Ed Sheeran named as most-played pop act in the UK for 2015

Ed Sheeran has been named as the most-played pop act in the UK for 2015. He has topped the Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL) People’s Chart, which was released today, and is based on TV and radio airplay, song use in adverts and plays in public venues such as nightclubs.

The singer, who is currently on hiatus, came third in the chart last year but this time beat Taylor Swift and Olly Murs to take the top spot. Take That and Ellie Goulding make up the rest of the top five.

A PPL spokesman said that Ed’s success was largely due to the “broadcast and public use” of ‘Thinking Out Loud’, ‘Photograph’ and ‘Bloodstream’, his collaboration with Rudimental.

In fact, Ed’s songs ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and ‘Photograph’ are the sixth and 17th most played tracks of 2015 respectively, however, unsurprisingly the top spot went to Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ monster hit ‘Uptown Funk’. The global smash hit beat Ellie Goulding’s ‘Love Me Like You Do’ and James Bay’s ‘Hold Back The River’ to take the title.

Check out the top twenty most-played artists and songs of 2015 below.

Most-played artists of 2015

1. Ed Sheeran
2. Taylor Swift
3. Olly Murs
4. Take That
5. Ellie Goulding
6. Sam Smith
7. Jess Glynne
8. Years & Years
9. Mark Ronson
10. Maroon 5
11. Coldplay
12. Calvin Harris
13. James Bay
14. George Ezra
15. Madonna
16. Rihanna
17. Queen
18. Michael Jackson
19. Katy Perry
20. Adele

Most-played tracks of 2015

1. ‘Uptown Funk’ – Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
2. ‘Love Me Like You Do’ – Ellie Goulding
3. ‘Hold Back The River’ – James Bay
4. ‘King’ – Years & Years
5. ‘Hold My Hand’ – Jess Glynne
6. ‘Thinking Out Loud’ – Ed Sheeran
7. ‘Sugar’ – Maroon 5
8. ‘Want To Want Me’ – Jason Derulo
9. ‘Up’ – Olly Murs feat. Demi Lovato
10. ‘Style’ – Taylor Swift
11. ‘Like I Can’ – Sam Smith
12. ‘These Days’ – Take That
13. ‘Cheerleader’ (Felix Jaehn Remix) – OMI
14. ‘Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself’ – Jess Glynne
15. ‘Take Me To Church’ – Hozier
16. ‘Shut Up and Dance’ – Walk The Moon
17. ‘Photograph’ – Ed Sheeran
18. ‘Black Magic’ – Little Mix
19. ‘Blame It on Me’ – George Ezra
20. ‘Blank Space’ –  Taylor Swift

Did your favourite artist or song make the list? Let us know by tweeting @CelebMix.