This Is The Most Streamed Artist Of 2016

Music streaming service Spotify has revealed its most streamed artists of 2016 and, if you've spent any time listening to mainstream radio this year, the list won't surprise you. Of course, it's Drake, whose earworm "One Dance" became the sound of the summer and stayed at the top of the official UK singles chart for a phenomenal 15 weeks (yup, nearly a third of the whole year) – the longest stretch since Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" in 1991, the BBC reported. The "6 god" amassed a whopping 4.7 billion streams this year – more than doubling the 1.8 billion he racked up in 2015, when he also topped the list. More than half of this year's listens were for his album Views, a remarkable achievement considering it was only released in April and wasn't available on Spotify for the first fortnight because of a deal with Apple Music. (And don't forget the even more remarkable memes the album provoked, which were pretty much the best thing about 2016.) Drizzy also overtook Justin Bieber in May as Spotify's most-played artist and in October "One Dance" become Spotify's most-streamed song ever. It was played 960 million times, which, if played consecutively, would take more than 5,200 years, the BBC pointed out. It helped earn Champagne Papi and his co-writers an estimated $4.8m (£3.9m) in royalties. Rihanna was the most-played female artist of 2016, while Zayn Malik was the most-streamed new act of the year. Beyonce surprisingly wasn't one of the top five most-streamed artists, despite the release of her hugely popular visual album Lemonade in April, less than a week before Drake's Views.

Most streamed artists in the UK

1. Drake
2. Justin Bieber
3. Rihanna
4. Kanye West
5. Coldplay Most streamed artists worldwide

1. Drake
2. Justin Bieber
3. Rihanna
4. Twenty One Pilots
5. Kanye West

Most streamed female artists in the UK

1. Rihanna
2. Sia
3. Adele
4. Ariana Grande
5. Beyonce Most streamed male artists in the UK

1. Drake
2. Justin Bieber
3. Kanye West
4. Coldplay
5. Twenty One Pilots

Top five breakout artists worldwide

1. Zayn
2. Frenship
3. Anne-Marie
4. Madeintyo
5. Rob $tone Most streamed tracks in the UK

1. One Dance (feat WizKid and Kyla) - Drake
2. Cheap Thrills - Sia
3. I Took A Pill in Ibiza (Seeb remix) - Mike Posner
4. 7 Years - Lukas Graham
5. This Is What You Came For - Calvin Harris Most streamed tracks worldwide

1. One Dance (feat WizKid and Kyla) - Drake
2. I Took A Pill in Ibiza (Seeb remix) - Mike Posner
3. Don't Let Me Down (feat Daya) - The Chainsmokers
4. Work (feat Drake) - Rihanna
5. Cheap Thrills - Sia

Most streamed albums (same for UK and worldwide) 1. Views - Drake
2. Purpose - Justin Bieber
3. Anti - Rihanna
4. Blurryface - Twenty One Pilots
5. Beauty Behind The Madness - The Weeknd