
Spotify revealed its annual 25 Under 25 list Thursday (Oct. 27), with 18-year-old Shawn Mendes taking the top spot.
With more than 25 million listeners each month, nearly 600 million streams of his single “Stitches” and over 360 million on “Treat You Better,” the artist made the biggest impact on the streaming site this year.
Spotify’s algorithm determines the list through a few different factors, including how many people listen to an artist per month, the top performing artists by genre, and artists with songs included in Spotify’s own curated playlists. “With so many young listeners on Spotify, it’s always fascinating to hone in on the peer artists they’re listening to and looking up to,” said Shanon Cook, Spotify’s Digital Trends Expert in a statement.
Ariana Grande, who brings in more than 28 million listeners per month, takes the No. 2 spot on this list. The popularity of singles from her latest album, Dangerous Woman, including “Into You” with nearly 300 million streams and “Dangerous Woman” with over 240 million streams, helped keep her on the list for the third year in a row.
Chance the Rapper takes third place as he garners approximately 6 million listeners per month. He is also the highest-ranked rapper on the list because of his impact on Spotify’s global chart and the inclusion of his songs in Spotify’s “Rap Caviar” playlist.
While previous lists were more dominated by female pop artists, Spotify notes in a statement that more male acts left their mark like Charlie Puth, Tory Lanez and DNCE alongside emerging EDM and hip-hop artists like newcomers Flume and 19-year-old Desiigner who has nearly a half-billion streams on his single “Panda.”
Returning to the list for the second year in a row is Billboard’s “Rising Star” Women in Music award recipient Halsey, who holds onto the No. 20 spot due to the popularity of her “Closer” collaboration with The Chainsmokers and the fact that her own solo music averages 1.5 million streams per day.
You can view the full list and stream Spotify’s 25 Under 25 playlist below.
25. Daya
24. Cheat Codes
23. Rae Sremmurd
22. Demi Lovato
21. Nothing But Thieves
20. Halsey
19. Glass Animals
18. Selena Gomez
17. Desiigner
16. Joel Adams
15. DNCE
14. Kelsea Ballerini
13. Tory Lanez
12. Maluma
11. Zara Larsson
10. Flume
9. Hailee Steinfeld
8. Fifth Harmony
7. Charlie Puth
6. Alessia Cara
5. Justin Bieber
4. Martin Garrix
3. Chance the Rapper
2. Ariana Grande
1. Shawn Mendes