Spotify just released its annual year in review, and the results are not too surprising: the most-streamed artist of the year was the Earth planet’s preeminent golden boy Drake, with around 1.8 billion total streams. Justin Bieber had the most streams in a single day, and The Weeknd’s pop charmer Beauty Behind the Madness was the most-streamed album. At least one thing on this list, however, is notable: the most-streamed female of 2015 hasn’t even released a full-length album since 2013. Rihanna topped the list with just over 1 billion streams.
Managing to rack up over a billion streams on the strength of a handful of new singles (including the omnipresent “Bitch Better Have My Money”) and some album cuts from 2012 is no small feat. But the Rihanna fever is always buzzing at a low hum, and the seemingly perpetual delay of her eighth studio album, Anti, has likely ramped up interest even further.
It’s worth noting that two artists who may have knocked Rihanna out of the top slot — Taylor Swift and Adele — are absent from Spotify’s catalog. Swift didn’t release an album this year either (1989 came out in 2014), but none of her music is on the service. Adele’s past albums are on Spotify, but this year’s record-clobbering 25 is not.
The three artists behind Rihanna on the list — Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, and Beyoncé — have also not released full albums this year.
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