SINGAPORE - Singapore and regional music fans love English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou, while JJ Lin is the top Singapore artist, according to music streaming services Apple Music, KKBox and Spotify's year-end charts.
Sheeran's Perfect topped Apple Music's list of the most streamed songs in the region, which includes Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The romantic ballad appears in his third album released in 2017, ÷, which is also the region's most-streamed album on Apple.
Six other songs by Sheeran also appeared on Apple's 100 most streamed songs of the year, including Shape Of You (No. 3); an alternate version of Perfect, which is a duet with R&B star Beyonce (No. 28); as well as Thinking Out Loud (No. 70), a song from his second album, x (2014). Sheeran also appears in American pop star Taylor Swift's End Game (No. 82), alongside rapper Future.
On Spotify, Sheeran was the most-streamed singer in Singapore in 2017 but has been dethroned in 2018 by Chou.
Asian acts figured prominently on Spotify's list for Singapore - Chou was followed by K-pop juggernauts BTS and Lin, while Sheeran came in at No. 4.
Spotify's most-streamed album was BTS' Love Yourself: Answer, while its most-streamed track was Rewrite The Stars, a song by Zac Efron and Zendaya taken from the soundtrack to musical film The Greatest Showman (2017).
Besides Lin, Spotify's most-streamed home-grown singers were Stefanie Sun, The Sam Willows, Gentle Bones and Tanya Chua.
Globally, Canadian rapper Drake was Spotify's most-streamed artist while his song God's Plan was the top song on both the Apple and Spotify global charts. His fifth album, Scorpion, was Apple's top streamed album worldwide.
Music streaming service KKBox, known for its strong selection of Asian pop music, broke down its charts by languages.
Its top Chinese song streamed in Singapore was Dignified by Chinese singer/actress Kelly Yu. Chou was at No. 2 with Waiting For You, a collaboration with fellow pop singer Gary Yang, and at No. 7 with If You Don't Love Me, It's Fine. Lin was at No. 5 with 53 Dawns and No. 6 with Little Big Us.
Havana, by Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello, topped its English charts while Ddu-Du Ddu-Du by girl group Blackpink was No. 1 on the Korean charts.
Singapore singers were also featured on the 100 best songs of the year selected by Apple's global team of music editors.
These are It's You by soul-pop singer and former Singapore Idol winner Sezairi, Zero-Sum by singer-songwriter Charlie Lim, who sang on this year's National Day Parade theme song, and Time Wastin' (feat. XXXSSS Tokyo) by singer-rapper Masia One, who has performed in major gigs here including the St Jerome's Laneway Festival in January.
The three join a list that includes big names such as popular rappers Drake and Cardi B, pop/R&B singer Ariana Grande and K-pop's BTS.
Apple Music's Regional Top Songs
1. Perfect - Ed Sheeran
2. Havana - Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug
3. Shape Of You - Ed Sheeran
4. Too Good At Goodbyes - Sam Smith
5. Rewrite The Stars - Zac Efron and Zendaya
Spotify's Most-Streamed Tracks for Singapore
1. Rewrite The Stars - Zac Efron and Zendaya
2. The Middle - Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey
3. Havana - Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug
4. Girls Like You - Maroon 5 and Cardi B
5. Perfect - Ed Sheeran
KKBox's Top Mandarin Songs for Singapore
1. Dignified - Kelly Yu
2. Waiting For You - Jay Chou featuring Gary Yang
3. The Chaos After You - Eric Chou
4. Full Name - A-mei
5. 53 Dawns - JJ Lin
