Ed Sheeran named Spotify's most streamed artist of 2014

Ed Sheeran has been named Spotify's most streamed artist worldwide for the year 2014.

The 23-year-old singer-songwriter, beat Eminem, who topped the list in the United States, and Katy Perry, who's the most streamed female artist, to claim the top spot, Fox News reported.

Spotify announced its top streaming artists, albums and songs of 2014, where Sheeran was listened to more than 860 million times, with his latest album, 'x,' being the most steamed album worldwide with 430 million streams.

Following Sheeran on the global list were Eminem, Calvin Harris, Avicii and David Guetta, while Drake, Kanye West, Lana Del Rey and Ariana Grande followed Eminem in the U.S. tally.

Pharrell Williams' 'Happy' was the most streamed song of the year globally, and Coldplay was the most streamed group around the world.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Iggy Azalea's 'Fancy' claimed most streamed song of the year, and her album, 'The New Classic,' ranked as second most streamed album in America.

Spotify, who had experienced an unexpected result when Taylor Swift removed all of her music from the streaming service in October, said that more than 7 billion hours of music was streamed in 2014 by more than 50 million users.