Spotify reveals most streamed music of 2014
Spotify’s (now annual) Year in Music looks back at the soundtrack of the year, which saw over 50 million Spotify users listen to over seven billion hours of music in 2014.
Spotify is now available in 58 markets globally with more than 50 million active users, and over 12.5 million paying subscribers.
Ed Sheeran was crowned the most streamed artist of 2014, with the UK singer- songwriter being listened to more than 860 million times across the globe this year on Spotify. Sheeran’s x was the most streamed album of the year, which was released in June to rave reviews, and had over 430 million streams. He also took out the most streamed male artist crown.
Katy Perry has taken the crown from Rihanna - who has held the title consecutively for two years - as the most streamed female on Spotify with big hits this year like Dark Horse and Roar. Pharrell Williams united music fans across the world with pop anthem of the year, Happy, the most streamed track in the world in 2014 on Spotify, with over 260m plays.
Irish singer-songwriter Hozier, who was one of Spotify’s ‘Spotlight’ artists for 2014, saw early global success on Spotify’s Viral Chart, long before being discovered by radio. Having spent nearly all of 2014 on Spotify’s Viral charts - a staggering 47 weeks, and taking the title for the most viral track - Take Me To Church has climbed the ranks of Spotify’s global top lists all the way to #1, making Hozier one of the defining new artists of 2014.
Hozier says "thank you so much to my fans for listening to the music and sharing it with people. Spotify was a big part of getting the music across the world as quickly as it did and as a new artist, that's invaluable. So thank you for listening and thank you for sharing with your friends."
Ed Sheeran says '“it’s a great thing to be above so many amazing artists who I’d assume would be streamed more than me!”
Lorde is the most streamed New Zealand artist, proving more popular than
huge artists such as Katy Perry and Coldplay. Up-and-comers, Broods, also had a great year on Spotify with their debut album, Evergreen, becoming the most-streamed album by a New Zealand artist and the fifth-most popular overall. Controversial Kiwi resident, Kim Dotcom even made an appearance with his EDM album, Good Times, coming in at number five on the most streamed local albums.
Spotify also revealed that 10th October was officially the loudest day of the year, with more heavy rock and metal played than any other day, while 30th May was the happiest day, with the biggest number of playlists titled ‘happy’ being streamed on repeat.
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, favourite 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, favourite artists by season, and their most musical day of the year.
