The 5 Most-Streamed Artists of 2014
With 2014 coming to an end, Spotify is looking back at some of the most listened to artists in their repertoire. According to data compiled by the music streaming company, these five singers are the world’s most-streamed artists of the year.

5. Katy Perry
Perry is the only woman on Spotify’s top five most listened to musicians in the world — which also makes her the most globally streamed singer in the female artist category (followed by fellow pop heavy hitters like Ariana Grande, Lana Del Rey, Beyonce, and Lorde). Her individual tracks also received some recognition. Per Spotify, Perry’s single “Dark Horse” off her October 2013 album Prism, was both the fourth most streamed track worldwide and the second most-streamed song in the United States.

4. Calvin Harris
Harris takes the fourth spot on the ranking of the top five most streamed artists in the world. The artist released “Summer,” the second single off his fourth studio album Motion, in March. The track, which reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has since sold over a million copies in the U.S., is also Spotify’s third most-streamed track of the year. In addition to being one of the top five most streamed artists globally, Harris is also No. 3 on the top five most streamed male artists in the world, coming in behind Ed Sheeran and Eminem and ahead of Avicii and David Guetta.

3. Coldplay
The rock group comes in at No. 3 on Spotify’s list of this year’s most internationally streamed artists. Fronted by singer Chris Martin, Coldplay released their sixth album Ghost Stories this past summer. In addition to being one of the top 5 most-streamed global artists overall, the band also nabbed the title of the world’s most-streamed group of the year. In that category, they beat out other hugely popular bands, including Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5, One Republic, and One Direction (who came in fifth despite its notoriously loyal fanbase).

2. Eminem
The second most-streamed global artist of the year is Eminem. The rapper released “Guts Over Fear,” his collaborative track with Sia, in August. The single was the first from his compilation album Shady XV, which was only just released in late November. In addition to coming in second on the list of the world’s most streamed artists (both male and overall), Eminem was also No. 1 on the top five most-streamed artists in the United States, topping Drake, Kanye West, Lana del Rey and Ariana Grande.

1. Ed Sheeran
The British singer-songwriter is officially the world’s most-streamed artist of 2014. Per Spotify’s just-released data, Sheeran, who released his second album X in June, racked up a whopping 860 million individual listens on the streaming service. X was also the most-streamed album worldwide, earning at least 430 million listens in the six months since its release. Thanks to impressive numbers like that, Sheeran also came out on the top of the list of the world’s five most-streamed men of the year, beating out other male artists like Eminem, Calvin Harris, Avicii, and David Guetta.
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