Spotify has uploaded their “Year in Music” review, and the superlatives include a lot of the usual suspects, as well as a few surprises—depending on which market you’re considering.
Drake is the most streamed male artist of the year in both the global and US markets, beating out Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd, and curiously Kanye West, who released a handful of singles in 2015 that may or may not wind up on the forthcoming SWISH. The two outliers are Maroon 5, who appeared at #4 on the global list, and Eminem, coming in at #5 on the US list. In both the US and Global markets, the male artist list overlapped with the general artist list, with no female artist cracking the general list.
Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Beyonce, and Ariana Grande appeared in both markets, with Rihanna topping the global list, and Nicki Minaj topping the U.S. The two outliers were Ellie Goulding on the global list, and Lana del Rey on the U.S.
The biggest deviations were on the song lists. While it’s no surprise that Major Lazer’s “Lean On” and Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!” appeared on both lists, the Global list included OMI’s “Cheerleader” and Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again.” The U.S. list included Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen” and The Weeknd’s “The Hills.” The Weeknd’s “Earned It” also made the U.S. list, whereas the Global list preferred another Fifty Shades of Grey track: Elle Goulding’s “Love Me Like You Do.”
The Weeknd did, however, make the Global viral tracks list with “Can’t Feel My Face,” along with Drake’s “Hotline Bling”; Alessia Cara’s “Here”; Felix Jaehn’s “Ain’t Nobody (Loves Me Better)”; and Robin Schulz’s “Sugar.” The U.S. preferred Elle King’s “Ex’s & Oh’s” as well as Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment’s “Sunday Candy” along with Drake, Aleesia Cara, and Robin Schulz.
Justin Bieber nabbed the title for most streams in a single day with 36 million streams on November 13th, when Purpose was released, whereas Ed Sheeran is officially the most streamed artist of all time with more than 3 billion streams, and probably because other artists have removed their discography from the streaming service.
The full lists are below:
Most Streamed Artist of 2015: Drake
Most Streamed Female Artist of 2015: Rihanna
Most Streams in a Single Day: Justin Bieber
Most Streamed Song of 2015: “Lean On” by Major Lazer featuring MØ and DJ Snake
Most Streamed Album of 2015: Beauty Behind The Madness by The Weeknd
Most Streamed Artist of All Time: Ed Sheeran
Breakout Artist of 2015: Kygo
Most Viral Track of 2015: “Sugar” by Robin Schulz featuring Francesco Yates
Most Popular Playlist of 2015: Today’s Top Hits
Most Musical Day of 2015 (i.e., biggest day for streams): June 19th
Global Results
Top Five Global Artists
1. Drake
2. Ed Sheeran
3. The Weeknd
4. Maroon 5
5. Kanye West
Top Five Global Males
1. Drake
2. Ed Sheeran
3. The Weeknd
4. Maroon 5
5. Kanye West
Top Five Global Females
1. Rihanna
2. Ariana Grande
3. Nicki Minaj
4. Beyoncé
5. Ellie Goulding
Top Five Global Tracks
1. “Lean On” by Major Lazer featuring MØ & DJ Snake
2. “Cheerleader”(Felix Jaehn Remix Radio Edit) by OMI
3. “Uptown Funk” Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
4. “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth
5. “Love Me Like You Do” by Ellie Goulding
Top Five Global Albums
1. Beauty Behind The Madness by The Weeknd
2. If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late by Drake
3. Peace Is The Mission by Major Lazer
4. Stories by Avicii
5. Title by Meghan Trainor
Top Five Global Viral Tracks
1. “Sugar” by Robin Schulz featuring Francesco Yates
2. “Hotline Bling” by Drake
3. “Ain’t Nobody (Loves Me Better)” by Felix Jaehn
4. “Can’t Feel My Face” by The Weeknd
5. “Here” by Alessia Cara
Top Five Global Playlists
1. Today’s Top Hits
2. Afternoon Acoustic
3. Baila Reggaeton
4. Hot Country
5. RapCaviar
U.S. List
Top Five Artists in U.S.
1. Drake
2. The Weeknd
3. Kanye West
4. Ed Sheeran
5. Eminem
Top Five Males in U.S.
1. Drake
2. The Weeknd
3. Kanye West
4. Ed Sheeran
5. Eminem
Top Five Females in U.S.
1. Nicki Minaj
2. Beyoncé
3. Rihanna
4. Ariana Grande
5. Lana Del Rey
Top Five Tracks in the U.S.
1. “Trap Queen” by Fetty Wap
2. “The Hills” by The Weeknd
3. “Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey)” by The Weeknd
4. “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
5. “Lean On” by Major Lazer featuring MØ & DJ Snake
Top Five Albums in the U.S.
1. If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late by Drake
2. Beauty Behind The Madness by The Weeknd
3. Fetty Wap by Fetty Wap
4. Dark Sky Paradise by Big Sean
5. SremmLife by Rae Sremmurd
Top Five Viral Tracks in the U.S.
1. “Here” by Alessia Cara
2. “Hotline Bling” by Drake
3. “Sugar” by Robin Schulz featuring Francesco Yates
4. “Ex’s & Oh’s” by Elle King
4. “Sunday Candy” by Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment (tied for 4th place)
Top Five Playlists in the U.S.
1. Today’s Top Hits
2. Hot Country
3. RapCaviar
4. TGIF
5. Afternoon Acoustic
(h/t Billboard)