Global Recording Artist of the Year
The Global Recording Artist of the Year is an award presented by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) to honor the most popular recording artist based on a total of album-equivalent units, which include music downloads, streaming and physical format sales.[1] It has been awarded every year since January 2014, with British boy band One Direction becoming the first act to receive the accolade for Global Recording Artist of 2013.[2] This success was attributed to the band's third studio album, Midnight Memories, which became the best-selling album of the year with sales of four million copies worldwide.[3] Taylor Swift was awarded the Global Recording Artist of 2014 after the commercial success of her fifth studio album, 1989.[4] During the year, the album became the second global bestseller with sales of six million copies and spawned two international number-one singles, "Shake It Off" and "Blank Space".[5]
Global Recording Artist of the Year | |
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The IFPI throphy | |
Awarded for | Most successful recording artist worldwide based on album-equivalent units |
Presented by | International Federation of the Phonographic Industry |
First awarded | January 2014 |
Most recent winner | Taylor Swift |
Most awards |
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Adele received the award for the Global Recording Artist of 2015 with the release of her third studio album, 25.[6] It became the best-selling album of the year worldwide, selling 17.4 million copies. The album's lead single, "Hello" reached number one in nearly all countries where it charted, and became the seventh biggest digital song of the year with 12.3 million track-equivalent units.[7] The Global Recording Artist of 2016 went to Drake, whose fourth studio album, Views, was the third best-selling album of the year with 2.3 million copies.[8][9] View was more successful on streaming service, becoming the first album ever to accumulate one-billion streams on Apple Music.[10] The album's second single, "One Dance", which became the biggest digital song of the year, with 12.5 million track-equivalent units worldwide.[9]
Ed Sheeran received the award for the Global Recording Artist of 2017 with the release of his third studio album ÷ (read as "divide") and its singles including "Shape of You", "Castle on the Hill", "Galway Girl" and "Perfect".[11] He became the first IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year to have both the best-selling album and single of the year. Drake was awarded the Global Recording Artist of 2018, making him the first artist to win the award more than once. Despite not being among the top-ten best-selling albums of the year, his album Scorpion was the first album to reach one billion streams across all platforms worldwide.[12] Swift matched Drake's achievement by receiving the award again for 2019. Her album Lover was the second best-selling album of 2019.[13]
Top 10 Global Recording Artists of the Year
2013
Rank | Artist[14] | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year[3] | IFPI Top 10 Single of the Year[15] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | One Direction | Midnight Memories (first) | N/A |
2 | Eminem | The Marshall Mathers LP2 (second) | N/A |
3 | Justin Timberlake | The 20/20 Experience (third) | N/A |
4 | Bruno Mars | Unorthodox Jukebox (fourth) | "When I Was Your Man" (eighth) |
5 | Katy Perry | Prism (sixth) | "Roar" (fifth) |
6 | Pink | N/A | "Just Give Me a Reason" (fourth) |
7 | Macklemore & Ryan Lewis | N/A | "Thrift Shop" (second) |
8 | Rihanna | N/A | "Stay" (tenth) |
9 | Michael Bublé | To Be Loved (seventh) | N/A |
10 | Daft Punk | Random Access Memories (fifth) | "Get Lucky" (sixth) |
2014
Rank | Artist[4] | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year[5] | IFPI Top 10 Single of the Year[5] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Taylor Swift | 1989 (second) | N/A |
2 | One Direction | Four (sixth) | N/A |
3 | Ed Sheeran | X (third) | N/A |
4 | Coldplay | Ghost Stories (fourth) | N/A |
5 | AC/DC | Rock or Bust (seventh) | N/A |
6 | Michael Jackson | N/A | N/A |
7 | Pink Floyd | The Endless River (ninth) | N/A |
8 | Sam Smith | In The Lonely Hour (fifth) | N/A |
9 | Katy Perry | N/A | "Dark Horse" (second) |
10 | Beyoncé | N/A | N/A |
2015
Rank | Artist[6] | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year[16] | IFPI Top 10 Single of the Year[16] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Adele | 25 (first) | "Hello" (seventh) |
2 | Ed Sheeran | X (second) | "Thinking Out Loud" (third) |
3 | Taylor Swift | 1989 (third) | "Blank Space" (eighth) |
4 | Justin Bieber | Purpose (fourth) | N/A |
5 | One Direction | Made in the A.M. (sixth) | N/A |
6 | Coldplay | A Head Full Of Dreams (eighth) | N/A |
7 | Maroon 5 | N/A | "Sugar" (fourth) |
8 | Sam Smith | In The Lonely Hour (fifth) | N/A |
9 | Drake | N/A | N/A |
10 | The Weeknd | Beauty Behind The Madness (tenth) | N/A |
2016
Rank | Artist[8] | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year[9] | IFPI Top 10 Single of the Year[9] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Drake | Views (third) | "One Dance" (first) |
2 | David Bowie | Blackstar (fifth) | N/A |
3 | Coldplay | A Head Full of Dreams (ninth) | N/A |
4 | Adele | 25 (second) | N/A |
5 | Justin Bieber | N/A | "Love Yourself" (second) "Sorry" (fifth) |
6 | Twenty One Pilots | Blurryface (eighth) | "Stressed Out" (tenth) |
7 | Beyoncé | Lemonade (first) | N/A |
8 | Rihanna | N/A | "Work" (sixth) |
9 | Prince | N/A | N/A |
10 | The Weeknd | N/A | N/A |
2017
Rank | Artist[11] | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year[17] | IFPI Top 10 Single of the Year[17] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ed Sheeran | ÷ (first) | "Shape of You" (first) "Perfect" (ninth) |
2 | Drake | N/A | N/A |
3 | Taylor Swift | Reputation (second) | N/A |
4 | Kendrick Lamar | Damn (seventh) | "Humble" (sixth) |
5 | Eminem | Revival (eighth) | N/A |
6 | Bruno Mars | 24K Magic (tenth) | "That's What I Like" (fourth) |
7 | The Weeknd | N/A | N/A |
8 | Imagine Dragons | N/A | "Believer" (tenth) |
9 | Linkin Park | N/A | N/A |
10 | The Chainsmokers | N/A | "Something Just like This" (third) "Closer" (fifth) |
2018
Rank | Artist[12] | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year[18] | IFPI Top 10 Single of the Year[19] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Drake | N/A | "God's Plan" (second) |
2 | BTS | Love Yourself: Answer (second) Love Yourself: Tear (third) |
N/A |
3 | Ed Sheeran | ÷ (sixth) | "Shape of You" (third) "Perfect" (fourth) |
4 | Post Malone | N/A | "Psycho" (tenth) |
5 | Eminem | Kamikaze (ninth) | N/A |
6 | Queen | Bohemian Rhapsody (seventh) | N/A |
7 | Imagine Dragons | N/A | N/A |
8 | Ariana Grande | N/A | N/A |
9 | Lady Gaga | A Star Is Born (fourth) | N/A |
10 | Bruno Mars | N/A | N/A |
2019
Rank | Artist[20] | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year[21] | IFPI Top 10 Single of the Year[22] |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Taylor Swift | Lover (second) | N/A |
2 | Ed Sheeran | No.6 Collaborations Project (seventh) | "I Don't Care" (seventh) |
3 | Post Malone | N/A | "Sunflower" (fourth) |
4 | Billie Eilish | When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (fifth) | "Bad Guy" (first) |
5 | Queen | Bohemian Rhapsody: The Original Soundtrack (sixth) | N/A |
6 | Ariana Grande | Thank U, Next (eighth) | "7 Rings" (fifth) |
7 | BTS | Map of the Soul: Persona (third) | N/A |
8 | Drake | N/A | N/A |
9 | Lady Gaga | A Star Is Born (fourth) | "Shallow" (eight) |
10 | The Beatles | Abbey Road (tenth) | N/A |
See also
References
- "Global Artist Chart — IFPI — Representing the recording industry worldwide". www.ifpi.org. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- "One Direction are officially the biggest global recording artists of 2013". www.ifpi.org. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- music, Guardian (1 August 2014). "One Direction named the world's No 1 bestselling artists". Retrieved 4 December 2017 – via www.theguardian.com.
- "Taylor Swift Named IFPI Global Recording Artist of 2014". billboard.com. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- "Digital music matches physical sales". 15 April 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2017 – via www.bbc.com.
- "Adele Named IFPI Global Recording Artist of 2015". billboard.com. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- "Adele's 25 outsells the other top five bestsellers put together". standard.co.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- "Drake Named IFPI Global Recording Artist of 2016". billboard.com. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- "Beyonce's 'Lemonade' Highest-Selling Album Globally in 2016; Drake Lands Top Song: IFPI". billboard.com. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- Josephs, Brian (September 26, 2016). "Drake's Views Is The First Album To Earn 1 Billion Apple Music Streams | SPIN". Spin. Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
- "Ed Sheeran officially named the best-selling global recording artist of 2017". IFPI. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
- "Drake named IFPI's global recording artist of 2018". www.musicweek.com.
- "Best Sellers and Global Artist of the Year — IFPI — Representing the recording industry worldwide". www.ifpi.org. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
- "One Direction Named 2013's Top Global Recording Artist". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- "Music sales fail to go in One Direction as growth turns to 3.9%". independent.co.uk. 18 March 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- "Adele, Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth Lead 2015 Global Albums and Digital Song Rankings". billboard.com. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- IFPI Global Music Report 2018 (PDF), International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, p. 9, retrieved 24 April 2018
- McIntyre, Hugh. "These Were The 10 Bestselling Albums In The World In 2018". Forbes.
- "Camila's Havana was biggest song of 2018". March 6, 2019 – via www.bbc.com.
- "Taylor Swift Named IFPI Global Recording Artist of 2019". www.pollstar.com.
- "IFPI's Best-Selling Album of 2019 Announced". Billboard. March 19, 2020.
- "The biggest global singles of 2019 revealed". www.officialcharts.com.