Spotify names top artists, hits of 2014

MANILA, Philippines -Spotify’s Year in Music looks back at the soundtrack of this year, with over 50 million Spotify users listening to over 7 billion hours of music in 2014.

Ed Sheeran was crowned the most streamed artist of 2014, with the UK singer-songwriter being listened to in Spotify more than 860 million times across the globe in 2014.

He also holds the title for the most streamed album for “X” which was released in June to rave reviews, and which had over 430 million streams from the album by fans.

Sheeran said: '“It’s a great thing to be above so many amazing artists who I’d assume would be streamed more than me!”

In the Philippines, the Eraserheads topped the list of most streamed OPM artists this year. The band was followed by M.Y.M.P., and homegrown pop star Sarah Geronimo in second and third place, respectively. Angeline Quinto placed fourth, while Yeng Constantino, who recently launched her newest album All About Love on Spotify through an exclusive pre-stream, rounded out the top five.

The year also saw Katy Perry taking the crown from Rihanna - who has held the title consecutively for the past two years - as the most streamed female artist on Spotify. Dark Horse spent 11 weeks at No. 1 on Spotify’s US Top 50 chart, the longest run at the top of the chart in 2014.

Pharrell Williams united music fans across the world with pop anthem of the year, Happy, the most streamed track in the world in 2014 with over 260 million plays.

Here’s the result of Spotify’s top list:

Global Results

Top Five Global Artists
1.  Ed Sheeran
2.  Eminem
3.  Coldplay
4.  Calvin Harris
5.  Katy Perry

Top Five Global Males
1.     Ed Sheeran
2.     Eminem
3.     Calvin Harris
4.  Avicii
5.  David Guetta

Top Five Global Females
1.     Katy Perry
2.     Ariana Grande
3.     Lana Del Rey
4.     Beyoncé
5.  Lorde

Top Five Global Groups
1.     Coldplay
2.     Imagine Dragons
3.     Maroon 5
4.     OneRepublic
5.  One Direction

Top Five Global Tracks
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

Philippines

Top 10 most streamed artists
1. Ed Sheeran
2. Maroon 5
3. Ariana Grande
4. Boyce Avenue
5. Sam Smith
6. Katy Perry
7. Coldplay
8. Jason Derulo
9. John Legend
10. Magic!

Top 10 most streamed OPM artists
1.  Eraserheads
2.  M.Y.M.P.
3. Sarah Geronimo
4.  Angeline Quinto
5. Yeng Constantino
6.  Daniel Padilla
7. Up Dharma Down
8. Rivermaya
9.  Nina
10. Toni Gonzaga

Top 10 most streamed tracks
1. Rude - Magic!
2. Break Free - Ariana Grande
3. All of Me - John Legend
4. Maps - Maroon 5
5. Bang Bang - Jessie J
6. All About That Bass - Meghan Trainor
7. Am I Wrong - Nico & Vinz
8. Problem - Ariana Grande
9. Chandelier - Sia
10. Stay with Me - Sam Smith

Top 10 most streamed albums
1. x - Ed Sheeran
2. In The Lonely Hour - Sam Smith
3. V - Maroon 5
4. My Everything - Ariana Grande
5. 5 Seconds Of Summer - 5 Seconds Of Summer
6. The New Classic - Iggy Azalea
7. Don’t Kill the Magic – Magic!
8. Begin Again – Music From and Inspired By The Original Motion Picture
9. The Fault In Our Stars: Music From The Motion Picture - The Fault In Our Stars
10. Oh, What A Life – American Authors

Meanwhile, more than 733 million playlists have been created on Spotify this year, with ‘Today’s Top Hits’ being the most popular with over 2.3 million followers.

Spotify also revealed that October 10 was officially the loudest day of the year, with more heavy rock and metal played than any other day, while May 30 was the happiest day, with the biggest number of playlists titled ‘happy’ being streamed on repeat.

“2014 has been a fantastic year for music fans with a vibrant mix of Asian and global artists topping the end-of-year Spotify charts," said Sunita Kaur, Managing Director (Asia), Spotify. “Spotify's Year in Music is a great way for music fans to look back on their favorite tunes of the year and discover new tracks and playlists."

Steve Savoca, head of content, said: “This has been a phenomenal year for a rich variety of amazing artists on Spotify. Over 50 million dedicated music fans listened to more than 7 billion listening hours in 2014 alone. We’re extremely proud that Spotify allows music fans to discover, enjoy and share a world of new music, while helping artists reach new audiences.”

He added “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.”

Visitors to spotify.com/2014 will not only be able to find out more about the biggest global and national music trends of 2014, but Spotify users will be able to create their own personal Year in Music 2014 card which can be shared on social media. Spotify.com/2014 will identify users’ most-played songs, favorite artists and the playlist that soundtracked their year.

They can also discover how many minutes of music they enjoyed in 2014, which genres they listened to most, favorite artists by season, and their most musical day of the week. 

Music fans not yet on Spotify can now take advantage of Spotify’s Christmas promotion and get three months of Spotify Premium for just P129.00, giving users the chance to play any song, anytime without ads. Check out www.spotify.com/ph/holiday for more details.