Ed Sheeran second artist ever to hit 2B streams on Spotify

NEW YORK, April 22 (UPI) -- Although artists like Taylor Swift and Jay Z have beef with Spotify, Ed Sheeran is having a jolly good time with its help. The singer/songwriter has officially surpassed 2 billion streams on the site, second only to Eminem, who reached the milestone earlier this year.

Sheeran, 24, is the first British artist to hit the milestone and BBC reports that his tune "Thinking Out Loud" is the most streamed song in the United States.

"I'm playing sold-out gigs in South America, I've sold out arenas in Korea and Southeast Asia," the star said at the BBC Music Awards last year. "I don't think I'd be able to do that without Spotify."

In November 2014, pop star Taylor Swift removed her catalog from Spotify claiming that the service doesn't fairly compensate those involved in making music. In March, rapper Jay Z launched a site, Tidal, meant as direct competition against Spotify, giving artists majority stakes in the company.

Tidal has since fallen off the iTunes 700 list, confirming that Spotify is still a winner in music-streaming convenience and according to Ed Sheeran -- success.