Adele has been named by IFPI as the most popular recording artist across the globe in 2015.
Adele’s success at the top of the annual chart was driven by the October release of lead single Hello from the album 25. The track was No.1 in more than 30 countries worldwide, including the US, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and the UK. The album 25 followed in November and to date has notched up worldwide sales of over 15 million.
The singer is the third recipient of the IFPI Global Recording Artist Of The Year award, an accolade that reflects an artist’s worldwide popularity across physical formats, downloads and streams. Recipients in 2013 and 2014, respectively, were One Direction and Taylor Swift.
Commenting on today’s award, IFPI chief executive Frances Moore said: “I’m delighted to be able to honour Adele as the most popular global recording artist of 2015. Her album 25 has been the runaway global sensation of the year, breaking records across the world and reaching a vast audience of fans. All of the artists in our top 10 chart have achieved incredible success – and Adele’s achievement is simply phenomenal.”
UK talent actually filled half of the Top 10 chart - up slightly from last year, when it filled 40%. In second place was Ed Sheeran, while previous winners One Direction were at No.5. Coldplay and Sam Smith also made the Top 10.
Geoff Taylor, chief executive of BPI & the BRIT Awards, said: “It’s an extraordinary achievement for the UK to claim 50 per cent of the top music artists in the world. Our super-talented artists are supported by innovative labels that have seized the opportunity of digital to build fanbases right around the world, boosting exports and Britain's profile overseas. It's now time for the Government to help capitalise on this success, so we can produce more great music here in the UK and further boost our burgeoning creative sector."
IFPI’s Global Recording Artist award and Top 10 chart is the first and only ranking to accurately capture the popularity of artists across streaming channels, alongside digital and physical album and singles sales on a global basis. Recipients in 2013 and 2014, respectively, were One Direction and Taylor Swift.
Top 10 Global Recording Artists of 2015:
Adele
Ed Sheeran
Taylor Swift
Justin Bieber
One Direction
Coldplay
Maroon 5
Sam Smith
Drake
The Weeknd
The independently verified Global Recording Artist chart includes sales of albums – across digital, CD and vinyl formats; singles, both downloaded and physical; on-demand audio streams and music videos across the calendar year. The chart includes all the music of each artist featured, not just one track or album. It uses track and album equivalents to combine measurements of downloads, physical sales and streams.