Taylor Swift has been crowned the most powerful person in pop by a team of experts who analysed every aspect of celebrity life from airplay to critical recognition and social media fan base.
The Shake It Off singer, worth an estimated £130 million, has dominated headlines over the past year with speculation around her love life, a surprise and slightly awkward reunion with Kanye West at the Grammys and removing her music from Spotify. Her social media engagement (with a massive 54 million Twitter followers) alongside a host of endorsements, including her own perfume range and a Diet Coke advert, helped her take the top spot of 4Music’s 2015 Pop Powerlist.
The list’s specially designed algorithm analysed key elements, including endorsements, media coverage, and Google search index to create the definitive guide to today’s biggest players in the pop world.
There is good news for Brits as UK male artists Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith knocked America’s heartthrobs Justin Timberlake and Jason DeRulo off last year’s list. Ed Sheeran was the most searched for artist on Google and topped the TV airplay chart at the beginning of the year with Thinking out Loud. Sam Smith also climbed to the top of the charts and won prestigious accolades like The Brits’ Critics Choice Award and Best New Artist at the Grammys, which made him 2015’s top award winner in The Pop Powerlist.
Meghan Trainor and Ariana Grande also made their debuts in the top ten, following a year of booty shaking and hit singles. Grande sashayed her way to global fame this year with the track Bang Bang, featuring Nicki Minaj and Jessie J, which stayed in the UK Top 40 Singles Chart for the first two months of 2015. Trainor’s rapid fan growth led her to make a big impact entry to the list, with an impressive 2.4 million subscribers on YouTube.
One Direction also held onto a place in the top ten, but dropped six positions from 2014, after a sell-out stadium tour and success of their current album FOUR. The band is the only artist to have been in the top ten for the past four years, since The Pop Powerlist began.
“The 2015 Pop Powerlist is dominated by female pop icons this year, with Beyoncé, Rihanna and Katy Perry joining Swift in the top ten,” said Matt Rennie, Managing Director at The Box Plus Network. “It’s great to see British artists like Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith taking the hot spots, proving the rise in popularity of our home grown talent. One Direction have clearly always been winners in the Pop Powerlist but it’ll be interesting to see if they hold onto their place next year following Zayn’s departure”.
The top 25 is as follows:
1. Taylor Swift
2. Ed Sheeran
3. Sam Smith
4. Rihanna
5. Ariana Grande
6. Katy Perry
7. Maroon 5
8. Beyonce
9. One Direction
10. Meghan Trainor
11. Calvin Harris
12. Mark Ronson
13. Ellie Goulding
14. Nicki Minaj
15. Drake
16. Adele
17. Bruno Mars
18. Kanye West
19. Hozier
20. George Ezra
21. Lady Gaga
22. Madonna
23. Iggy Azaelia
24. John Legend
25. Sia
The 2015 Pop Powerlist kicks off on 4Music, Saturday 4th April at midday and counts down the 50 most powerful in people in pop.
Box TV recently rebranded to The Box Plus Network and The Pop Powerlist is part of its ongoing investment into content which will see 4Music as the place to be for a host of exciting UK exclusives.
Saturday 4th April at midday
4Music: Freeview 18, Sky 360 and Virgin 330 Watch online at www.4music.com/watchnow or stream live from The Box Plus app Be part of the conversation with #PopPowerlist and follow @4Music on Twitter
