Ed Sheeran Named Spotify’s Most Streamed Artist in 2014

Ed Sheeran, the 23-year-old singer-songwriter from England, has been named Spotify's most streamed artist this year with 830 million listens on the music streaming service.

"It's a great thing to be above so many amazing artists who I'd assume would be streamed more than me!" Sheeran told Spotify according to CBS News.

Sheeran beat out Eminem and Coldplay, who took second and third place, respectively, followed by Calvin Harris in fourth and Katy Perry in fifth. According to Spotify, Sheeran's sophomore album, "x", was played 430 million times. In the United Kingdom, "x," which was released in June, hit the million sales mark this week.

The most-played groups were Coldplay in first followed by Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5, OneRepublic and One Direction. The most-played song this year was Pharrell Williams' "Happy," which clocked in more than 260 million streams worldwide. Clean Bandit's (feat. Jess Glynne) "Rather Be," Calvin Harris' "Summer", Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" and John Legend's "All of Me," placed second to fifth, respectively.

For most-played female artists, that title went to Katy Perry, who dethroned Rihanna. Arianna Grande came in second followed by Lana Del Rey in third.

In the United States, Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" was the number one most frequently streamed song this year. Hozier's "Take Me to Church" was named the most viral track, spending 47 weeks on Spotify's viral charts.

"Thank you so much to my fans for listening to the music and sharing it with people. Spotify was a big part of getting the music across the world as quickly as it did and as a new artist, that's invaluable. So thank you for listening and thank you for sharing with your friends," Hozier commented.

Spotify reported that in 2014, there were more than 50 million users who streamed over seven billion hours of music and created more than 733 million playlists.