Billboard Unveils 2018 Year-End Charts

NEW YORK, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Billboard unveiled its full list of year-end music charts for 2018 today, including Top Artist, Top New Artist, Hot 100 Songs and Billboard 200 Albums, featuring Drake, Taylor Swift, Cardi B, Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello and more. Canadian singer-rapper Drake ruled the charts this year, leading the year-end Top Artists ranking with the success of his Billboard 200-topping album Scorpion and its many hit singles on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart, including the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 song of the year, "God's Plan." Drake is the first rap act to be the overall Top Artist of the year since 50 Cent in 2005, and just the third rap artist to ever lead the category, after 50 Cent and Nelly.

Following a male-dominated 2017, in which men swept the entire top 10, female artists took center stage as three women finished in the top 10 on the Top Artists tally. Taylor Swift — the year's top female artist — is the highest ranking woman on the overall Top Artists tally at No. 4, joined by the year's top new artist, Cardi B, at No. 5, Camila Cabello at No. 10, Ariana Grande (No. 14), Dua Lipa (No. 19) and Halsey (No. 20).

"The year-end Billboard charts highlight the breadth of genres that resonated with music fans in 2018," says Silvio Pietroluongo, Billboard's SVP of Charts and Data Development. "The Billboard charts are the most well-respected and comprehensive rankings in music and have helped define musical careers for nearly 80 years. In 2018, established superstar acts continued their dominance and new acts like Cardi B, Dua Lipa and K-pop group BTS burst onto the scene."

Please see below for a full Year-End breakdown of the following Billboard charts: Top Artists, Hot 100 Songs Billboard 200 Albums, and Top New Artists:

Top Artists

1. Drake
2. Post Malone
3. Ed Sheeran
4. Taylor Swift
5. Cardi B
6. XXXTentacion
7. Imagine Dragons
8. BTS
9. Bruno Mars
10. Camila Cabello

Billboard Hot 100 Songs

1. "God's Plan," Drake
2. "Perfect," Ed Sheeran
3. "Meant to Be," Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line
4. "Havana," Camila Cabello Featuring Young Thug
5. "Rockstar," Post Malone Featuring 21 Savage
6. "Psycho," Post Malone Featuring Ty Dolla $ign
7. "I Like It," Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin
8. "The Middle," Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey
9. "In My Feelings," Drake
10. "Girls Like You," Maroon 5 Featuring Cardi B

Billboard 200 Albums

1. reputation, Taylor Swift
2. Scorpion, Drake
3. beerbongs & bentleys, Post Malone
4. "The Greatest Showman" Soundtrack
5. ÷ (Divide), Ed Sheeran
6. Invasion of Privacy, Cardi B
7. Astroworld, Travis Scott
8. Stoney, Post Malone
9. ?, XXXTentacion
10. Culture II, Migos

Top New Artists

1. Cardi B
2. XXXTentacion
3. Juice WRLD
4. Dua Lipa
5. 6ix9ine

For more information on the Billboard charts, visit https://www.billboard.com/charts.

Billboard's year-end music recaps are based on chart performance on Billboard's charts dated Dec. 2, 2017 to Nov. 17, 2018. The year-end Top Artists category ranks the best-performing acts of the year based on activity on the Billboard 200 albums tally and the Billboard Hot 100 Songs list, as well as streaming, social media and Billboard Boxscore data. Data registered before or after a title's chart run is not considered in these standings. That methodology detail, and the December-to-November time period, account for some of the differences between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Nielsen Music.

ABOUT BILLBOARD MEDIA GROUP:
Billboard is the world's largest voice in music, built on the most complete and well-respected database of charts across all music genres. The Billboard charts define success in music. From the iconic Billboard magazine to Billboard.com, the ultimate consumer-facing destination for millions of passionate music fans, to the industry's most elite conference series and influencer events including the Power 100 and Women in Music – the Billboard brand has unmatched authority among fans, artists and the industry alike. Billboard has a social media footprint of 25.5M+ million social followers across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and creates more than 160M+ cross-platform video views per month. Billboard magazine has published major news-generating covers recently including Travis Scott, Zayn, Janet Jackson, Lil Wayne, Demi Lovato, Cardi B, Christina Aguilera, Eminem, DJ Khaled, Shakira, BTS, and an open letter to Congress signed by 180+ of the music industry's biggest stars and executives. In December 2017, the Billboard Women in Music ceremony, which honored Selena Gomez as Woman of the Year, was live-streamed globally on Twitter.

In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group acquired Spin Media's storied music assets Spin, Vibe, and Stereogum, establishing the world's largest music brand by digital traffic, social reach, and audience share. The combined entity of music and entertainment properties now reaches 41 Million + unique visitors and more than 20% of U.S. millennials.

SOURCE Billboard

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