21 February 2024: Taylor Swift has been named the recipient of the 2023 Global Recording Artist of the Year Award by IFPI, the global association that promotes the recorded music industry.
The unique award is based on the global sales of a group or artist’s whole body of work, including streaming, downloads, and physical music formats, during the course of the calendar year. The musician that ranks #1 on the IFPI Global musician Chart—which was also revealed today—will get the prize.
The IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Award is in its eleventh year this year, and Taylor Swift has topped the list more times than any other artist in that period (her 2023 win coming after successes in 2014, 2019 and 2022). This most recent victory caps off an incredible year for the artist, during which three of her albums—Midnights and the Taylor’s Version versions of Speak Now and 1989—topped the charts, and her record-breаking Eras tour increased global engagement with her entire oeuvre on streaming services. The song Cruel Summer, which peaked at the top of the charts worldwide four years after it was first published in 2019, served as an example of this occurrence.
In a record-breаking year for Korean musicians, K-Pop icons SEVENTEEN and Stray Kids came in second and third, respectively, on the list. In addition, IVE and NCT Dream made their debuts in the Top 20 of the IFPI Global Artist Chart at #12 and #15, respectively. Four K-Pop artists were represented in the Top 10, with TOMORROW X TOGETHER ranking #7 and NewJeans at #8.
After the enormous success of his 2023 release One Thing At A Time, US country musician Morgan Wallen (#6) also made his first-ever participation in the IFPI Global Artist chart. Meanwhile, Lana Del Rey (#10) broke through to enter the Top 10 for the first time, surpassing her previous high of #17 in 2014. The US musicians Zach Bryan and SZA, as well as the Japanese superstars King & Prince, debuted on the IFPI Global Artist Chart outside of the Top 10. In all, eight of the Top 20 performers in 2023 were debuting on the chart for the first time.
“We are incredibly proud to award Taylor Swift the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Award for the fourth time, as she continues to redefine the limits of global success,” said Lewis Morrison, Director of Charts and Certifications at IFPI. Taylor is a unique artist with an incredible dedication to both her craft and her fan base.
“It is also amazing to see so many new musicians making their debut on the list as well as well-known bands making a comeback years after their previous participation. Record companies keep working to help their artists have long-lasting, international careers as the worldwide landscape of recorded music changes and new opportunities arise.
About the Global Charts from IFPI
The most comprehensive global picture of artist, album, and track performance can be seen on IFPI’s Global Charts. The Charts directly obtain streaming, downloads, and physical formats from the participating record labels in each nation. Using IFPI’s proprietary technique, these formats are then transformed into a single, worldwide chart figure. The approach, created in collaboration with IFPI’s member record labels, combines the most thorough statistics available on unit sales and streams with the national economics of each type of consumption to reflect worldwide financial success.