Taylor Swift Was The Biggest Artist In The World In 2023–Officially

In a move that should shock absolutely no one, Taylor Swift has been named the biggest musical artist in the world in 2023. The designation was revealed by the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), which annually releases various rankings showing which artists, songs, and albums the human race couldn’t get enough of each year.

Swift has earned this honor before. According to the IFPI, 2023 marks the fourth year that the singer-songwriter has landed at No. 1 on this global list. She’s the first artist to be named the top star four times.

2023 was huge for Swift, so it’s not shocking that she’s finished another year at No. 1. Throughout 2023, she was still riding high off of her album Midnights, which was actually released in late 2022, but which continued to sell and stream incredibly well–and produce hits–throughout this past calendar year. She also dropped a pair of re-recordings–Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version)—which were both huge commercially and created several smashes.

As if that wasn’t enough to guarantee her a spot on this chart, Swift’s biggest hit of 2023 was actually from a full-length she released several years ago. In addition to her two new albums and a slew of wins from Midnights, the superstar promoted “Cruel Summer” as a single, and it became one of the biggest commercial wins of her career.

Coming in behind Swift at No. 2 is Seventeen. The South Korean boy band has ranked among the bestselling artists in the world for many years, and their popularity and power all around the globe have only been growing for some time now.

Just after that South Korean favorite comes another: Stray Kids. The group, who landed a pair of No. 1 albums in America in 2023–for the second year–appear at No. 3. Flushing out the rest of the top five are Drake at No. 4 and The Weeknd at No. 5.

South Koreans and Americans are tied for the most spaces on the IFPI’s global ranking of the top-selling musical artists of last year. Stars from both nations fill four spaces on the top 10 tally. Canadians–Drake and The Weeknd–are next up, with two names breaking onto the ranking.

These were the top 10 artists in the world in 2023, according to the IFPI.

No. 1 – Taylor Swift

No. 2 – Seventeen

No. 3 – Stray Kids

No. 4 – Drake

No. 5 – The Weeknd

No. 6 – Morgan Wallen

No. 7 – Tomorrow X Together

No. 8 – NewJeans

No. 9 – Bad Bunny

No. 10 – Lana Del Rey