Following news earlier this week of his million-selling status in the UK with his album X – not to mention his appearance at Tuesday night’s Victoria’s Secret show – Ed Sheeran has been named the most streamed artist of 2014.
According to streaming data from more than 50 million Spotify users and more than 7bn hours of music from this year, the singer-songwriter beat the likes of Eminem and Coldplay to the top of the list, with Arctic Monkeys coming in second. “It’s a great thing to be above so many amazing artists who I’d assume would be streamed more than me,” Sheeran said.
This news wraps up what has been a triumphant year for the 23-year-old, who has dominated the music industry over the past 12 months. Sheeran spent eight straight weeks at the top of the UK album charts and notched up more than a million sales of his second album in the UK – the first artist to do so since Emeli Sandé, who achieved the feat with Our Version of Events in 2012. According to Spotify, the album has had 430m streams worldwide since its release in June. Not only did X hit the summer festivals in time, but its timing was key to new streaming rules: from July 2014, streams counted towards UK official chart positions.
The global success of this album, and its subsequent singles, has propelled Sheeran to the top of both the year’s most streamed artist and most streamed album lists. The rest of the statistics highlight the success of rock, hip-hop and pop megastars: Katy Perry tops the list of female artists, putting an end to Rihanna’s two-year reign in the category, while Pharrell’s ubiquitous Happy single scored over 260m plays and is the most streamed track. Coldplay are the most streamed group, while Hozier’s Take Me to Church tops the viral track list.
Aside from specific tracks, artists and albums, Spotify also announced some of the mood trends of its listeners: 10 October was officially “the loudest day of the year”, with more heavy rock and metal played than any other day, while 30 May was the day in which the biggest number of playlists titled “happy” were streamed on repeat.
Steve Savoca, head of content at Spotify, said: “This has been a phenomenal year for a rich variety of amazing artists on Spotify. Over 50m dedicated music fans listened to more than 7bn listening hours in 2014 alone.
Huge congratulations to Ed Sheeran on achieving most-streamed album on Spotify for the wildly successful X, and also for earning the overall most streamed artist of 2014 thanks to his dedicated fans on Spotify.”
Napster, who also published their annual statistics, named Eminem as the most streamed artist of 2014 globally, while Sheeran topped its UK chart, beating the likes of Coldplay, Sam Smith, Paolo Nutini and One Direction. Spotify’s year in review for 2013 revealed that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis were the most-streamed act of the year worldwide for singles and albums.
Results in full
Global results
1. Ed Sheeran
2. Eminem
3. Coldplay
4. Calvin Harris
5. Katy Perry
1. Ed Sheeran
2. Eminem
3. Calvin Harris
4. Avicii
5. David Guetta
1. Katy Perry
2. Ariana Grande
3. Lana Del Rey
4. Beyoncé
5. Lorde
1. Coldplay
2. Imagine Dragons
3. Maroon 5
4. OneRepublic
5. One Direction
1. Happy (from Despicable Me 2) – Pharrell Williams
2. Rather Be (feat. Jess Glynne) – Clean Bandit
3. Summer – Calvin Harris
4. Dark Horse – Katy Perry
5. All of Me – John Legend
1. X - Ed Sheeran
2. In the Lonely Hour – Sam Smith
3. The New Classic – Iggy Azalea
4. G I R L – Pharrell Williams
5. My Everything – Ariana Grande
1. Take Me to Church –Hozier
2. Gooey – Glass Animals
3. Ojos Color Sol – Calle 13
4. Coffee – Sylvan Esso
5. Hey Mami – Sylvan Esso
UK
1. Ed Sheeran
2. Arctic Monkeys
3. Eminem
4. Sam Smith
5. Coldplay
1. Rather Be (feat. Jess Glynne) – Clean Bandit
2. Happy – Pharrell Williams
3. Waves (Robin Schulz Radio Edit) – M Probz
4. All of Me – John Legend
5. Stay With Me – Sam Smith
1. X - Ed Sheeran
2. In the Lonely Hour – Sam Smith
3. Wanted On Voyage – George Ezra
4. The New Classic – Iggy Azalea
5. G I R L – Pharrell Williams
1. Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) – Baz Luhrmann
2. Gooey – Glass Animals
3. Everyone Is Gay – A Great Big World
4. Take Me To Church – Hozier
5. Far From Any Road – The Handsome Family
