Ed Sheeran has achieved two billion streams on Spotify.
The ‘Thinking Out Loud’ hitmaker is the first British artist to reach the incredible milestone and only the second artist in Spotify’s history to achieve the feat, the first being American rapper Eminem.
Kevin Brown, Spotify’s head of label relations for Europe, said: "Breaking the two billion streams barrier on Spotify is evidence – were it needed – of Ed Sheeran’s enormous popularity among the 60 million music fans on the service. Ed Sheeran is quite simply one of the best-loved artists on Spotify globally, and we are thrilled that he has achieved this milestone.
"Ed and Atlantic truly embraced the power of the Spotify platform with the launch strategy for ‘x’. This made a significant contribution to the phenomenal launch success of the album on Spotify through connecting it with the widest audience possible. That it continues to be enormously popular with our users almost a year later and is still winning new fans is testament to the quality of the album and the enduring appeal of Ed as an artist."
Mark Mitchell, General Manager of Atlantic Records UK, added: ‘Ed achieving two billion streams on just two albums is a phenomenal achievement. It not only highlights the popularity of his timeless sound and the explosive growth of his army of fans, it also demonstrates how great music can be successful on all formats."
Meanwhile, Ed is to become the first genuine solo artist to play stadium shows in Australia.
The 24-year-old musician has announced he will head Down Under with just his guitar and loop pedal to play the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on November 28 and the NIB Stadium in Perth on December 2.
He said: "I don’t think the loop pedal is a common thing outside the club circuit, I don’t think it’s been done in stadiums yet. It’s a unique selling point people talk about, so I’m going to continue building on it and exploring it more."
Ed Sheeran reaches 2 billion Spotify streams
