Last week, the IFPI crowned Taylor Swift as the top artist of 2022 globally, while announcing that Harry Styles had the biggest single of the year. The state was set for a battle between the two for the body’s final award: top album, right?. Not quite. Enter Bad Bunny, making history by becoming the first Latin American artist to win any of the IFPI’s global gongs.
‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ topped its chart of 2022 albums ahead of Swift’s ‘Midnights’, Styles’s ‘Harry’s House’, BTS’s ‘Proof’ and the official ‘Encanto’ soundtrack album. Alas, no stats were announced for these albums’ respective performances.
(The rankings were calculated based on a blend of sales and streams “weighted based on the relative value of each method of consumption”, but the resulting figures (let alone the workings) shall remain a mystery.)
It’s just the latest bouquet for the Bunster, who was Spotify’s most-streamed artist of 2022, and was also named artist of the year by Apple Music. ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ has racked up more than 11.5bn streams on Spotify alone since its release in May 2022. His overall catalogue has been streamed more than 14.6bn times on YouTube in the last 12 months, too.
His success isn’t the only big story reflected in the IFPI’s latest chart however. Eight of the top 20 biggest albums of 2022 were by South Korean artists, thanks to BTS, Blackpink, Enhyphen, Tomorrow X Together and two albums apiece from Seventeen and Stray Kids.
The K-Pop artists are benefiting from a dual-pronged trend: growing streams internationally allied to strong sales (weighted higher in the IFPI’s methodology) at home, as well as streams.
Music Ally’s next Learn Live webinar will help you understand what’s required for artists to thrive in new international markets!