NEW YORK (AP) — It's her, hi! Taylor Swift has topped Spotify's first ever list of the most streamed artists of all time, published Thursday morning.
She's followed by Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny. That comes as no surprise: In 2025 the artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio was named the streaming giant's most played artist of the year for a fourth time, dethroning Swift.
It's a been bit of a cat-and-mouse game for the two: She claimed the top spot the previous two years; he did the same from 2020 to 2023.
Drake is Spotify's third most streamed artist of all time, followed by The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, Eminem, Kanye West, Travis Scott, BTS, Post Malone, Bruno Mars, J Balvin, Rihanna, Coldplay, Kendrick Lamar, Future and Juice WRLD, in that order.
Spotify did not provide insight into its data collection methodology when asked about it by The Associated Press.
In addition to naming its most streamed artists globally, Spotify compiled its most streamed albums, songs, podcasts and audiobooks to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
Streaming accounts for most of the money generated by the music industry — 82% in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
Spotify, a Sweden-based company founded in April 2006, is the largest platform of all. It accounts for over 31% of the total market share, with a reported 751 million users and 290 million subscribers in more than 184 markets.
1. Bad Bunny's “Un Verano Sin Ti”
2. The Weeknd's “Starboy”
3. Ed Sheeran's “÷ (Deluxe)”
4. Olivia Rodrigo's “SOUR”
5. The Weeknd's “After Hours”
6. SZA's “SOS”
7. Post Malone's “Hollywood’s Bleeding”
8. Taylor Swift's “Lover”
9. Arctic Monkeys' “AM”
10. Billie Eilish's “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”
11. Dua Lipa's “Future Nostalgia”
12. Post Malone's “Beerbongs & Bentleys”
13. XXXTENTACION's “?”
14. Karol G's “Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season)”
15. Bad Bunny's “YHLQMDLG”
16. Bruno Mars' “Doo-Wops & Hooligans”
17. Drake's “Views”
18. Taylor Swift's “Midnights”
19. Drake's “Scorpion”
20. The Weeknd's “Beauty Behind The Madness”
1. The Weeknd's “Blinding Lights”
2. Ed Sheeran's “Shape of You”
3. The Neighbourhood's “Sweater Weather”
4. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk's “Starboy”
5. Harry Styles' “As It Was”
6. Lewis Capaldi's “Someone You Loved”
7. Post Malone and Swae Lee's “Sunflower — Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”
8. Drake ft. Wizkid and Kyla's “One Dance”
9. Ed Sheeran's “Perfect”
10. The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber's “Stay”
11. Imagine Dragons' “Believer”
12. Arctic Monkeys' “I Wanna Be Yours”
13. Glass Animals' “Heat Waves”
14. Billie Eilish and Khalid's “Lovely”
15. Coldplay's “Yellow”
16. Lord Huron's “The Night We Met”
17. The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey's “Closer”
18. Billie Eilish's “Birds of a Feather”
19. Vance Joy's “Riptide”
20. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' “Die With A Smile”
This combination of images show entertainers, from left, Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift and Drake. (AP Photo)
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Judges at the International Criminal Court on Thursday confirmed crimes against humanity charges against former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte for deadly anti-drugs crackdowns he allegedly oversaw while in office.
A three-judge panel found unanimously there were “substantial grounds” to believe the ex-leader was responsible for dozens of murders, first as mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao and later when he was president from 2016 to 2022.
Duterte, 81, was arrested in the Philippines last year. He denies the charges against him.
In their 50-page decision, judges found that the evidence shows that Duterte “developed, disseminated and implemented” a policy “to ‘neutralize’ alleged criminals.”
According to prosecutors, police and hit squad members carried out dozens of murders at Duterte’s behest starting in 2011, motivated by the promise of money or to avoid becoming targets themselves.
“For some, killing reached the level of a perverse form of competition,” deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang told the court in pretrial hearings in February.
Estimates of the death toll during Duterte’s presidential term vary, from the more than 6,000 that the national police have reported to up to 30,000 claimed by human rights groups.
Prosecutors said in a statement on Wednesday that the decision “represents a significant milestone” in their effort to bring accountability.
Duterte's lead defense lawyer Nick Kaufman told The Associated Press he was disappointed in the decision, saying it “is based on the uncorroborated statements of vicious self-confessed murderers acting as cooperating witnesses.”
A date for the start of the trial has not yet been set.
Duterte has not been present in the courtroom for any hearings, having waived his right to appear. Last month judges found he was fit to stand trial, after postponing an earlier hearing over concerns about his health.
In the Philippines, families of slain victims in the brutal anti-drugs crackdown rejoiced over the decision, saying it will bring them closer to justice and toward a closure of a tragic chapter in their lives.
“This is for all the victims, who were not even given the chance to be recognized as victims because their stories were twisted in police reports, investigations and findings,” said Randy delos Santos, whose nephew, Kian delos Santos, was gunned down in an alley in August 2017 by three police officers.
“Unlike Kian, most other victims were nameless, voiceless and were just numbers and statistics whose horrific stories were never heard. Now the ICC will give their stories a chance to be told,” delos Santos told The Associated Press.
Human rights groups also praised the decision.
“Duterte’s trial will send a powerful message that no one responsible for grave crimes is above the law, whether in the Philippines or elsewhere, and that justice will eventually catch up with them,” Maria Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch, said.
ICC prosecutors said in 2018 that they would open a preliminary investigation into the violent drug crackdowns. In a move that human rights activists say was aimed at avoiding accountability, Duterte, who was president at the time, announced a month later that the Philippines would leave the court.
On Tuesday, appeals judges rejected a request from Duterte’s legal team to throw out the case on the grounds that the court did not have jurisdiction because of the Philippine withdrawal.
In October, judges disqualified the court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan from the case, citing a “reasonable appearance of bias” because he represented victims of Duterte’s alleged crimes before he took office at the ICC. Khan had already stepped back from his duties pending the outcome of an independent investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.
Associated Press journalist Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines contributed to this report.
FILE - In this Oct. 26, 2016 file photo, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech at the Philippine Economic Forum in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
