6th March 2019 – IFPI, the organisation that represents the recorded music industry worldwide, has named Havana by Camila Cabello (featuring Young Thug) as the best-selling digital single globally of 2018.

Released in 2017, Havana is the lead track from Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello’s eponymous debut solo album. Drawing on influences from Cabello’s Cuban heritage, the track, and the subsequent remix version with Spanish lyrics from Daddy Yankee, reached number one in 95 countries, rocketing Cabello to global solo success. In June 2018, Havana became Spotify's most-streamed song ever by a solo female artist with 888 million streams. Across all providers, it has now been streamed over 2.6 billion times in total worldwide.

Frances Moore, chief executive of IFPI, said: “Havana truly was the stand-out hit of the year. Momentum behind the track continued to build and build at an extraordinary rate as it consistently topped charts and leading playlists. Camila Cabello is a perfect example of an artist who has drawn on her musical roots to produce her own unique sound that is capturing the hearts of fans all over the world.”

The second best-selling single, God’s Plan by Drake, was released in January 2018. The track from his album Scorpion, broke multiple global streaming records upon release, including first-day streaming records on both Spotify and Apple Music. On Apple Music the track reached over 14 million streams in its first day and more than 60 million within its first week of release.

Shape of You by Ed Sheeran was the third best-selling single of 2018, maintaining a strong chart position since the track took the number one spot in 2017. It was the lead single from Sheeran’s global smash album ÷ and reached number one in multiple countries.

This Global Digital Single of 2018 is the second award from IFPI’s global charts, following the announcement that Drake was the Global Artist of the Year 2018.

The IFPI Global Digital Singles Chart is the only ranking to accurately capture engagement with tracks across audio streaming, video streaming and permanent downloads on a global basis.

TOP 10 GLOBAL DIGITAL SINGLES OF 2018

Rank/Artist and song title/Global total converted track equivalent (millions)

1 Camila Cabello (feat. Young Thug) - Havana 19.0
2 Drake - God's Plan 15.3
3 Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You 14.9
4 Ed Sheeran - Perfect 13.5
5 Maroon 5 (feat. Cardi B) - Girls Like You 11.9
6 Luis Fonsi (feat. Daddy Yankee) - Despacito 11.8
7 Tia Ray - Be Apart 10.9
8 The Chainsmokers & Coldplay - Something Just Like This 10.0
9 Marshmello & Anne-Marie - FRIENDS 9.6
10 Post Malone (feat. Ty Dolla $ign) - Psycho 9.2

(source: IFPI)

The IFPI Global Digital Singles Chart includes sales of digitally downloaded singles and on-demand video and audio streams across the calendar year; using permanent download equivalent units to combine measurements of digital sales and streams.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

The IFPI Global Top 10 Albums of 2018 will be published in the coming weeks. The IFPI Global Recording Artist Chart 2018 is available now at www.ifpi.org and all of IFPI’s Global Charts will be published in the IFPI Global Music Report 2019, released on 2nd April 2019.

About IFPI

IFPI is the organisation that promotes the interests of the international recording industry worldwide. Its membership comprises some 1,300 major and independent companies in almost 60 countries. It also has affiliated industry national groups in 57 countries. IFPI’s mission is to promote the value of recorded music, campaign for the rights of record producers and expand the commercial uses of recorded music in all markets where its members operate.