Ed Sheeran officially named world's best-selling artist of 2017

LONDON: IFPI, an organisation that represents the recorded music industry worldwide, has named Ed Sheeran as the world’s best-selling recording artist of 2017.

The singer was chosen for the award over “the unparalleled, record-breaking success of his third studio album ÷ (Divide) and its singles including the global smashes “Shape of You”, “Castle on the Hill”, “Galway Girl” and “Perfect”.

Congratulations to all the superb artists who feature in the IFPI Global Artist of the Year 2017 chart. A true accolade for the world’s most popular musicians! See the full list and press release here https://t.co/xvOzoX4tDq #IFPItop10 pic.twitter.com/51CYDKKF7p

— IFPI (@IFPI_org) February 26, 2018

Released in March 2017, Ed Sheeran’s ÷ was the global best-selling album of last year and has been certified as multi-Platinum in 36 markets. Shape of You was the best-selling single globally of 2017 and has been certified as multi-Platinum in 32 markets.

It is the first time that the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year has had both the best-selling album and single of the year.

Ed Sheeran is the fifth recipient of the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Award; the unique and authoritative accolade that reflects an artist’s worldwide success across digital and physical music formats, from streams to vinyl. Previous recipients of this prestigious award are One Direction (2013), Taylor Swift (2014), Adele (2015) and Drake (2016).

“Being crowned the biggest star in the world, with the biggest song and biggest album, is the result of years of ambition, creativity, and hard work on a global scale. Ed is truly an incredible songwriter, vocalist and performer,” Max Lousada, CEO of Recorded Music for Warner Music Group & Chairman and CEO of Warner Music UK said.

Drake, recipient of the award in 2016 takes second place after a successful year which saw his More Life mix tape break records for the most streams in 24 hours for an album on Apple Music and best first-day streams for an album on Spotify.

Taylor Swift’s sixth studio album, Reputation, which was released in November 2017, has helped the artist take third place. Reputation debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 chart and has since topped the charts in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the UK and US.

The IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Award and top 10 chart was the first, and remains the only, ranking to accurately capture the engagement with artists across audio streaming channels, alongside digital and physical album and singles sales on a global basis.

Top 10 Global Recording Artists of 2017

1 Ed Sheeran

2 Drake

3 Taylor Swift

4 Kendrick Lamar

5 Eminem

6 Bruno Mars

7 The Weeknd

8 Imagine Dragons

9 Linkin Park

10 The Chainsmokers

(source: IFPI)