Is Ed Sheeran still the top artist on Spotify?
In the past months, Ed Sheeran has continuously broken several records on Spotify. Even his old songs like "Shape of You" managed to get billions of streams as of press time. After releasing his "=" (Equals) last year, his status soared even higher as he maintained his position on the music streaming platform.
But as the global artists released more albums, Sheeran was not able to secure his top spot and got dethroned instead.
ChartMasters recently updated their list of Spotify's most-streamed artists. To everyone's surprise, Sheeran just got outshined by a rapper.
1. Drake
As of March 2022, Drake ranks first among Spotify's top artists by having 45 billion lead streams. Thanks to his recent feats that pushed his songs to the top again, including 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards' Hip-Hop Artist of the Year and fourth highest-paid rappers of 2021 (by Forbes).
2. Ed Sheeran
The expected top-notcher currently has 34 billion lead streams in second place. His recent legal battle against Sami Chokri and Ross O'Donoghue who allege that "Shape of You" probably affected the singer's ranking on the list.
3. Bad Bunny
Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, secured the third spot ahead of his World's Hottest Tour in August 2022. He follows Drake and Sheeran with 33 billion streams.
4. The Weekend
With 30.4 billion streams, the "Blinding Lights" hitmaker rose to fourth. As one of the world's best-selling music artists, The Weeknd beat other musicians by having 30 billion lead streams.
5. Ariana Grande
Although Ariana Grande has not released a new song or album this year, the 28-year-old "7 rings" hitmaker currently has 30 billion streams on Spotify. Her last musical project was when she got featured in Doja Cat's "I Don't Do Drugs" last year.
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6. Justin Bieber
With six songs that have already reached a billion mark, Justin Bieber now enjoys sixth place with 29 billion lead streams. The "Sorry" hitmaker even broke his all-time record for the most monthly listeners on Spotify history by peaking at 94.68 million listeners as of press time. His 2021 song, "Ghost," also played a massive role in his new feat since it made him the first solo male artist to have 10 number-one singles on Billboard's Pop Songs chart.
7. Eminem
The Rap God proved that he is among the best-selling music artists of all time by making it to Spotify's Top Artists list. Eminem's last album, "Music to Be Murdered By," earned him millions of sales before collaborating with Polo G and Mozzy for Skylar Grey's "Last One Standing" for "Venom: Let There Be Carnage."
He ranked seventh with 27.52 billion streams.
8. Taylor Swift
The most talked-about artist on the list, Swift currently has 27.5 billion streams ahead of her full-packed schedule this year. She also set multiple records on the music streaming platform, including the highest first-day album streams by a female artist on Spotify recognition from Guinness World Records.
9. Post Malone
Ahead of the release of his fourth studio album, "Twelve Carat Toothache," Post Malone ranks ninth on Spotify's Top Artists with 24 billion lead streams. As of press time, he has eight songs on Spotify with over 1 billion views each, 54 songs with 100 million streams, and 65 songs with 10 million streams.
10. BTS
BTS completed the list with 24 billion views. This year, Spotify officially recognized the K-pop supergroup's song, "Dynamite," after reaching 1 billion streams last year. The company sent them a plaque with bibimbap as its main design.
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