ARTS & MEDIAHIGHEST ANNUAL EARNINGS EVER
FOR A FEMALE POP STAR
Taylor Swift (USA) is estimated to have earned $170 m
(£116.3 m) in the 12 months to 1 Jun 2016, according to
Forbes. The singer-songwriter behind multi-million-selling
hits such as “Shake It Off”, Swift holds numerous records
including most weeks at No.1 on Billboard’s Artist 100
chart – 31, as of 25 Mar 2017.
MOST STREAMED
TRACK ON SPOTIFY
As of 13 Apr 2017, “One Dance”
by Drake (CAN) had been listened
to 1,182,920,493 times on the
music-streaming service. The
dancehall track, featuring Wizkid
and Kyla, appeared on the 2016
album Views.
On Billboard’s Streaming Songs
chart dated 8 Apr 2017, 21 of the
22 tracks from Drake’s No.1 album
More Life (2017) registered a
record 384.8 million streams.Drake’s
“One^ Dance”
stayed at No.1 on the
Official Singles Chart
for 15^ weeks. This is the
joint-third longest UK
chart-topper, three
weeks shy of Frankie
Laine’s “I^ Believe”
(1953).MOST UK NO.1 ALBUMS
BY A SOLO ARTIST
On 3 Nov 2016, Elvis
Presley (USA, 1935–77)
scored his 13th No.1 on
the UK’s Official Albums
Chart with The Wonder of
You, featuring the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra.
“The King”, who was
previously tied with
Madonna on 12 solo album
chart-toppers, achieved
his first UK No.1 with Rock
‘n Roll on 10 Nov 1956 –
one week shy of 60 years
before The Wonder of You.
FIRST SONGWRITER
TO WIN THE NOBEL
PRIZE IN LITERATURE
In 2016, Bob Dylan (USA,
b. Robert Zimmerman) was
awarded the Nobel Prize
in Literature for creating
“new poetic expressions
within the great American
song tradition”. The singer-
songwriter built his long
and illustrious career on
songs such as “Blowin’ in
the Wind”, “The Times They
Are a-Changin’” and “Like
a Rolling Stone”. He is the
first songwriter to receive
the Literature prize,
initially awarded in 1901.SHORTEST SONG
TO ENTER THE
BILLBOARD HOT 100
Created and performed by
Pikotaro (aka Daimaou Kosaka,
JPN), “PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-
Apple-Pen)” lasts for 45 sec.
It appeared on the Billboard
Hot 100 on 29 Oct 2016.HIGHEST-EARNING
DEAD CELEBRITY
Michael Jackson (USA,
1958–2009) earned
a staggering $825 m
(£636 m) in the 12 months
to 1 Oct 2016, according to
Forbes. Jackson’s pre-tax
payday was boosted by the
$750-m (£578.2-m) sale
of his half of the Sony/ATV
Music Publishing catalogue,
which includes the rights to
The Beatles’ back catalogue.
Jackson’s 2015–16 earnings
make him the highest‑
earning celebrity ever- dead or alive – over a
12-month period.
MOST DAESANG AWARDS WON AT THE MNET ASIA MUSIC AWARDS
At the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards, boy band EXO (KOR/CHN) won Album of the Year
for EX’ACT. It was their fifth daesang (“grand prize”) at the annual awards ceremony,
following previous Albums of the Year in 2013–15 and
Artist of the Year in 2014. They matched the feat of
BIGBANG (KOR, right), who won Song of the Year in 2007
and 2015 and Artist of the Year in 2008, 2012 and 2015.