Taylor Swift Is Spotify’s Top Artist of 2023 With 26 Billion Streams
Three of Swift’s albums ranked in the U.S. Top 10, but none of them was released this year
Taylor Swift performs onstage during The Eras Tour at Allianz Parque on November 24, 2023 in Sao Paulo, Brazil BUDA MENDES/TAS23/GETTY IMAGES FOR TAS RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
A reminder of something you likely already knew: Taylor Swift had one of the biggest years of her career in 2023. And on Spotify, that was no exception.
On Wednesday, the streaming service released its end-of-year Spotify Wrapped data, which placed Taylor Swift at the top of the list of the most-streamed artists both globally and in the United States. It marks the first time Swift has topped the year-end artist global chart in her career.
“Um ok this is unreal?? I just wanted to say to anyone who listened to my music this year, anywhere in the world, thank you,” Swift wrote on Instagram. “Getting named Spotify’s Global Top Artist in 2023 is truly the best birthday/holiday gift you could’ve given me. We’ve seriously had THE MOST fun this year out there on tour and now this.”
To show her appreciation, Swift has finally released the Midnights deep cut “You’re Losing Me (From The Vault)” on streaming. It was previously only available on the exclusive CD sold during the Eras tour.
Worldwide, the singer tallied more than 26.1 billion streams, dethroning last year’s chart leader Bad Bunny, who landed in second place this year after finishing atop the chart the previous three years. Also making an appearance on the ranking is Lana Del Rey, who collaborated with Swift on Midnights‘ “Snow on the Beach” and released her album Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd in March.
Most-Streamed Artists Globally
- Taylor Swift
- Bad Bunny
- The Weeknd
- Drake
- Peso Pluma
- Feid
- Travis Scott
- SZA
- Karol G
- Lana Del Rey
Along with being the most-streamed artist on Spotify, Swift had several of the top-streamed albums. Globally, Midnights landed at No. 2 on the list behind Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, while Lover made an appearance at the No. 7 slot on the ranking four years after it was first released.
In the U.S. alone, three Swift albums dominated the Top 10. 2020’s Folklore took No. 8, Lover landed at No. 6, and Midnights came in third, only landing behind Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time and SZA’s SOS. (See all of the rankings here.)
U.S. Most-Streamed Albums
- One Thing At A Time by Morgan Wallen
- SOS by SZA
- Midnights by Taylor Swift
- HEROES & VILLAINS by Metro Boomin
- Dangerous: The Double Album by Morgan Wallen
- Lover by Taylor Swift
- Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny
- folklore by Taylor Swift
- GÉNESIS by Peso Pluma
- Starboy by The Weeknd
Not ranked? October’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and July’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).
On the list of top-streamed songs globally, Swift’s “Cruel Summer” — which dropped with Lover in 2019 — ranked No. 6, while Midnights‘ single “Anti-Hero” closed out the list at No. 10. (Both songs held the same ranking on the U.S. chart.)
To celebrate Swift’s distinction, Spotify scattered clues on billboards across the world that teased the Swift news and celebrated the different Swift eras. “Congrats Swifties, it’s been a long time coming,” reads text on the video.
Perhaps slightly correlated to Swift’s big year in music and the media fanfare surrounding their budding relationship, Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce ranked high on the Spotify charts in the podcasts section. Globally, New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce ranked No.1 as the top sports podcast, and reached No. 19 on the general Top Podcasts in the U.S. list.
From Rolling Stone US.
