Most streamed albums right now

[nickd]

I've been checking the (spotify) streams per day on a few of the big albums of the last decade or so. Mostly avoiding the ones from 2017 since their streams will probably vary a lot if they've recently released singles - I'm more interested in the long term trend.

The ones I've done so far

2016
1. Drake - Views : 2,029,245
2. Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman : 1,675,053
3. Rihanna - ANTI : 1,580,847
4. J. Cole - 4 Your Eyez Only: 785,687

2015
1. Justin Bieber - Purpose : 2,191,711
2. Adele - 25 : 1,409,442
3. 21 Pilots - Blurryface : 1,313,278
4. Shawn Mendes - Handwritten : 1,181,145
5. The Weeknd - Beauty Behind The Madness : 1,068,585
6. Coldplay - A Head Full Of Dreams : 916,019
7. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly : 470,002

2014
1. Ed Sheeran - X : 2,889,297 
2. Sam Smith - In The Lonely Hour : 2,402,855
3. Taylor Swift - 1989 : 2,166,481
4. J. Cole - 2014 Forest Hills Drive: 835,410
5. Calvin Harris - Motion : 627,723
6. Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence : 336,093

2013
1. Drake - Nothing Was The Same : 1,273,574
2. Eminem - Marshall Mathers LP 2 : 1,160,049
3. Beyonce - Beyonce: 894,760
4. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories: 552,850
5. Katy Perry - Prism : 541,974
6. One Direction - Midnight Memories : 417,070
7. Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience : 347,337
8. Luke Bryan - Spring Break...Here to Party : 28,205

2012
1. Imagine Dragons - Night Visions : 1,446,220
2. Bruno Mars - Unorthodox Jukebox: 1,196,743
3. Taylor Swift - Red : 864,659
4. Rihanna - Unapologetic : 698,128
5. One Direction - Take Me Home: 499,115
6. Justin Bieber - Believe : 496,638
7. Mumford & Sons - Babel : 381,969

2011
1. Drake - Take Care : 1,302,388
2. Adele - 21 : 1,182,303 
3. Beyonce - 4 : 614,810
4. Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto : 507,851
5. Rihanna - Talk That Talk : 415,961
6. Lady Gaga - Born This Way : 304,885

2010
1. Bruno Mars - Doo-Wops & Hooligans : 1,173,979
2. Eminem - Recovery : 1,161,010
3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy : 1,085,279
4. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream : 609,903
5. Rihanna - Loud : 549,341
6. Taylor Swift - Speak Now : 442,971
7. Justin Bieber - My World 2.0 : 399,467
8. Drake - Thank Me Later : 228,243
9. Lady Antebellum - Need You Now: 62,438

2009
1. Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster : 909,748
2. Eminem - Relapse : 579,372
3. Black Eyed Peas - The E.N.D. : 346,641
4. Rihanna - Rated R : 235,025
5. U2 - No Line on the Horizon : 21,027
6. Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King : 16,687

2008
1. Beyonce - I Am ... Sasha Fierce: 880,443
2. Taylor Swift - Fearless : 570,594
3. Coldplay - Viva La Vida : 501,374
4. Lil' Wayne - Tha Carter III : 326,566
5. Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak: 290,524
6. Britney Spears - Circus : 241,397
7. AC/DC - Black Ice: 114,965

2007
1. Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad : 874,680
2. Kanye West - Graduation : 779,132
3. Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight : 630,788
4. 50 Cent - Curtis : 69,906

2006
1. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black: 687,408
2. Beyonce - B'Day : 518,584
3. Taylor Swift - Taylor Swift : 245,674
4. Rihanna - A Girl Like Me : 206,202

2005
1. Coldplay - X & Y : 479,788
2. 50 Cent - The Massacre : 353,816
3. Kanye West - Late Registration : 336,781
4. Carrie Underwood - Some Hearts : 170,412

2004
1. Eminem - Encore : 594,744
2. Usher - Confessions : 540,444
3. Gwen Stefani - Love Angel Music Baby : 238,954
4. Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin : 120,630


If you have albums you think would be serious contenders for any particular year, let me know. Sometimes it can be hard to tell based off sales since some albums sell big off of hype and then people realize it's no good. Or they're geared towards an audience that streams more than they purchase.

[nickd]

Added a bunch of albums... finally found an album to dethrone Taylor from #1 for 2012.

Still haven't found anyone to take #1 from Fearless for 2008 so she might hold on to that. Only album I can think of that might beat it is Beyonce's so that'll be next. Metallica seems unlikely based off AC/DC having the 2nd best 1 week sales and Metallica being a few spots behind that. Looks like old school rockers/metal bands are better at selling albums than getting streams.

That leaves only Eminem and Drake with two #1 spots, we'll see if they can hang on to those.

[nickd]

Added a few more albums. Eminem gets overtaken by Drake for #1 from 2013 leaving Drake as the only artist with more than one #1. Beyonce manages to edge out Taylor for 2008. Is there any album that I'm missing that can come even remotely close to challenging The Fame Monster for 2009? From the 2008 and 2010 numbers there should be some company in the 500k+ range but maybe 2009 was just a slow year?