The surprising artist who has overtaken Taylor Swift in monthly YouTube listeners

• Aphex Twin, the British electronic music producer Richard D James, has unexpectedly surpassed Taylor Swift in monthly YouTube listeners, attracting nearly 450 million across the platform.
• This is vastly higher than Swift’s, who reportedly receives 396 million to 399 million listeners a month on YouTube.
• This surge is primarily attributed to his 2001 track 'QKThr' from the album Drukqs, which has become a widely used audio clip on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
• The ambient, accordion composition of 'QKThr' is frequently featured in emotional, reflective, or surreal video edits, driving its viral spread and listenership.
• YouTube Music's listener metrics include passive listens from short-form videos, meaning that a song used repeatedly in viral clips can significantly inflate an artist's total, regardless of mainstream popularity.