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Drake tops the list of the 10 biggest music acts in the world in 2016
Including three British acts...
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A list of the world's biggest music acts of last year has been released; and the Top 10 includes three British acts.
According to international music body IFPI, Drake was the best-selling recording artist of 2016, based on the huge success of his fourth album, Views.
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 track also spent a near-record breaking 15 weeks at Number 1 on the Official UK Singles Chart.
The follow-up singles Pop Style, Controlla and Too Good also all found huge success across the globe.
IFPI chief executive Frances Moore said: "I'm delighted to be able to honour Drake as the IFPI Global Recording Artist 2016. Drake’s phenomenal success reflects how deeply his unique sound appeals to an enormous global audience.
MORE: The UK's Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2016
The Global Top 10 list features a number of amazing artists, and the variety and vibrancy of their art speaks volumes about the exciting state of music today."
Drake is the fourth recipient of the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Award, a unique accolade that reflects an artist’s worldwide success across all physical and digital formats.
Finishing in second place on the global Top 10 is David Bowie, who reached Number 1 in 24 countries with her final album Blackstar, released two days before his death in January 2016.
Two more British acts follow close behind Bowie: Coldplay and Adele, whose respective albums A Head Full of Dreams and 25 remained hugely popular across the world in 2016.
MORE: The UK's Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2016
The IFPI's Top 10 Global Recording Artists is the only ranking to accurately capture the global sales of artists’ music across streaming channels, as well as sales of digital and physical albums, and digital and physical singles.
Previous recipients of the top award are One Direction (2013), Taylor Swift (2014) and Adele (2015).
The Top 10 Global Recording Artists in 2016 are:
1. Drake
2. David Bowie
3. Coldplay
4. Adele
5. Justin Bieber
6. Twenty One Pilots
7. Beyonce
8. Rihanna
9. Prince
10. The Weeknd
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Brian Quinn
This is not music to me.
Danny Stillinger
Hopefully someone with talent will breakout this year and make music relevant again. I have been waiting so long for that to happen. I am starting to lose hope. Seeing Prince and David Bowie in that top 10 is great but sad to say it is only because they died.
Pedro Emilio Martinez Martinez
This is a . Rihanna right down? No no no no, ANTI ERA was the MOST SELLING ERA IN 2016, what does Beyonce there? This is a LIE
R
RockGolf
3 UK
3 US
3 Canada
+ Rihanna