Drake fans streamed the artist 8.2 billion times in 2018, earning him the top spot as Spotify's most-streamed artist of the year.
ADVERTISEMENTLOS ANGELES — Since Drake shattered virtually every streaming record with his "Scorpion" album, released in June, it's no surprise that his 8.2 billion streams in 2018 make him not only Spotify's most-streamed artist of the year, he's the platform's most-streamed artist of all time. "Scorpion" and its song "God's Plan" also were the most streamed album and song of 2018, respectively; Drake was also the platform's most-streamed artist in 2015 and 2016.
Following Drake, Post Malone, XXXTentacion, J Balvin and 2017's most-streamed artist Ed Sheeran rounded out the Top 5 list of Most Streamed Artists in the world.
Ariana Grande's 48 million plus monthly listeners raised her to the position of Spotify's most-streamed female artist, following in the footsteps of three-time winner Rihanna.
While hip-hop dominated Spotify's charts in 2018, Latin music continued to grow rapidly. Three Latin artists — J Balvin, Bad Bunny (both of whom are featured on Cardi B's smash single "I Like It") and Ozuna — landed on the top-10 most-streamed artists list, while last year, Daddy Yankee was the only Spanish-speaking artist to reach the top 10.
Dominican-American singer Cardi B, the third-most-streamed female artist of 2018, and Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello, the fifth-most-streamed, are also of Latin descent and proudly reflect it in their songs "I Like It" and "Havana" respectively, among others.
The full lists appear below:
Most-Streamed Artists
Drake
Post Malone
XXXTENTACION
J Balvin
Ed Sheeran
Most-Streamed Female Artists
Ariana Grande
Dua Lipa
Cardi B
Taylor Swift
Camila Cabello
ADVERTISEMENTMost-Streamed Tracks
God's Plan - Drake
SAD! - XXXTENTACION
rockstar (feat. 21 Savage) - Post Malone
Psycho (feat. Ty Dolla $ign) - Post Malone
ADVERTISEMENTIn My Feelings - Drake
Most-Streamed Albums
Scorpion - Drake
beerbongs & bentleys - Post Malone
? XXXTENTACION
ADVERTISEMENTDua Lipa - Dua Lipa
÷ Ed Sheeran
Most-Streamed Groups (with three or more members)
Imagine Dragons is Spotify's most-streamed group for 2018, but K-pop sensation BTS also enjoyed plenty of global listening. Maroon 5 and Migos come in third and fourth, and Coldplay took fifth.
Imagine Dragons
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Maroon 5
Migos
Coldplay
Spotify's Most-Followed Playlists
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RapCaviar
Viva Latino!
Baila Reggaeton
Songs to Sing in the Car
ADVERTISEMENTGenres That Grew the Most in 2018
EMO Rap
Lo-fi Beats
Deep Talent Show
Ringtone
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