One Direction have become the second British band to surpass 1bn streams on Spotify. With the equivalent of 5,000 year’s worth of plays, the band follow in the footsteps of Coldplay, who are the fourth most-streamed artist or group on the music site.
According to data provided by Spotify, the X Factor boyband feature in 20m playlists globally, a figure partly helped by the release of their new album, Four. Describing the band as one of the most popular on Spotify, Kevin Brown, the website’s head of label relations, said: “We congratulate 1D on joining the very select club of artists who are true streaming superstars.”
That select club is currently governed by Eminem, who holds the position as Spotify’s most-streamed artist. The top 14 is occupied by EDM overlords David Guetta, Avicii and Calvin Harris, pop stars Rihanna, Katy Perry and Beyoncé, solo artists such as Drake, Pitbull and Ed Sheeran, and US bands Imagine Dragons and Maroon 5.
However, one notable musical favourite is absent: earlier this month, Taylor Swift removed her back catalogue from the music site. “I’m not willing to contribute my life’s work to an experiment that I don’t feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music,” she told Yahoo following the action. “And I just don’t agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free.”
So what do One Direction stand to make from a billion streams? If Spotify’s public payout guideline of between $.0006 and $0.00084 per stream is anything to go by, plays of One Direction’s music earned the band and their team between $6m (£3.8m) and $8.4m (£5.3m).
This news follows another stream-based success for the group: their single Story of My Life is the most-streamed track on Spotify, with more than 90 million streams worldwide. Spotify boasts more than 10 million paying subscribers, across 58 countries, on top of the 30 million people who access the streaming service for free.
Most-streamed artists
1. Eminem
2. David Guetta
3. Rihanna
4. Coldplay
5. Avicii
6. Calvin Harris
7. Katy Perry
8. Drake
9. Pitbull
10. Maroon 5
11. Ed Sheeran
12. Beyoncé
13. Imagine Dragons
14. One Direction
