Global Recording Artist of the Year
| Global Recording Artist of the Year | |
|---|---|
 The IFPI trophy | |
| Awarded for | Most successful recording artist worldwide based on album-equivalent units |
| Presented by | International Federation of the Phonographic Industry |
| First awarded | January 2014 |
| Most recent winner | Taylor Swift (2022) |
| Most awards | Taylor Swift (3) |
The Global Recording Artist of the Year is an award presented by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) to honor the year's commercially best-performing musician, based on global album-equivalent units earned, which includes music downloads, streaming and physical sales. It has been awarded every year since January 2014, starting with the British boy band One Direction, who won the accolade for 2013. American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is the biggest winner of the accolade, having won three times—in 2014, 2019, and 2022.
Winners
The IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year has been awarded every year since January 2014, with British boy band One Direction becoming the first act to receive the accolade for 2013. This success was attributed to the band's third studio album, Midnight Memories, which became the best-selling album of the year. Taylor Swift was awarded the Global Recording Artist of 2014 following her fifth studio album, 1989. It spawned two international number-one singles, "Shake It Off" and "Blank Space".
Adele received the award for the Global Recording Artist of 2015 with the release of her third studio album, 25. It was the best-selling album of the year, with its lead single, "Hello", reaching number one in nearly every country in which it charted. The Global Recording Artist of 2016 went to Drake, whose fourth studio album, Views, was the third best-selling album of the year. The album's second single, "One Dance", became the biggest digital song of the year.
Ed Sheeran received the award for 2017 with the release of his third studio album ÷, which included the singles "Shape of You", "Castle on the Hill", "Galway Girl", and "Perfect". He became the first recipient to have both the best-selling album and single of the year. Drake won the award again in 2018, which made him the first artist to win twice.
Swift matched Drake's achievement when she received the award again for 2019. Her seventh studio album, Lover, was the second best-selling album of 2019. The award for 2020 went to BTS. The band's fourth and fifth studio albums, Map of the Soul: 7 and Be, were the top two best-selling albums of the year. BTS became the first Asian act to win the award. The band repeated the feat for 2021, becoming the third artist—after Drake and Swift—to win the award twice, and the first to do so in consecutive years. Swift became the first artist to win thrice when she was awarded the Global Recording Artist of 2022, following the success of her tenth studio album Midnights.
Annual top-10 artists
2013
| Rank | Artist | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year | IFPI Top 10 Single of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | One Direction | Midnight Memories (first) | — |
| 2 | Eminem | The Marshall Mathers LP2 (second) | — |
| 3 | Justin Timberlake | The 20/20 Experience (third) | — |
| 4 | Bruno Mars | Unorthodox Jukebox (fourth) | "When I Was Your Man" (eighth) |
| 5 | Katy Perry | Prism (sixth) | "Roar" (fifth) |
| 6 | Pink | — | "Just Give Me a Reason" (fourth) |
| 7 | Macklemore & Ryan Lewis | — | "Thrift Shop" (second) |
| 8 | Rihanna | — | "Stay" (tenth) |
| 9 | Michael Bublé | To Be Loved (seventh) | — |
| 10 | Daft Punk | Random Access Memories (fifth) | "Get Lucky" (sixth) |
2014
| Rank | Artist | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year | IFPI Top 10 Single of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor Swift | 1989 (second) | — |
| 2 | One Direction | Four (sixth) | — |
| 3 | Ed Sheeran | X (third) | — |
| 4 | Coldplay | Ghost Stories (fourth) | — |
| 5 | AC/DC | Rock or Bust (seventh) | — |
| 6 | Michael Jackson | — | — |
| 7 | Pink Floyd | The Endless River (ninth) | — |
| 8 | Sam Smith | In The Lonely Hour (fifth) | — |
| 9 | Katy Perry | — | "Dark Horse" (second) |
| 10 | Beyoncé | — | — |
2015
| Rank | Artist | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year | IFPI Top 10 Single of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adele | 25 (first) | "Hello" (seventh) |
| 2 | Ed Sheeran | X (second) | "Thinking Out Loud" (third) |
| 3 | Taylor Swift | 1989 (third) | "Blank Space" (eighth) |
| 4 | Justin Bieber | Purpose (fourth) | — |
| 5 | One Direction | Made in the A.M. (sixth) | — |
| 6 | Coldplay | A Head Full Of Dreams (eighth) | — |
| 7 | Maroon 5 | — | "Sugar" (fourth) |
| 8 | Sam Smith | In The Lonely Hour (fifth) | — |
| 9 | Drake | — | — |
| 10 | The Weeknd | Beauty Behind The Madness (tenth) | — |
2016
| Rank | Artist | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year | IFPI Top 10 Single of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drake | Views (third) | "One Dance" (first) |
| 2 | David Bowie | Blackstar (fifth) | — |
| 3 | Coldplay | A Head Full of Dreams (ninth) | — |
| 4 | Adele | 25 (second) | — |
| 5 | Justin Bieber | — | "Love Yourself" (second) "Sorry" (fifth) |
| 6 | Twenty One Pilots | Blurryface (eighth) | "Stressed Out" (tenth) |
| 7 | Beyoncé | Lemonade (first) | — |
| 8 | Rihanna | — | "Work" (sixth) |
| 9 | Prince | — | — |
| 10 | The Weeknd | — | — |
2017
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| Rank | Artist | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year | IFPI Top 10 Single of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ed Sheeran | ÷ (first) | "Shape of You" (first) "Perfect" (ninth) |
| 2 | Drake | — | — |
| 3 | Taylor Swift | Reputation (second) | — |
| 4 | Kendrick Lamar | Damn (seventh) | "Humble" (sixth) |
| 5 | Eminem | Revival (eighth) | — |
| 6 | Bruno Mars | 24K Magic (tenth) | "That's What I Like" (fourth) |
| 7 | The Weeknd | — | — |
| 8 | Imagine Dragons | — | "Believer" (tenth) |
| 9 | Linkin Park | — | — |
| 10 | The Chainsmokers | — | "Something Just like This" (third) "Closer" (fifth) |
2018
| Rank | Artist | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year | IFPI Top 10 Single of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drake | — | "God's Plan" (second) |
| 2 | BTS | Love Yourself: Answer (second) Love Yourself: Tear (third) |
— |
| 3 | Ed Sheeran | ÷ (sixth) | "Shape of You" (third) "Perfect" (fourth) |
| 4 | Post Malone | — | "Psycho" (tenth) |
| 5 | Eminem | Kamikaze (ninth) | — |
| 6 | Queen | Bohemian Rhapsody (seventh) | — |
| 7 | Imagine Dragons | — | — |
| 8 | Ariana Grande | — | — |
| 9 | Lady Gaga | A Star Is Born (fourth) | — |
| 10 | Bruno Mars | — | — |
2019
| Rank | Artist | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year | IFPI Top 10 Single of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor Swift | Lover (second) | — |
| 2 | Ed Sheeran | No.6 Collaborations Project (seventh) | "I Don't Care" (seventh) |
| 3 | Post Malone | — | "Sunflower" (fourth) |
| 4 | Billie Eilish | When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (fifth) | "Bad Guy" (first) |
| 5 | Queen | Bohemian Rhapsody: The Original Soundtrack (sixth) | — |
| 6 | Ariana Grande | Thank U, Next (eighth) | "7 Rings" (fifth) |
| 7 | BTS | Map of the Soul: Persona (third) | — |
| 8 | Drake | — | — |
| 9 | Lady Gaga | A Star Is Born (fourth) | "Shallow" (eight) |
| 10 | The Beatles | Abbey Road (tenth) | — |
2020
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| Rank | Artist | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year (All Formats) | IFPI Top 10 Song of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BTS | Map of the Soul: 7 (first) Be (second) Map of the Soul: 7 - The Journey (eighth) |
Map of the Soul: 7 (first) Be (fourth) |
"Dynamite" (tenth) |
| 2 | Taylor Swift | Folklore (fourth) | Folklore (ninth) | — |
| 3 | Drake | — | — | "Life Is Good" (sixth) |
| 4 | The Weeknd | — | After Hours (second) | "Blinding Lights" (first) |
| 5 | Billie Eilish | — | When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (third) | "Bad Guy" (ninth) |
| 6 | Eminem | — | — | — |
| 7 | Post Malone | — | Hollywood's Bleeding (sixth) | — |
| 8 | Ariana Grande | — | — | — |
| 9 | Juice Wrld | — | — | — |
| 10 | Justin Bieber | Changes (seventh) | Changes (eighth) | — |
2021
| Rank | Artist | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year (Vinyl) | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year (All Formats) | IFPI Top 10 Song of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BTS | BTS, the Best (fourth) | — | — | "Butter"(fourth) |
| 2 | Taylor Swift | Red (Taylor's Version) (seventh) Fearless (Taylor's Version) (tenth) |
Red (Taylor's Version) (sixth) Evermore (tenth) |
— | — |
| 3 | Adele | 30 (first) | 30 (first) | 30 (first) | — |
| 4 | Drake | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | Ed Sheeran | = (fifth) | — | = (fourth) | "Bad Habits" (tenth) |
| 6 | The Weeknd | — | — | After Hours (fifth) | "Save Your Tears" (first) "Blinding Lights" (seventh) |
| 7 | Billie Eilish | — | Happier Than Ever (fifth) | — | — |
| 8 | Justin Bieber | Justice (sixth) | — | Justice (third) | "Stay" (second) "Peaches" (sixth) |
| 9 | Seventeen | Attacca (third) Your Choice (eighth) |
— | — | — |
| 10 | Olivia Rodrigo | — | Sour (fourth) | Sour (second) | "Drivers License" (fifth) "Good 4 U" (eighth) |
2022
| Rank | Artist | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year (Vinyl) | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year (Streaming) | IFPI Top 10 Album of the Year (All Formats) | IFPI Top 10 Song of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor Swift | Midnights (third) | Midnights (first) | Midnights (fifth) | Midnights (second) | — |
| 2 | BTS | Proof (second) | — | — | Proof (fourth) | — |
| 3 | Drake | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Bad Bunny | — | — | Un Verano Sin Ti (first) | Un Verano Sin Ti (first) | "Me Porto Bonito" (ninth) |
| 5 | The Weeknd | — | — | — | — | "Save Your Tears" (fifth) |
| 6 | Seventeen | Face the Sun (fifth) Sector 17 (ninth) |
— | — | Face the Sun (seventh) | — |
| 7 | Stray Kids | Maxident (fourth) Oddinary (eight) |
— | — | Maxident (sixth) | — |
| 8 | Harry Styles | — | Harry's House (second) | Harry's House (second) | Harry's House (third) | "As It Was" (first) |
| 9 | Jay Chou | Greatest Works of Art (first) | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | Ed Sheeran | — | — | = (fourth) | = (tenth) | "Shivers" (seventh) "Bad Habits" (tenth) |
See also
- List of best-selling albums of the 21st century
- List of best-selling singles
- List of Billboard Year-End number-one singles and albums
- List of best-selling music artists
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