It’s the last month of the year after 11 months of great music and Spotify have revealed what’s been hot and what has not in 2018 in the Spotify Year in Music.

Who has ruled streaming this year? Whether you welcome the news or not, it’s not that unexpected – Ed Sheeran once again rules streaming as the most streamed artist overall and his album ‘÷’ the most streamed album.

Spotify’s chief content officer, Stefan Blom said: “Ed Sheeran absolutely dominated this year with the release of his record-breaking album, Divide. There is no doubt that 2017 was The Year of Ed Sheeran, and we are thrilled that so many millions of music fans have discovered, listened to, and shared his music on Spotify. Congratulations to Ed on an amazing achievement.”

There you have it, it was ‘The Year of Ed Sheeran’ straight from the streamer’s mouth. But elsewhere Latin music saw an explosion in popularity, helped massively by the runaway popularity of Despacito. Through the entire year 10 Latin songs made it onto Spotify’s Global Top 50. Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonso also became the first Latin artists to hold a number 1 spot on Spotify in July.

For once Drake wasn’t the talk of the town, although he was still the second most streamed artist for the year. And in news that might please some Taylor Swift found herself second for the most streamed female artists, overtaken by Rihanna who took the number one spot for the females.

Ed Sheeran top streamed artist on Spotify 2018 year in music
Ed Sheeran was the most streamed artist on Spotify 2018

Here’s a roundup of all the music that’s been blowing up on the world’s favourite streaming service this year:

Most Streamed Artists

Ed Sheeran was the world’s most streamed artist with over 6.3 billion streams this year, dethroning Drake who took the top spot in 2015 and 2016. In fact, Drake is the only top 5 artist carried over from last year, with Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar and The Chainsmokers all new to the top 5 list of artists this year.

  1. Ed Sheeran
  2. Drake
  3. The Weeknd
  4. Kendrick Lamar
  5. The Chainsmokers

Most Streamed Female Artists

For the third year in the row, Rihanna takes home the title of most streamed female artist, continuing her reign at the top. Pop superstars Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande and Sia round out the top 5.

  1. Rihanna
  2. Taylor Swift
  3. Selena Gomez
  4. Ariana Grande
  5. Sia

Most Streamed Male Artists

Ed Sheeran naturally dominates the Most Streamed Male Artists list, but for the first time we see Daddy Yankee claim a spot in the Top Five Most Streamed Male Artists list this year.

  1. Ed Sheeran
  2. Drake
  3. The Weeknd
  4. Kendrick Lamar
  5. Daddy Yankee

Top Five Breakout Artists

2017 was a big year for artists in groups breaking out on their own to go solo. Camila Cabello, Harry Styles and Liam Payne all went solo this year and hit it big on their own as the top 3 breakout artists of the year. Rappers Lil Pump and Trippie Red round out the list.

  1. Camila Cabello
  2. Harry Styles
  3. Liam Payne
  4. Lil Pump
  5. Trippie Redd

Most Streamed Groups

This year, Coldplay’s collaboration with The Chainsmokers on ‘Something Just Like This’ catapulted them to the top of the groups list, followed by Imagine Dragons bringing the ‘Thunder’ with Maroon 5, Linkin Park and Migos closing out the list.

  1. Coldplay
  2. Imagine Dragons
  3. Maroon 5
  4. Linkin Park
  5. Migos

Most Streamed Tracks

Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ surpassed Drake’s ‘One Dance’ by becoming the most popular song ever on Spotify with over 1.4 billion streams.

  1. Shape of You – Ed Sheeran
  2. Despacito – Remix – Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber
  3. Despacito – Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee
  4. Something Just Like This – The Chainsmokers & Coldplay
  5. I’m the One – DJ Khaled feat. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper, Lil Wayne

Most Streamed Albums

After dropping ÷ (Divide) in March, Ed Sheeran’s album has racked up over 3.1 billion streams on Spotify, making it the most streamed album of the year.

  1. Divide – Ed Sheeran
  2. More Life – Drake
  3. DAMN. – Kendrick Lamar
  4. Starboy – The Weeknd
  5. Stoney – Post Malone

Most Musical Day 2017:

June 13, 2017 (measured by most streams per user)

Emerging 2017 Genres:

  1. Melodic Power Metal
  2. Chaotic Black Metal
  3. Chillhop
  4. Trap Latino
  5. Future Funk
  6. Jumpstyle
  7. Serialism
  8. Cinematic Dubstep
  9. Vintage Swoon
  10. Gamecore