Ed Sheeran tops Spotify most-streamed in 2014 chart

[December 04, 2014]  LONDON (Reuters) - British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran got 860 million plays on Spotify in 2014, the most for any artist this year, the online music streaming service said on Wednesday.

Sheeran's 2014 album "X" also came first for the most streamed album, Spotify said.

Pop singer Katy Perry was the most streamed female artist on Spotify's Year in Music list (https://www.spotify-yearinmusic.com/uk/#section-story-1), while Coldplay was the most streamed band of the year.

Pharrell Williams's hit single "Happy" got the most plays by Spotify's 50 million active users this year.

However, Avicii's "Wake Me Up" still holds the position for the single most frequently played track in Spotify history, with more than 300 million streams, the Stockholm-based service said.

Spotify, which provides free on-demand music, or ad-free tunes for paying customers, has been in the spotlight in recent months after million-selling American singer Taylor Swift pulled her entire catalog from the service.

The streaming service was founded in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. Its founders say they have paid out $2 billion in royalties to the industry and artists since its launch in 2008.

(Reporting by Anastasia Gorelova; Editing by Michael Roddy and Angus MacSwan)

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