Music's 2014 List-Toppers: A Complete Guide
Everybody is starting to post their lists of the most popular albums, songs, and artists of 2014. Who comes out on top depends upon the exact metric being used — sales, airplay, streaming, or a combination thereof. But as you scan the list of champs for the year-to-date, you can see that it’s been a very good year for Frozen, Taylor Swift and Pharrell Williams, among others.
Here’s an at-a-glance recap of the year in music. (All figures are for the U.S. only, unless otherwise indicated.)
From Vevo:
Most-viewed music video: “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX
Most-viewed music video by a group or duo: Rich Gang’s “Lifestyle” (featuring Young Thug & Rich Homie Quan)
Most-viewed music video by a male solo artist: Chris Brown’s “Loyal” (featuring Lil Wayne & Tyga)
From Spotify:
Most-streamed artist worldwide: Ed Sheeran (860 million listens)
Most-streamed artist in the U.S.: Eminem
Most-streamed female artist in the U.S.: Lana Del Rey
Most-streamed song worldwide: Pharrell Williams’s “Happy”
Most-streamed song in the U.S.: “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX
Most-streamed album (both worldwide and in the U.S.): Ed Sheeran’s x
Most-streamed female artist worldwide: Katy Perry
Most-streamed group worldwide: Coldplay
Most-streamed breakout artist worldwide: alt-J
Most viral track (both worldwide and in the U.S.): Hozier’s “Take Me to Church”
From Shazam:
Most-Shazamed artist: John Legend
Most-Shazamed female artist: Katy Perry
Most-Shazamed group or duo: OneRepublic
Most-Shazamed song: John Legend’s “All of Me”
Most-Shazamed song (worldwide): “Rather Be” by Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne
From Nielsen SoundScan (for the year-to-date):
Best-selling album: Frozen soundtrack (3,575,000)
Best-selling album by a female artist: Taylor Swift’s 1989 (2,496,000)
Best-selling album by a male artist: Sam Smith’s In the Lonely Hour (932K).
Best-selling album by a group or duo: Coldplay’s Ghost Stories (754K)
Best-selling song: Pharrell Williams’s “Happy” (6,371,000).
Best-selling song by a female artist: Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” (featuring Juicy J) (4,376,000).
Best-selling song by a group or duo: Magic!’s “Rude” (2,888,000).
From Billboard's weekly charts (for the year-to-date; the year-end issue isn’t out yet).
Most weeks at #1 on The Billboard 200 (by album): Frozen soundtrack (13 weeks)
Most weeks at #1 on The Billboard 200 (by artist): Taylor Swift (four weeks)
Most weeks at #1 on The Billboard 200 by a group or duo: Coldplay’s Ghost Stories (two weeks)
Most weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 (both by song and by artist): Pharrell Williams’s “Happy” (10 weeks)
Most weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 for a song by a female artist: Meghan Trainor (eight weeks, all for “All About That Bass”)
Most weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 for a song by a group or duo: Magic! (six weeks, all for “Rude”)
Most weeks at #1 on Digital Songs (both by song and by artist): Pharrell Williams (11 weeks)
Most weeks at #1 on Digital Songs by a female artist: Taylor Swift (nine weeks)
Most weeks at #1 on Digital Songs by a group or duo: MAGIC! (three weeks)
From Amazon.com:
Best-selling CD: Frozen soundtrack
Best-selling CD by a female artist: Barbra Streisand’s Partners
Best-selling CD by a male lead or co-lead artist: Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga’s Cheek to Cheek
Best-selling CD by a group or duo: Pentatonix’s That’s Christmas to Me
