It’s been a big year for Taylor Swift, and the good news continues for the star as she’s been revealed as Spotify’s most-streamed artist of 2023, ending a three-year reign by Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny.
According to Spotify Wrapped, Swift had more than 26.1 billion streams since January 1. She was followed by Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Drake and Mexican musician Peso Pluma to round out the top five.
Swift took to social media to celebrate the news by announcing her new song was available for streaming, while also thanking those who had listened to her this year.
“Um OK this is unreal?? I just wanted to say to anyone who listened to my music this year, anywhere in the world, thank you. Getting named Spotify’s Global Top Artist in 2023 is truly the best birthday/holiday gift you could’ve given me,” she wrote.
“We’ve seriously had the most fun this year out there on tour and now this. Are you serious. So I was trying to think of a way to thank you, and a lot of you have been asking me to put You’re Losing Me (From The Vault) on streaming ... so here you go! You can finally listen everywhere now.”
To celebrate Swift’s milestone, Spotify unveiled 21 puzzle pieces on billboards around the globe, including Sao Paulo and Jakarta, in the 48-hour lead-up to Wrapped’s launch on Wednesday and the announcement of her being the top streamed artist. Also, as another add on, when fans stream Swift's music on the platform, the progress bar will change colours to reflect the corresponding "era colour", while the progress button turns into a sparkle.
Meanwhile, the most streamed song globally was Flowers by Miley Cyrus, following by SZA’s Kill Bill, As It Was by Harry Styles, Seven by Jung Kook featuring Latto, and Ella Baila Sola by Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma.
UAE's Spotify trends
Spotify has also released the UAE's music trends for the year, which was also led by Swift. She was followed by The Weeknd, Drake, Arijit Singh and Pritam.
The most streamed songs also followed a similar tend to the global list with SZA's Kill Bill, Calm Down by Rema with Selena Gomez, Flowers by Miley Cyrus, Metro Boomin’s hit Creepin’ with The Weeknd & 21 Savage and Seven (feat. Latto) by Jung Kook in the top five.
Meanwhile, the list also unveiled the top Arab artists streamed in the region, with Egyptian artists making up the top five. They are: Essam Sasa, Wegz, Amr Diab, Ahmed Saad and Cairokee. These were the top Arabic tracks streamed on the platform in the region: Alo Aleky by Mohammed Saeed, ElBakht by Wegz, Mesa Meni Aleko by Essam Sasa, Beraha Ya Sheekha by Bahaa Sultan and Aleb Fel Dafater by Muslim.
Spotify 2023 Wrapped UAE Top Lists
Top 10 Arab artists in the region
1. Essam Sasa
2. Wegz
3. Amr Diab
4. Ahmed Saad
5. Cairokee
6. ElGrande Toto
7. Marwan Pablo
8. Draganov
9. Husayn
10. Kouz1
Top 10 Arabic tracks in the region
1. Alo Aleky by Mohammed Saeed
2. ElBakht by Wegz
3. Mesa Meni Aleko by Essam Sasa
4. Beraha Ya Sheikha by Bahaa Sultan
5. Aleb Fel Dafater by Muslim
6. Yemken Kheir by Ramy Sabry
7. Be2amaret Meen by Farid
8. Mekhasmak By Nawal
9. ElYoum Elhelw Da by Ahmed Saad
10. Basrah w Atooh by Cairokee
UAE’s Most-Streamed Artists
1. Taylor Swift
2. The Weeknd
3. Drake
4. Arijit Singh
5. Pritam
6. Anirudh Ravichander
7. Travis Scott
8. Metro Boomin
9. 21 Savage
10. SZA
UAE’s Most-Streamed Songs
1. Kill Bill by SZA
2. Calm Down (with Selena Gomez) by Rema
3. Flowers by Miley Cyrus
4. Creepin’ (with The Weeknd & 21 Savage) by Metro Boomin
5. Seven (feat. Latto) by Jung Kook
6. As It Was by Harry Styles
7. Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift
8. The Astronaut by Jin
9. Sprinter by Dave
10. Boy's a liar Pt 2 by PinkPantheress
UAE’s Most-Streamed Albums
1. Heroes & Villians by Metro Boomin
2. Starboy by The Weeknd
3. SOS by SZA
4. Midnights by Taylor Swift
5. Lover by Taylor Swift
6. After Hours by The Weeknd
7. Utopia by Travis Scott
8. 1989 by Taylor Swift
9. Rave & Roses Ultra by Rema
10. Proof by BTS
How to find your Spotify Wrapped
In order to find your Spotify Wrapped list, users have to be subscribed to Spotify. Opening the latest version of the app will likely show a user's Spotify Wrapped directly once it’s out.
But if it doesn't, those on desktop and on mobile can simply type in “Wrapped” in the search bar, or find Spotify’s Wrapped button on the home page. They can also visit this link to go directly to it.
Spotify 2023 Wrapped Global Top Lists
Most-Streamed Artists Globally
1. Taylor Swift
2. Bad Bunny
3. The Weeknd
4. Drake
5. Peso Pluma
6. Feid
7. Travis Scott
8. SZA
9. Karol G
10. Lana Del Rey
Most-Streamed Songs Globally
1. Flowers by Miley Cyrus
2. Kill Bill by SZA
3. As It Was by Harry Styles
4. Seven (featuring Latto) by Jung Kook
5. Ella Baila Sola by Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma
6. Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift
7. Creepin’ by Metro Boomin, the Weeknd and 21 Savage
8. Calm Down by Rema and Selena Gomez
9. Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol 53 by Bizarrap and Shakira
10. Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift
Most-Streamed Albums Globally
1. Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny
2. Midnights by Taylor Swift
3. SOS by SZA
4. Starboy by The Weeknd
5. Manana Sera Bonito by Karol G
6. One Thing at a Time by Morgan Wallen
7. Lover by Taylor Swift
8. Heroes & Villains by Metro Boomin
9. Genesis by Peso Pluma
10. Harry’s House by Harry Styles
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Spain drain
CONVICTED
Lionel Messi Found guilty in 2016 of of using companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying €4.1m in taxes on income earned from image rights. Sentenced to 21 months in jail and fined more than €2m. But prison sentence has since been replaced by another fine of €252,000.
Javier Mascherano Accepted one-year suspended sentence in January 2016 for tax fraud after found guilty of failing to pay €1.5m in taxes for 2011 and 2012. Unlike Messi he avoided trial by admitting to tax evasion.
Angel di Maria Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain star Angel di Maria was fined and given a 16-month prison sentence for tax fraud during his time at Real Madrid. But he is unlikely to go to prison as is normal in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying sentence of less than two years.
SUSPECTED
Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid's star striker, accused of evading €14.7m in taxes, appears in court on Monday. Portuguese star faces four charges of fraud through offshore companies.
Jose Mourinho Manchester United manager accused of evading €3.3m in tax in 2011 and 2012, during time in charge at Real Madrid. But Gestifute, which represents him, says he has already settled matter with Spanish tax authorities.
Samuel Eto'o In November 2016, Spanish prosecutors sought jail sentence of 10 years and fines totalling €18m for Cameroonian, accused of failing to pay €3.9m in taxes during time at Barcelona from 2004 to 2009.
Radamel Falcao Colombian striker Falcao suspected of failing to correctly declare €7.4m of income earned from image rights between 2012 and 2013 while at Atletico Madrid. He has since paid €8.2m to Spanish tax authorities, a sum that includes interest on the original amount.
Jorge Mendes Portuguese super-agent put under official investigation last month by Spanish court investigating alleged tax evasion by Falcao, a client of his. He defended himself, telling closed-door hearing he "never" advised players in tax matters.
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
A Long Way Home by Peter Carey
Faber & Faber
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
