Ed Sheeran named Spotify's most streamed artist of 2017

Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Ed Sheeran has been deemed the most streamed artist on Spotify for 2017, beating out Drake and The Weeknd.

Sheeran takes the top spot on Spotify's annual Year in Music list which announces the top artists, albums and tracks that have dominated the music streaming service over the past year.

The singer, who leads all others globally with 45 million monthly listeners, released the most-streamed album of the year Divide in March which has been streamed 3.1 billion times. The album beat out Drake's More Life, Lamar's DAMN, The Weeknd's Starboy and Post Malone's Stoney.

Divide's single "Shape of You," has also become the most streamed track of all time on Spotify with over 1.4 billion streams.

"There is no doubt that 2017 was The Year of Ed Sheeran, and we are thrilled that so many millions of music fans have discovered, listened to, and shared his music on Spotify. Congratulations to Ed on an amazing achievement," said Spotify chief content officer Stefan Blom in a statement.

Drake, who took the top spot in 2015 and 2016, came in second place for most streamed artist of the year, followed by The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar and The Chainsmokers.

Rihanna is the most streamed female artist, followed by Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande and Sia.

Coldplay led the most streamed groups, followed by Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5, Linkin Park and Migos.

In terms of genre, Latin music listening increased 110 percent over last year with the help of two tracks that hit No. 1 on Spotify -- Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" and J Balvin and Willy William's "Mi Gente."