He may have been snubbed for the Grammys but Ed Sheeran has emerged triumphant in Spotify’s streaming figures for 2017.
Sheeran is Spotify’s most streamed artist of 2017 globally and the most streamed artist overall on the platform with 47 million monthly listeners.
His album ÷ was the most streamed album of the year on Spotify (3.1 billion global streams) and Shape Of You has become the most streamed track of all time on the service (1.4 billion streams and counting) after passing Drake’s One Dance.
“Ed Sheeran absolutely dominated this year with the release of his record-breaking album, Divide,” said Stefan Blom, Spotify’s chief content officer. “There is no doubt that 2017 was The Year of Ed Sheeran, and we are thrilled that so many millions of music fans have discovered, listened to, and shared his music on Spotify. Congratulations to Ed on an amazing achievement.”
The latest Spotify numbers also reveal the strength of hip-hop on streaming with listening up 74% over the past year. Drake’s More Life was the second-biggest album on Spotify, followed by Kendrick Lamar’s Damn and Post Malone’s Stoney at No.5. Stoney peaked at No.10 on the UK album chart but has been a streaming sensation throughout the year.
Sheeran is followed by Drake, The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar and The Chainsmokers as Spotify’s most streamed artists of 2017.
While Shape Of You was the runaway winner in terms of track streaming this year, the rise of Latin pop was clear in the rankings with the Despacito remix and the original taking up second and third place.
Latin music’s listening increased by 110% this year, with Despacito and Mi Gente hitting No.1 on Spotify and 10 Latin songs appearing on the Global Top 50.
In terms of breakout artists, Spotify named Camila Cabello, Harry Styles and Liam Payne as the big new stars of the year. In the UK, Dua Lipa was the most streamed female artist. Her No.1 single New Rules has been streamed 464m times globally.
As for emerging 2017 genres, Spotify named melodic power metal as the most popular, followed by chaotic black metal, chillhop, trap latino and future funk.
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