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Spotify 2015 Top Artists, Songs List: Drake, Rihanna, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber Among Big Guns

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 05:06 PST, Dec 1, 2015

Spotify has fittingly released its year in music list now that we’re almost at the end of 2015. To no one’s surprise, the most popular artists include Ed Sheeran, Drake, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, The Weeknd, and more.

The most recent, and startling, Spotify statistic — namely, that Bieber’s Purpose is the fastest album to rack up over one billion streams globally — isn’t on the list, but stands nevertheless.

Spotify reports over 75 million users listened to 20 billion hours of music on the streaming service this year, creating over 2 billion playlists as they did.

Of these, the Biebs earned the most streams in a single day, generating 36 million on November 13 (the release date for Purpose), 77 million in the U.S. in its first week, and broke the record for the most album streams in a single week globally, with over 205 million.

On August 28, “What Do You Mean?” — the first single from Bieber’s album — was released. It went on to become the fastest song to reach 100 million streams on Spotify.

Fast forward to today (December 1), Bieber’s “Sorry” is No. 1 on Spotify in the U.S. and globally.

“Love Yourself,” co-penned by Bieber and Sheeran, is No. 2 globally and in the States.

The title of most streamed artist of all time and most streamed U.K. artist of the year, with more than 3 billion streams, goes to Ed Sheeran, who dethrones rapper Eminem.

Drake takes the world’s most streamed artist of 2015 spot, with over 1.8 billion streams. He is also the top male artist in the list.

Meanwhile, even without releasing an album this year, Rihanna is the most streamed female of 2015, with over one billion streams.

As expected, “Lean On” by Major Lazer, featuring the singer MØ and DJ Snake, was the most streamed song of 2015. Spotify users punched in 540 million streams. The song is the most streamed song of all time on Spotify.

The Weekend’s Beauty Behind the Madness is the most streamed album of all time, while Kygo is named breakout artist after reaching one billion streams with tracks such as “Firestone” and “Stole the Show.”

According to Spotify’s list, the top five global artists and top five make artists are Drake, Ed Sheeran, Maroon 5, and Kanye West.

The top five global female artists are Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé, and Ellie Goulding.

The top five global albums are The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind The Madness, Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Major Lazer’s Peace Is The Mission, Avicii’s Stories, and Meghan Trainor’s debut, Title.

The top five global songs are “Lean On” (feat. MØ & DJ Snake) – Major Lazer, “Cheerleader”– Felix Jaehn Remix Radio Edit – OMI, “Uptown Funk” – Mark Ronson, “See You Again” (ft. Charlie Puth) – Wiz Khalifa, and “Love Me Like You Do” by Ellie Goulding.

In other Justin Bieber news, the 21-year-old is still ruling the charts in the U.K. and U.S., along with Adele.

In Britain, “Love Yourself,” a track from Bieber’s acclaimed new album Purpose, is currently atop the U.K’s midweek singles chart and is on track to be the new No.1 when the chart is updated on Friday. “Sorry” is now pushed into second place.

Interestingly, “Love Yourself” isn’t yet an official single, but public demand for the song has propelled it to the top of the U.K.’s chart.

“Sorry” was the second single officially released from Purpose. “What Do You Mean?” sits at No. 4 on the U.K. chart. “Love Yourself” is also No. 1 on the U.K’s iTunes singles chart.

Two weeks ago, Bieber beat John Lennon’s 34-year-old posthumous record (among many other records), to become the first male artist to have three entries (“Sorry,” “Love Yourself,” and “What Do You Mean?”) in the top five of the U.K single chart since January, 1981.

A week later (November 27), “Sorry” was still atop the U.K. singles chart, while “Love Yourself” was at No. 2. Justin became the first artist to claim the top two spots in 30 years, matching Madonna’s 30-year-old record when she occupied both positions in 1985 with “Into The Groove” (at No. 1) and “Holiday” (at No. 2).

Over on the Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in the U.S., Adele’s “Hello” is No. 1. Bieber’s “Sorry” is No. 2. Drake is No. 3 with “Hotline Bling,” the Biebs’ “What Do You Mean?” is No. 4, and The Weekend’s “The Hills” rounds out the top five.

To see the the full list of 2015 results on Spotify, click here.

[Image via Mark Davis/Getty Images]

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