Vevo, the world’s leading music video network, has released its top charts of the year, rounding up the music videos and artists that saw the highest viewership on Vevo in 2023.
“Vevo’s annual charts help us track fandoms, viewership patterns, and what’s happening in the cultural zeitgeist. We love this time of year at Vevo, being able to look back and really celebrate some of the biggest music video moments of the years,” said JP Evangelista, SVP/Content, Programming & Marketing, Vevo. “Music videos stand the test of time and not only remain influential in pop culture, but are also a powerful art form for building and fostering the artist-fan connection, especially in today’s competitive landscape. We see meticulous marketing and release strategies that can really make an impact with music fans around the world.”
U.S. STATS:
U.S. Top Artists of the Year: Taylor Swift, Lil Baby, and KAROL G
Following a massive year, with several releases, a record-breaking world tour and movie, Taylor Swift is Vevo’s ‘Most Watched Artist’ in the U.S., garnering 649.5 million views in 2023. Her rise to the top of the chart is a powerful testament to her fandom and the buzz she has received this year. During the ‘Eras’ tour, Swifties across the country revisited Taylor’s Vevo catalog, including videos for “All Too Well: The Short Film” (+333% lift in US views), to “cardigan” (+150% lift in US views), and “Fifteen” (+171% lift in US views).
Vevo ctrl alum, Lil Baby, who has topped Vevo’s U.S. artist charts for the past three years, is the second most watched artist in the U.S. for 2023, with almost 612.7 million views.
Vevo Official Live Performance alum KAROL G (577.9 U.S. views), Morgan Wallen (512 million U.S. views), and Drake (457.7 million U.S. views) round out the U.S. Top 5 Artists of this year.
GLOBAL STATS:
Global Top Artists of the Year: KAROL G, Shakira, and Taylor Swift
Worldwide, KAROL G is the ‘Most Watched Artist’ on Vevo for the third consecutive year, gaining 4.7 billion global views in 2023. Fellow Colombian icon Shakira comes in second on Vevo’s global chart, with 3.2 billion global views in 2023. Taylor Swift (3 billion global views), The Weeknd (2.5 billion global views), and Feid (2.2 billion global views) round out the Global Top 5 Artists chart of this year.
Top Music Videos of the Year: “Favorite Song”,“Flowers” and “TQG”
Worldwide, “TQG” by Vevo’s Top Artists KAROL G and Shakira’s is the ‘Most Watched Music Video’ of 2023, with 880 million global views. Within just the first two weeks of its debut, “TQG” also garnered 181.9 million global views, making it Vevo’s most watched global premiere of 2023.
Stateside, “Favorite Song” by Hip-Hop artist Toosii went viral on social media, bumping the video to the No. 1 ‘Most Watched Music Video’ in the U.S. this year, with 101.8 million U.S. views. Of note, Toosii is an alum of the 2021 Vevo DSCVR Artists to Watch class.
Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” is Vevo’s second most watched music video both in the U.S. and globally, with 97.9 million U.S. views and nearly 644.6 million global views. However, it was the biggest debut on Vevo in the U.S., meaning it received the most viewership in the first two weeks of its release.
The rest of the U.S. Top 5 Most Watched Music Videos include KAROL G and Shakira’s “TQG” (84.1 million U.S. views), DSCVR 2023 Artist to Watch Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj’s “Princess Diana” (52.3 million U.S. views), and Becky G and Peso Pluma’s “CHANEL” (38.3 million U.S. views).
Other notable 2023 Vevo premieres in the U.S. include The Beatles’ “Now And Then” (6.5 million U.S. views), Offset and Cardi B’s “JEALOUSY” (6.3 million U.S. views), Olivia Rodrigo’s “vampire” (6.2 million U.S. views), and SZA’s “Snooze” (6.1 million U.S. views).
“We’re especially excited to see these iconic women artists, who continuously break records and release cinematic art, take the top three spots on our charts. Taylor has had an outstanding year, and connected with audiences on so many levels this year,” added Evangelista. “Looking at this year’s charts, there are many common elements within the creative of the top videos – something we love to see at Vevo – from the use of Easter eggs to messages of empowerment and symbolic choreography, as seen in music videos like ‘TQG’ and ‘Flowers’. We are also seeing the growth of Latin music globally, as well as the power of social media for music video discovery.”