MARVIN GAYE – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – 753.8M
3 (3) CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL – Fortunate Son – 718.8M
4 (4) ROLLING STONES – Paint It Black – 671.4M
5 (5) THE JACKSON 5 – I Want You Back – 623.3M
6 (6) VAN MORRSION – Brown Eyed Girl – 622.7M
7 (7) THE ANIMALS – House of the Rising Sun – 602.0M
8 (8) BEN E. KING – Stand By Me – 587.5M
9 (9) THE TEMPTATIONS – My Girl – 560.5M
10 (10) ELVIS PRESLEY – Can’t Help Falling in Love – 522.6M
11 (11) ANDY WILLIAMS – It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year – 515.6M
12 (12) JIMI HENDRIX – All Along the Watchtower – 493.7M
13 (13) THE BEATLES – Come Together – 487.3M
14 (14) ROLLING STONES – (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction – 473.2M
15 (15) THE BEATLES – Hey Jude – 449.9M
16 (18) NEIL DIAMOND – Sweet Caroline – 447.6M
17 (16) CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL – Bad Moon Rising – 447.4M
18 (17) FRANK SINATRA – Fly Me to the Moon – 439.9M
19 (-) LED ZEPPELIN – Whole Lotta Love – 412.9M
20 (-) THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS – California Dreamin' – 405.5M

Like anticipated last year “Here Comes the Sun” is now the top streaming track from the 60's. It was #1 in 2021 too (see below)

Other changes are found at the very bottom of the chart. Simon & Garfunkel had two tracks at #19 & 20 last year ("Silence" & "Robinson" are now 22 & 23). They are replaced by Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" and The Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreamin".

Here are the top 10 of 2021:
1 Beatles – Sun – 182.0M
2 CCR – Fortunate – 162.6M
3 Stones – Black – 152.5M
4 Marvin Gaye – Mountain – 149.9M
5 Animals – House – 131.2M
6 Ben E. – Stand By – 128.5M
7 Morrison – Brown – 122.5M
8 Elvis – Falling – 119.0M
9 Andy Williams – Wonderful Time – 116.6M
10 Jackson 5 – Back – 116.4M

While the Beatles are #1, neither "Come Together" (#13) nor "Hey Jude" (#18) are in the top 10 of 2021.

TOP SPOTIFY TRACKS OF 70s:
(As of 1/1/2022)
1 (1) QUEEN – Bohemian Rhapsody – 1793.2M
2 (2) QUEEN – Don’t Stop Me Now – 1309.9M
3 (3) THE EAGLES – Hotel California – 1094.5M
4 (4) EARTH, WIND & FIRE – September – 1065.0M
5 (5) AC/DC – Highway To Hell – 915.2M
6 (9) FLEETWOOD MAC – Dreams – 905.4M
7 (6) LYNYRD SKYNYRD – Sweet Home Alabama – 868.3M
8 (7) QUEEN – We Will Rock You – 853.3M
9 (10) CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL – Have You Ever Seen the Rain – 740.5M
10 (11) DIRE STRAITS – Sultans of Swing – 734.0M
11 (8) BOB MARLEY – Is This Love – 733.4M
12 (16) BEE GEES – Stayin’ Alive – 672.9M
13 (14) ELTON JOHN – Rocket Man – 664.3M
14 (12) LED ZEPPELIN – Stairway to Heaven – 664.0M
15 (13) QUEEN – Somebody To Love – 650.1M
16 (20) ABBA – Dancing Queen – 649.1M
17 (-) FLEETWOOD MAC – The Chain – 638.8M
18 (17) ELO – Mr. Blue Sky – 634.3M
19 (15) BOB MARLEY – Three Little Birds – 620.8M
20 (19) FLEETWOOD MAC – Go Your Own Way – 611.2M

The Top 5 remain the same, but Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” (still boosted by TikTok I suppose) jumps from #9-6, and is once again 2nd only to Bo Rhap the past 12 months.
Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" drop put of the list (#21).
It's replaced by another Fleetwood Mac track: "The Chain". "Rumours" NOW have 3 in the top 20 (I thought it did last year already, until I realized I had missed ELO & ABBA)

Top 10 in 2021:
1 Queen – Bo Rhap – 325.3M
2 Fleetwood – Dreams – 301.6M
3 Queen – Stop – 257.0M
4 Eagles – California – 247.2M
5 Earth – September – 225.1M
6 AC/DC – HTH – 213.7M
7 Bee Gees – 174.4M
8 Lynyrd – Alabama – 174.3M
9 Queen – WWRY – 172.3M
10 ABBA – Dancing Queen – 169.7M
(The Chain - 169.5M)

TOP SPOTIFY TRACKS OF 80s:
(As of 1/1/2021)
1 (1) JOURNEY – Don’t Stop Believin’ – 1208.9M
2 (2) QUEEN – Another One Bites the Dust – 1197.9M
3 (4) AHA – Take On Me – 1158.9M
4 (3) TOTO – Africa – 1126.7M
5 (5) GUNS N ROSES – Sweet Child O Mine – 1094.4M
6 (8) THE POLICE – Every Breath You Take – 1065.6M
7 (6) QUEEN/BOWIE – Under Pressure – 1054.7M
8 (7) MICHAEL JACKSON – Billie Jean – 1032.0M
9 (9) AC/DC – Back In Black – 951.8M
10 (10) WHAM – Last Christmas – 888.8M
11 (11) BON JOVI – Livin’ On A Prayer – 879.1M
12 (12) EURYTHMICS – Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) – 825.2M
13 (13) SURVIVOR – Eye of the Tiger – 788.5M
14 (16) WHITNEY HOUSTON – I Wanna Dance With Somebody – 737.8M
15 (14) QUEEN – I Want to Break Free – 737.4M
16 (17) BRYAN ADAMS – Summer of ’69 – 737.0M
17 (15) GUNS N ROSES – Welcome To the Jungle – 715.7M
18 (-) TEARS FOR FEARS – Everybody Wants to Rule the World – 684.5M
19 (18) GUNS N ROSES – Paradise City – 676.2M
20 (19) U2 – With Or Without You – 658.6M

One year ago none of these had passed 1B plays on Spotify - now EIGHT have! Although just Journey still hold on to top spot, but Queen are gaining! Of course Queen already have the top two tracks of the 70s.
The Police are approaching the top 5 - "Every Breath" was #1 in 2021 (see below).
Tears for Fears make a new entry due to a strong 2021, pushing out Hall & Oates "You Make My Dreams" (a new entry last year).
#21 is AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" btw.

Top 10 in 2021:
1 Police – Breath – 279.6M
2 A-ha – Take – 269.3M
3 Queen – Dust – 268.8M
4 AC/DC – BIB – 238.0M
5 Michael - Billie Jean - 236.9M
6 Journey – Believin’ – 231.7M
7 Queen – Pressure – 219.4M
8 GnR – Child – 217.7M
9 Toto – Africa – 208.7M
10 Bon Jovi – Prayer – 202.0M
(Tears for Fears - 194.9M)
(Wham – Xmas – 193.4M)

Surprisingly Journey are only #6 the past 12 months! (and Wham #12!)

TOP SPOTIFY TRACKS OF 90s:
(As of 1/1/2022)
1 (1) OASIS – Wonderwall – 1304.9M
2 (2) MARIAH CAREY – All I Want for Christmas – 1228.2M
3 (3) NIRVANA – Smells Like Teen Spirit – 1178.4M
4 (6) BACKSTREET BOYS – I Want It That Way – 879.2M
5 (8) AC/DC – Thunderstruck – 873.7M
6 (4) RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – Under the Bridge – 871.1M
7 (5) RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – Californication – 858.2M
8 (7) GOO GOO DOLLS – Iris – 849.6M
9 (9) RADIOHEAD – Creep – 825.9M
10 (18) COOLIO – Gangsta’s Paradise – 818.5M
11 (12) METALLICA – Enter Sandman – 809.5M
12 (10) DR. DRE – Still DRE – 799.1M
13 (13) NIRVANA – Come As You Are – 793.4M
14 (15) R.E.M. – Losing My Religion – 758.4M
15 (11) SMASH MOUTH – All Star – 748.7M
16 (14) METALLICA – Nothing Else Matters – 746.7M
17 (17)THE CRANBERRIES – Zombie – 733.3M
18 (16) FOO FIGHTERS – Everlong – 699.9M
19 (20) SPICE GIRLS – Wannabe – 675.9M
20 (19) AEROSMITH – I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing – 668.6M

Three 1B+ tracks from the 90s (Nirvana is the only new one) compared to EIGHT in the 80s, and four in the 70s.
Oasis still number 1, moving away from Mariah in 2021 (see below)

Coolio continues to surge ahead! New to the list last year, this year he climbs 18-10! He was 2nd to Nirvana only in 2021.

1 Nirvana – Spirit – 293.2M
2 Coolio – Gangsta – 264.6M
3 Oasis – Wonder – 251.1M
4 Mariah – Xmas – 218.7M
5 AC/DC – Thunder – 210.1M
6 Radiohead – Creep – 192.0M
7 Metallica – Sandman – 189.3M
8 Nirvana - Come - 185.8M
9 BB – That Way – 184.1M
10 R.E.M. – Religion – 177.1M

TOP SPOTIFY TRACKS OF 00s:
(As of 4/1/2022)
1 (1) JASON MRAZ – I’m Yours – 1367.5M
2 (3) THE KILLERS – Mr. Brightside – 1327.4M
3 (2) EMINEM – Lose Yourself– 1272.0M
4 (5) EMINEM – Till I Collapse – 1213.7M
5 (4) COLDPLAY – The Scientist – 1212.6M
6 (7) LINKIN PARK – In the End – 1175.4M
7 (6) MAROON 5 – She Will Be Loved – 1134.4M

8 (10) COLDPLAY – Yellow – 1104.0M

9 (9) COLDPLAY – Viva La Vida – 1099.1M
10 (8) BEYONCÉ – Halo – 1088.9M
11 (12) THE WHITE STRIPES – Seven Nation Army – 996.2M
12 (16) EMINEM – Without Me – 981.7M
13 (13) LINKIN PARK – Numb – 977.1M
14 (11) COLDPLAY – Fix You – 966.2M
15 (15) TRAIN – Hey, Soul Sister – 953.1M
16 (14) KANYE WEST – Stronger – 930.9M
17 (17) SHAKIRA – Hips Don’t Lie – 922.8M
18 (19) BEYONCÉ – Crazy in Love – 904.9M
19 (18) THE FRAY – How to Save a Life – 875.5M
20 (20) SNOW PATROL – Chasing Cars – 868.2M

Jason Mraz is still on top, however The Killers moves to 2nd, closing in on Mr. Mraz.
TEN tracks are above the 1B mark, with the rest of the top 20 likely to join the club in 2022!

Eminem's early classic "The Real Slim Shady" (#24, 815.6M) moves closer to the top 20 with a strong showing in 2021, where it was #4!!

The top 10 of 2021:
1 Coldplay – Yellow – 315.7M
2 Killers – Mr. B – 281.9M
3 Linkin – End – 259.8M
4 Eminem - Slim Shady - 253.5M
5 Eminem – Without – 252.4M
6 Eminem – Collapse – 240.7M
7 Mraz – Yours – 232.3M
8 Eminem – Lose – 224.4M
9 White Stripes - Army - 219.7
10 Coldplay – Scientist – 214.7M
(Coldplay – Vida – 214.4M)

Massive numbers from "Yellow" in 2021! Only bested by "Bo Rhap" among all pre-2010 tracks!

Top 20 in 2021 across all decades (50s-00s)

1 Queen – Bo Rhap – 325.3M
2 Coldplay - Yellow - 315.7M
3 Fleetwood – Dreams – 301.6M
4 Nirvana - Spirit - 293.3M
5 Killers – Mr. B – 281.9M
6 Police – Breath – 279.6M
7 A-ha – Take – 269.3M
8 Queen – Dust – 268.8M
9 Coolio - Gangsta - 264.6M
10 Linkin – End – 259.8M
11 Queen – Stop – 257.0M
12 Eminem – Slim Shady – 253.5M
13 Eminem – Without – 252.4M
14 Oasis – Wonder – 251.1M
15 Eagles – California – 247.2M
16 Eminem – Collapse – 240.7M
17 AC/DC – BIB – 238.0M
18 Michael - Billie Jean - 236.9M
19 Mraz – Yours – 232.2M
20 Journey – Believin’ – 231.7M

Earth, Wind and Fire are just outside the top 20 of 2021 with 225.1M.
Queen and Eminem both have three tracks in the top 20. Eminem was pretty close at getting FOUR tracks in top 20. "Lose Yourself" is #22 with 224.4M!

No Xmas songs!
7 tracks from the 00s, 3 from the 90s, 6 from the 80s and 4 from the 70s. None from the 60s or 50s (Beatles "Here Comes the Sun" 182M/Brenda Lee "Xmas Tree" 152.5M).

"There’s no telling who is listening to entire albums start to finish!"

The least streamed song on an album is a pretty good indicator I think 😉

Still just an indicator. And hardly a perfect one.

Least played track:
DSOTM - Any Colour You Like - 65.0M
The Wall - Outside the Wall - 14.6M

Does this mean 4 or 5 times as many people listen to DSOTM start to finish? Of course not.

The least streamed track on DSOTM is actually included on the official "Essential Pink Floyd" playlist, and ALL 10 DSOTM tracks are included on the "This is Pink Floyd" playlist (with more than 1.1M likes).

ELEVEN of the 26 songs on the Wall are NOT included on either playlist. Nor are any of those 11 songs on "Echoes" or "A Foot in the Door" btw (6 of 10 DSOTM tracks are).

Then there are mixed playlists and private playlists.
I got 6 or 7 tracks from each of the two albums on my PF playlist. I don't have "Any Colour" on it, but I'm sure others might. But who's gonna put "Stop" or "Outside the Wall" on their essential PF?

DSOTM is a classic album, and sometimes I do listen to it start to finish, but I bet the majority of it's plays are from playlists - even "Any Colour", "Speak to Me" and "On the Run".

Those playlists you mentioned are irrelevant since they include songs with only 5m/6m streams, for ex. look at More's most played tracks :

Green Is The Colour - 6m
Crying Song - 6m
Main Theme - 5m
The Nile Song - 4m

The first three are in those "Essential" and "This Is Pink Floyd" playlists... Now DSOTM's least played tracks :

Eclipse - 70m
On The Run - 68m
Speak To Me - 65m
Any Colour You Like - 65m

It's pretty obvious to me that these represent people listening to the entire album, and yes DSOTM is way more popular than The Wall, before the streaming era it was selling like three times more.

Didn't mean to say the majority of those 65M came from those two playlists alone. There are 100s and 1000s of playlists around the world, some work like the radiostations of old. And all DSOTM tracks are popular and bound to be on lots of them. Furthermore Spotify has algorithms that allows you to listen music of interest (tracks listened to by others "like you") - again all DSOTM tracks are popular.
My point is all these factors make popular tracks even more popular. Few albums comprise of popular tracks only, but obviously DSOTM does. So I still believe most of the plays come from other than front to back listening, but like I said, there is no telling.

But surely you don't believe that most of Speak To Me's streams are from playlists ?

You say "few albums comprise of popular tracks only", what are the other albums you're thinking of ? Would you say MJ's Baby Be Mine (30m streams) is a "popular track" ?

I suppose you're right. You wouldn't listen to "Speak to Me" without "Breathe". I dunno, maybe I'm wrong. I just figure many people use Spotify instead of Classic Rock Radio stations (or any genre), and all DSOTM tracks could easily be heard on those. Including "Speak to Me/Breathe". Tracks from "More" and deep cuts from "The Wall" would surely be far more uncommon on Classic Rock stations.

All tracks on "Back in Black", "Metallica" and "Nevermind" were also popular enough to be aired on those stations, but obviously not popular in the common sense.
I wonder which album would have the highest number of airplay from it's least played song? DSOTM wouldn't be a bad guess. I'm was thinking that translates into Spotify plays these days.

Dunno about "Baby Be Mine", never heard it on radio, then again, never heard much Pop radio channels.

Why don't you make your own lists then?

Both of you are partially right!

Some albums do get a lot of start to finish streams, ending up with millions of plays for the weakest tracks.

That being said, it's correct that there are literally billions of playlists, private or public, and that a lot of people use them. If you look at popular rap albums, it gets kinda obvious thanks to skits.

Albums like The College Dropout or The Marshall Mathers LP have all their real tracks well past 20m, some album cuts past 50m, yet the skits are below 10m. I really doubt the majority people streaming these albums in full, would jump on their phone to manually skip a 40-seconds track when streaming an album. Also, these albums have enough tracks to see wild differences between many deep cuts, which shows start to finish streams are far from the norm even for these songs that one would guess aren't on playlists.

A side point, there's a big flaw in this 'least popular' track logic, which is the number of tracks. Albums with 12 tracks or less will always be much higher than albums at 15+ tracks. The higher is the number of tracks the more difficult it is to get exposure from all of them, and the lower are the chances that no track ends up being a 'skip favorite' like Fitter Happier on OK Computer or Four Sticks on IV.