Nielsen has released its annual music industry sales report of 2016, and Drake, Rihanna, and The Chainsmokers dominated the top 10 list of on demand audio streams. Only three of the top 10 songs on the list did not feature one of those three artists.
Drake, Rihanna, And The Chainsmokers Rule
It's no secret by now that 2016 was a stellar year for pop artists Drake, Rihanna, and The Chainsmokers. All three artists had numerous pop hits throughout the year and featured at the top of the Billboard, Spotify, and other music charts.
Now measurement organization Nielsen, which also reports the official ratings for TV viewing, has released their figures for 2016, and the results show just how dominant those three artists were for the year. In fact, there are just three songs on the Nielsen list of top 10 on demand audio streams that don't feature either Drake, Rihanna, or The Chainsmokers.
Top 10 On Demand Streaming Songs Of 2016
Drake rules the list by featuring in both of the top songs of the year. His huge worldwide smash "One Dance" came in at number one, with 527.4 million streams on demand, according to Nielsen.
"One Dance," which was released in April and topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 10 weeks in 2016, was recently announced as the most streamed ever song on Spotify, and the first to ever receive over a billion streams on the world's most popular streaming service.
There is no official explanation for the disparity in Spotify's reporting of its stream count and that of Nielsen, which one would expect to be well over 1 billion since it measures plays on other on demand streaming services as well as those on Spotify.
The number two song on Nielsen's list is Rihanna's addictive "Work," which once again features Drake, with 346.9 million streams. The Chainsmokers massive pop hit "Closer" comes in at number three, just behind Rihanna, with 340.9 million streams.
It's Rihanna again at number four with the gritty "Needed Me," while the breakthrough hip-hop song "Panda" by Desiigner comes in at number five.
The Chainsmokers make their second top 10 appearance at number six with their big summer EDM smash "Don't Let Me Down," followed once again by the lethal combo of Rihanna and Drake at number seven with "Too Good."
Another hip-hop debut, "Broccoli" by D.R.A.M. featuring Lil' Yachty takes the number eight spot, followed once again at nine by Drake, with "Controlla."
"Me Myself And I," the collaboration between rapper G-Eazy and singer Bebe Rexha, rounds out the top 10 as just the third track on the list not to feature Rihanna , Drake, or The Chainsmokers.
