Benson Boone’s smash hit Beautiful Things was the biggest-selling single globally last year, winning the IFPI Global Single Award for 2024.
IFPI, the organization that represents the recorded music industry worldwide, confirmed the news today (February 20).
The IFPI Global Single Award is presented to the artist with the world’s best-selling single of the year across all digital formats – including paid subscription streaming, ad-supported platforms, and single-track downloads.
Earlier this week, Taylor Swift was named as IFPI’s biggest-selling recording artist globally in 2024, marking her third consecutive year at the top and setting a new record as the first artist to win the award five times.
According to IFPI, its Global Single chart includes consumption of a track (including remixes and alternative versions) and considers single track downloads and streaming across both free and paid platforms, translated into chart units “according to a rigorous methodology based on the relative economics of each format in each region globally”.
The organization also noted that for 2024, an “enhancement was made to this methodology to better account for the economics of subscription streams across regions” and therefore, the Global Subscription Stream Equivalents outlined in the chart accompanying its announcement “are not directly comparable with IFPI Global Single Chart results from previous years”.
Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things took the No.1 spot in this year’s IFPI Global Single Chart, his first appearance in an IFPI Global Chart Top 10.
IFPI noted on Thursday (February 20), that last year was marked by “breakout and breakthrough artists”, with each of the Top 3 tracks (and four of the Top 5) coming from artists making their first appearance in an IFPI Global Chart this year.
Aside from Boone’s Beautiful Things, Sabrina Carpenter was also a new entry into the charts with her single Espresso at No.2 and Teddy Swims with Lose Control at No.3.
According to IFPI, Beautiful Things achieved an equivalent of 2.11 billion Global subscription streams in 2024.
Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso racked up an equivalent of 1.79 billion Global subscription streams, and in third place, Teddy Swims’ Lose Control achieved 1.70 billion
Nine of the Top 10 places in the chart were taken by US artists with the exception coming from Ireland’s Hozier with Too Sweet at No.6, marking a return to the IFPI Global Single Chart for the first time since Take Me to Church reached No.19 in 2015.
IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year, Taylor Swift, featured once in the Top 10 with Cruel Summer, from 2019’s Lover, at No.9 following a resurgence in popularity of her older catalog thanks to her record-breaking The Eras Tour.
“As a global breakout artist, this is an amazing achievement to produce a truly worldwide hit.”
Victoria Oakley, IFPI
Victoria Oakley, CEO, IFPI, said: “We are delighted to present the IFPI Global Single Award to Benson Boone. As a global breakout artist, this is an amazing achievement to produce a truly worldwide hit.
“Congratulations to Benson, his team and Warner Records for this incredible accomplishment.
“It is also fantastic to see so many other newcomers to the industry shine through in the IFPI Global Singles Chart.
“It is a wonderful reflection of how emerging artists – working in partnership with their record labels – are finding international success.”Music Business Worldwide
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