Ed Sheeran tops Spotify’s 2017 music charts
MUSIC STREAMING service Spotify has named 2017 as the year of Ed Sheeran (real name: Edward Christopher Sheeran) as the English crooner dominated its global charts with his most recent album, Divide, garnering 3.1 billion streams worldwide, and his single “Shape of You” becoming the “most streamed Spotify track of all time” with over 1.4 billion streams to its name.
Released on March 3, Mr. Sheeran’s third album — his first in three years after a hiatus — immediately smashed records as it debuted atop Billboard’s Top 200 albums chart, earning 451,000 equivalent album units, making it the highest- selling album of 2017 (in terms of first week sales) until it was replaced by pal Taylor Swift’s sixth studio album Reputation which was unloaded on Nov. 10.
Ms. Swift was also named by Spotify Philippines as the Top Female Artist of 2017. Ms. Swift famously removed her entire catalog from the streaming service in 2014 and returned to its fold on October this year, though her newest album was only added to Spotify on Dec. 1.
Back to Mr. Sheeran, his first single off of the new album, “Shape of You” was described by Billboard’s Taylor Weatherby as a song that “doesn’t quite sound like your typical Sheeran tune,” but that it “almost serves as an indication of what the ‘Thinking Out Loud’ singer has been up to during his hiatus: creating music that still feels like Sheeran, just with a new twist.”
The New York Times’ Jon Caramanica described it as a “nimble and effective song that takes the aggressive thinning of Caribbean music that Justin Bieber rode to pop success and runs it through a sieve five or 10 more times, leaving only the barest essence, then adds some acoustic guitar at the end as some combination of youngperson taunt and old- person dog whistle.”
“Ed Sheeran absolutely dominated this year with the release of his record-breaking album Divide,” said Stefan Blom, Spotify’s chief content officer in a press release.
“Shape of You” has replaced Drake’s “One Dance” as the most popular song on the service.
On the global front, hip hop is seen to continue its role as a major music genre as the world listened to it 74% more of it than the past year, “a significant increase, considering its popularity in 2016,” said the release.
Latin music is also making waves on the service as listening increased by 110%, largely credited to the popularity of Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” ( featuring Daddy Yankee) and J. Balvin and Willy William’s “Mi Gente.” Both songs were the first two Latin tracks to sit atop the global Spotify charts during their release.
“Despacito- Remix” which adds Justin Bieber to the Fonsi/ Daddy Yankee mix was also named Spotify’s Song of the Summer.
Going over to the Asian continent, K- pop saw a 63% increase in listening year on year. The Philippines also streamed so much Kpop that it holds the number two position globally ( second only to K- pop’s home country) in terms of the number of K- pop streams on Spotify. Below is the Spotify Philippine’s Year in Music 2017:
MOST STREAMED ARTISTS
• Ed Sheeran • The Chainsmokers • Bruno Mars • Coldplay • Taylor Swift • Maroon 5 • Ariana Grande • LANY • Jonas Blue • BTS
MOST STREAMED TRACKS
• “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran • “Say You Won’t Let Go” by James Arthur
• “Versace on the Floor” by Bruno Mars • “That’s What I Like” by Bruno Mars • “Something Just Like This” by The Chainsmokers
•“Despacito ( Remix)” by Luis Fonsi (ft. Justin Bieber)
Grande • In the Lonely Hour, Sam Smith
TOP MALE ARTISTS
• Ed Sheeran • Bruno Mars • Jonas Blue • Khalid • Shawn Mendes • Sam Smith • Charlie Puth • James Arthur • Drake • Martin Garrix
TOP FEMALE ARTISTS
• Taylor Swift • Ariana Grande • Alessia Cara • Hailee Steinfeld • Moira dela Torre • Selena Gomez • Camila Cabello • Dua Lipa • Sarah Geronimo • Juris —