The most-viewed artist on YouTube is Bad Bunny, with over 84 billion views, followed by Indian singers Alka Yagnik and Arijit Singh, and then Ozuna, according to early January 2026 data, highlighting his global dominance in music streaming across platforms.
Here are the top ten all-time most subscribed Official Artist Channels around the world on YouTube in January 2025.
1. MrBeast – 459 million subscribers. As of June 2024, MrBeast is the most-subscribed channel on YouTube. And it makes sense.
The "number one artist" depends on the metric, but currently, Taylor Swift is often cited as the top global artist, leading in Spotify streams and Billboard rankings for overall artist performance, while The Weeknd often holds the top spot for most monthly listeners on Spotify. Bad Bunny remains dominant in global streams for previous years and holds top album status, with Drake and Billie Eilish also consistently high.
As of early January 2026, The Weeknd is generally considered #1 on Spotify for monthly listeners, but Taylor Swift is the most-streamed artist in Spotify's history and often leads overall popularity, with Bruno Mars recently hitting a historic 150 million monthly listeners. The #1 spot can change daily, but The Weeknd currently leads in recent monthly listeners, while Bad Bunny remains a top contender, and Taylor Swift dominates overall historical streams.
The Minecraft community has crushed one trillion views on YouTube. Celebrate this huge milestone with a look back at some of the biggest moments in Minecraft history.
The richest YouTuber in the world is Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, with estimated net worths ranging from $500 million to over $1 billion and reported earnings exceeding $700 million in 2025, thanks to his massive YouTube presence, business ventures like Feastables, and ventures such as Beast Games on Amazon Prime. He leads a list of high earners that includes Jeffree Star, Logan Paul, and Anastasia Radzinskaya (Like Nastya), who also generate significant wealth from branding, merchandise, and other entertainment projects.
On February 23, 2021, Baby Shark surpassed 8 billion views, becoming the first video to do so. On July 20, 2021, Baby Shark surpassed 9 billion views, becoming the first (and currently only) video to do so.
It became a global phenomenon, clocking up more than 16 billion views - YouTube's most watched video ever. That song was the incredibly catchy Baby Shark.
Drake has topped the list three times (2015–2016; 2018), while Swift is the only female artist to have topped the list (2023–2024). American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is the most-streamed artist in Spotify's history.
The "top 10 most famous singers" varies by list, but consistently features legends like Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles for sales, with modern icons such as Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Bad Bunny topping streaming charts, alongside powerful vocalists like Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston, all celebrated for their immense global impact, sales, and influence on music.
“Gangnam Style” by South Korean musician PSY became the first YouTube video to reach 1 billion views. By the end of 2012, the song had topped music charts in more than 30 countries around the world. #song4theweekend #PSY #GangnamStyle #musichistory #music.
The YouTube Partner Program is a comprehensive partner program available to Creators, delivering support, monetization opportunities and more. Once you're in the program, you can start earning money from ads on long-form videos, ads between short-form videos and from YouTube Premium subscribers watching your content.
Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's “Despacito” video has established a new record. The clip reached 5 billion views on YouTube, making it the most watched video worldwide.
The top 3 YouTubers by subscriber count in early 2026 are MrBeast, followed by corporate/music channels like T-Series, and children's content creators such as Cocomelon or Kids Diana Show, with MrBeast being the leading individual creator by a significant margin, dominating the global rankings.
The "30-second rule" on YouTube refers to the critical first moments of a video, where creators must hook viewers within about 30 seconds to get them to keep watching, as YouTube registers meaningful engagement after this mark, impacting visibility and watch time. It's a key focus for audience retention, with strategies involving dynamic editing (B-roll, angles), emotional hooks, and clear value propositions, but it's distinct from copyright myths about using 30-second music clips.
1 billion YouTube views can earn anywhere from a few thousand dollars (for Shorts) to several million (for long-form videos), with estimates often falling between $250,000 and $5 million, heavily depending on the Cost Per Mille (CPM) and viewer engagement, with gaming/music potentially earning $0.50-$1/1000 views and high-engagement content seeing higher rates. The wide range is due to factors like viewer location, ad types, video niche, and if it's a YouTube Short (which pays much less) versus longer content.
Spotify holds a 32% global market share in music streaming with 713 million monthly users. Institutional investors own 67.8% of Spotify; founders Ek and Lorentzon control major voting power. Shares of Spotify can be bought through a brokerage account using market or limit orders.
There's no single "number 1 artist of all time" as it's subjective, but Leonardo da Vinci often tops lists for visual art due to masterpieces like the Mona Lisa, while The Beatles are frequently cited as the best-selling music group ever, and Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley are often named as top solo music artists by sales and influence. Modern metrics like Spotify streams point to artists like Bad Bunny or Taylor Swift for recent dominance.