Taylor Swift speaks to the media during the Eras tour last year.—AFP/file
Taylor Swift speaks to the media during the Eras tour last year.—AFP/file

As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, Swedish music streaming giant Spotify has released its first-ever global list of most streamed artists, albums and songs.

Taylor Swift topped the ranking for artists while Bad Bunny and The Weeknd took home the titles for most popular album and song.

K-pop superstars BTS were the most streamed group, 12th overall among all acts, and Coldplay were the most popular English-language group, landing at number 17 on the list.

According to Spotify, the two 20 most streamed artists of all time are (in order): Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Drake, The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, Eminem, Kanye West, Travis Scott, BTS, Post Malone, Bruno Mars, J Balvin, Rihanna, Coldplay, Kendrick Lamar, Future, and Juice WRLD.

The top five most streamed songs of all include Blinding Lights by The Weeknd, Shape of You by Ed Sheeran, Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood, Starboy by The Weeknd and Daft Punk, and As It Was by Harry Styles.

The lists provide an insight into the listening habits of Spotify’s 290 million subscribers, but is skewed towards more recent releases owing to an increase in the platform’s subscriber base.

More such lists and data are expected to be released in the coming days as the anniversary celebrations continue.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2026

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