Drake Named IFPI Global Recording Artist 2016

Drake has been named by IFPI as the world’s best-selling recording artist of 2016, highlighting the huge success of his fourth album, Views, which was released last year.

Drake is the fourth recipient of the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Award, the unique and authoritative accolade that reflects an artist’s worldwide success across physical and digital formats, including downloads and streams.

Views became the first album to reach one billion streams on Apple Music, while One Dance, the album’s second single, was the first song to be played one billion times on Spotify. The follow-up singles Pop Style, Controlla and Too Good also all found huge success across the globe.

In conjunction with the Global Recording Artist award, IFPI issued its annual Global Top 10 list. David Bowie, who took second place on the global chart, had released his album Blackstar two days before his death in January 2016. The album reached number one in 24 countries.

In third and fourth place on the chart, respectively, were Coldplay and Adele whose 2015 albums A Head Full of Dreams and 25 remained immensely popular throughout 2016.

The independently verified IFPI Global Recording Artist chart includes sales of albums – across digital, CD and vinyl formats; singles, both downloaded and physical; and on-demand audio streams and music videos across the calendar year.

The chart includes all the music of each artist featured, not just one track or album. It uses album equivalent units to combine measurements of downloads, physical sales and streams.


Top 10 Global Recording Artists of 2016

1  Drake

2  David Bowie

3  Coldplay

4  Adele

5  Justin Bieber

6  Twenty One Pilots

7  Beyoncé

8  Rihanna

9  Prince

10 The Weeknd