Most Streamed Artists on Spotify

The competition to remain one of Spotify top artists is always fierce. Your song can top chart lists today and be nowhere in the top 10 by the following week. Similarly, keeping the top position as a most-streamed artist on Spotify requires more than just a great song. The number of followers and fans invested in keeping up with your songs can make you one of the most-streamed artists on Spotify. This will need some Spotify organic growth and typically involve keeping your fans entertained in many aspects beyond making great music. 

However, this does not mean that Spotify depends on local and international popularity to curate its list of most-streamed artists.  Spotify’s list of most-streamed artists is backed by the numbers. Streams determine these numbers from the artist’s singles, albums, and compilation tracks. These numbers are then added to generate a figure tagged ‘Lead Streams’. It is the lead streams that determine an artist’s place on the most-streamed artist list. 

Why Is Spotify so Popular? 

You may be wondering why Spotify is so popular and why its lists should be used as a metric to determine the most-streamed artists. Apart from being used to stream songs, you can also increase your playlist followers on Spotify.

Their creation of a social sharing feature that allows users to create playlists they can share has solidified its place as a social service. You can pursue organic growth and even make money on Spotify by sharing the songs of your personal favorites. This is one of the ways Spotify has strategically positioned itself as a top music streaming service. Also, Spotify has a tier payment model that makes provisions for all kinds of users. There are free users who can stream songs without paying, but they will have to deal with adverts unless they subscribe to a paid version. 

Spotify has maintained its popularity by diversifying its services. In addition to introducing new products and developing better playlist tools, they are also into podcasting. 

Top 7 Most-Streamed Artists on Spotify

7. Imagine Dragons

Lead Streams: 21,271,825,406

#7 in the list of most-streamed artists is Imagine Dragons, an American band known for its pop-rock genre of music, artistic song videos, and performances. They have a lot of hit songs that their 5.6M Instagram and Twitter followers can’t decide which one is their break-out song. 

However, it is almost a consensus that their song, ‘Radioactive,’ which charted on the Billboard Hot 100 list for weeks to a record-holding point, brought them to the limelight. The song also won Grammy for ‘Best Rock Performance.’

6. Dua Lipa

Lead Stream: 21,654,907,720

Streaming at the top 6 position, Dua Lipa is an English singer known for her characteristic disco-pop music. With over 85 million followers on Instagram, it is no surprise that she holds a Guinness World Record for selling 284,000 tickets for a live-streamed concert in 2020. This is the most sold ticket number for such a concert held by a solo female artist. 

Fun Fact: Dua Lipa was signed to Warner Bros Records at the age of 16.

5. Coldplay

Lead Stream: 21,673,790,908

At the solid #5 spot is the rock band Coldplay. The band is of British origin and ranks as the 7th most followed account on Instagram with its 17M followers. In the decades that span their musical career, Coldplay has received criticisms about their songs, both positive and negative, especially because of their uncontroversial image. However, they have received numerous accolades, including being the most awarded group on the BRIT Awards. 

Fun Fact: Coldplay was formed as a band in 1996 and has since gone through name changes, including Pectoralz and Starfish. 

4. Taylor Swift 

Lead Stream: 31,413,305,996

Taylor Swift is a versatile singer and songwriter of American origin known for her unique style in country music that involves storytelling of her personal experiences. This is only a little part of what has kept her in media trends and has kept people streaming her songs. 

Her role in the modernization of country music has earned her accolades from critics. Besides country music, Taylor Swift has tried other music genres, such as indie pop which was received well by a lot of her 222M followers on Instagram.

3. Justin Bieber

Lead Stream: 31,828,155,294

Clinching the #3 spot in the list of most-streamed artists, Justin Bieber is a household name in the music industry. He is a Canadian singer associated most with pop and R&B. With a career that boomed along with the rising popularity of the internet, it is no surprise that he has 254M Instagram followers and is a favorite on streaming sites such as Spotify.

Justin Bieber has set 33 Guinness World Records and has 10 songs that surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify; he is the first artist to attain such a record. As the youngest solo male artist to debut at number one, Justin Bieber’s songs are also not new to the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Fun Fact: Justin Bieber started singing for Usher at the age of 13. After he got signed to a record label and rose to fame as a teen idol, he soon hit puberty which changed his voice significantly. He had to undergo a series of voice training sessions to control his voice and sing better.

2. The Weeknd 

Lead Stream: 33,746,041,276

The Weeknd is a Canadian singer and songwriter of Ethiopian descent. He is known for his musical versatility and lyrical dexterity. Standing tall at the #2 spot of the most-streamed artists on Spotify in the world, his Grammy awards are a testament to his popularity and commercial success as an artist.

His ability to weave unique characters into the lyrics of his songs has endeared him to his fans, who remain captivated by his creations.

Fun Fact: The Weeknd secured 3 Grammy nominations even after announcing that he would boycott the awards, citing a lack of transparency among the officials.

1. Ed Sheeran

Lead Stream: 37,415,020,824

Ed Sheeran is the most-streamed artist on Spotify. His all-around distinction as a successful artist and charity work have earned him the second-highest-ranking order in the UK. He is most associated with the pop, soft rock, and folk-pop music genres.

Fun Fact: Ed Sheeran received his first guitar from his uncle.

It’s a Wrap

Record labels alone can no longer do the job of selling their artists to the world, especially in this digital age. They have to rely on other media such as streaming services to market their artists, gaining them more popularity and money. You can get paid by Spotify and make a lot of money enjoying your hobby on the music service platform.