According to Spotify Wrapped, Taylor Swift was 2023’s most-streamed artist globally, raking in more than 26.1 billion streams since January 1. That means the pop powerhouse has dethroned Puerto Rican reggaetón star Bad Bunny, who held the coveted title for three years in a row beginning in 2020.

He’s in the number two slot in 2023, followed by The Weeknd in third, Drake in fourth, and regional Mexican musician Peso Pluma in fifth.

It's not such bad news for Bad Bunny, however: his 2022 album “Un Verano Sin Ti” was Spotify's most-streamed album for the second year in a row, raking in 4.5 billion global streams. In that category, Taylor Swift's “Midnights” trails in second, with SZA's “SOS” in third. All three albums were released last year.

The top five is rounded out with The Weeknd’s 2016 album “Starboy” and Karol G's “Mañana Será Bonito,” the only 2023 release to reach the peak.

Miley Cyrus’ empowerment anthem “Flowers” is Spotify’s most-streamed song of the year with 1.6 million streams globally.

“Kill Bill” by SZA is the second most-streamed song of the year, while Harry Styles’ “As It Was,” BTS member Jung Kook featuring Latto’s “Seven,” and Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola” came in third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

In the U.S., Swift's dominance continued — she was the most streamed artist on the platform, followed by Drake and country star Morgan Wallen. Wallen's “Last Night” was the most streamed song, and his full-length “One Thing at a Time" was the most streamed-album.

On Tuesday, Apple Music announced Wallen’s “Last Night” topped its global song chart in 2023. It has been a banner year for the song, which also stayed atop the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 weeks, tying Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber’s “Despacito” for the title of second-longest reign in the Hot 100’s 65-year history.

That the biggest artists, globally, earned top spots on Spotify Wrapped should come as no surprise — they're featured prominently across the streaming service, including on its highly influential playlists, in addition to boasting loyal, dedicated fanbases. For independent artists who may appear on an individual listener's Wrapped, accessing a top spot on the global list would require billions of streams.

According to Business Insider, artists make around $.003 and $.005 per stream, though Spotify itself does not pay per stream. Instead, they pay per “streamshare,” a figure that is determined by adding up how many times music owned or controlled by a particular rights holder is streamed, divided by the total number of streams in the market it is streamed in each month.

Last month, Spotify announced a new policy regarding royalty payments, eliminating payment for songs with less than 1,000 annual streams starting in 2024.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Daryl Hall has accused his longtime music partner John Oates of committing the “ultimate partnership betrayal” by planning to sell his share of the Hall & Oates duo's joint venture without the other's permission, Hall said in a court declaration supporting his lawsuit to keep the transaction paused .

In the declaration filed Wednesday in a Nashville chancery court, Hall also lamented the deterioration of his relationship with and trust in his musical partner of more than a half-century. The joint venture in question includes Hall & Oates trademarks, personal name and likeness rights, record royalty income and website and social media assets, the declaration states.

A judge has issued a temporarily restraining order blocking the sale of Whole Oats Enterprises LLP to Primary Wave IP Investment Management LLC while legal proceedings and a previously initiated arbitration continue.

A court hearing is scheduled Thursday in the case. Hall is seeking further court action to keep the transaction on hold.

“While falsely contending over the last several months that the Oates Trust wanted to maintain ownership in WOE, John Oates and the Co-Trustees engaged in the ultimate partnership betrayal," Hall said in a declaration. "They surreptitiously sought to sell half of the WOE assets without obtaining my written approval.”

Derek Crownover, an attorney representing Oates, has previously said the musician's "team will work toward a resolution that makes sense for all involved, but for now we plan to let the facts, law and courts play this one out.”

He said Wednesday that the legal team will file a declaration by Oates soon as well.

A Nashville chancery court judge issued the temporary restraining order on Nov. 16, the same day Hall filed his lawsuit, writing that Oates and others involved in his trust can’t move to close the sale of their share until an arbitrator in a separately filed case weighs in on the deal, or until the judge’s order expires — typically within 15 days, unless a judge extends the deadline. Hall's declaration was initially filed in the arbitration case.

The lawsuit contends that Hall opened an arbitration process on Nov. 9 against Oates and the other defendants in the lawsuit, Oates’ wife, Aimee Oates, and Richard Flynn, in their roles as co-trustees of Oates’ trust. Hall was seeking an order preventing them from selling their part in Whole Oats Enterprises to Primary Wave Music.

Primary Wave has already owned “significant interest” in Hall and Oates’ song catalog for more than 15 years.

The lawsuit says Oates’ team entered into a letter of intent with Primary Wave Music for the sale, and alleges further that the letter makes clear that the music duo’s business agreement was disclosed to Primary Wave Music in violation of a confidentiality provision. Additionally, Hall said in his declaration he would not approve such a sale and doesn't agree with Primary Wave's business model.

Hall said he was blindsided by Oates’ plan to sell his part of Whole Oates Enterprises.

“I am deeply troubled by the deterioration of my relationship with, and trust in, John Oates,” Hall said in the declaration.

Hall said in his declaration that the ordeal has unfolded while he's been on tour throughout the U.S. west coast, Japan and Manilla. Hall said he believes Oates timed the sale “to create the most harm to me.”

Hall accused Oates of becoming “adversarial and aggressive instead of professional and courteous” toward him in the last several years. As part of a proposed “global divorce,” Hall said he was entertaining Oates' idea to dissolve their touring entity and a separate partnership related to their musical compositions and publishing, while Hall raised the idea of dissolving Whole Oats Enterprises.

Daryl Hall and John Oates got their start as Temple University students before signing with Atlantic Records in 1972. In the decades since, they have achieved six platinum albums and many more Top 10 singles with their unique approach to blue-eyed soul. Hall & Oates was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 and its latest album, “Home for Christmas,” was released in 2006. The duo continued to perform as of last year.

“We have this incredibly good problem of having so many hits,” Oates told The Associated Press in 2021, just before resuming a national tour that had been delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. “Believe me, it’s not a chore to play those songs because they are really great.”

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NEW YORK — The actor Jonathan Majors appeared in court in New York on Wednesday for the start of jury selection in a trial in which he is accused of injuring his then-girlfriend during an argument last spring.

The trial could wind up playing a big role in what happens next with Majors, who had emerged as a breakout star with major roles in films including “Creed III” and who was being set up as the next great supervillain in the Marvel multiverse.

The 34-year-old actor entered a Manhattan courtroom alongside his current girlfriend, the actress Meagan Good, carrying a Bible and one of his signature coffee cups. He did not speak during the start of the proceeding.

Majors was arrested in March over a confrontation between the actor and Grace Jabbari, his girlfriend at the time, during a car ride in Manhattan.

Prosecutors said Jabbari had grabbed a phone out of the actor's hand after seeing a text, presumably from another woman, saying “Wish I was kissing you right now.” Majors tried to snatch the phone back.

Jabbari said the actor pulled her finger, twisted her arm behind her back and hit her face. After the couple's driver stopped the car and the pair got out, Jabbari said Majors threw her back into the vehicle. Police said Jabbari was treated at a hospital for minor injuries.

Majors’ attorneys have maintained that Jabbari was the aggressor during the fight and had scratched and hit him. They alleged on Wednesday that police who responded to the scene did not interview Majors and that Manhattan prosecutors have refused to review evidence showing he was the victim.

Jabbari was also briefly arrested by New York City police last month after Majors filed a cross complaint against her, but the district attorney’s office dropped all charges against her the next day.

On Wednesday, the judge, Michael Gaffey, described the brief arrest of Jabbari as “very unusual,” suggesting that Majors’ celebrity status may have played a role in the police department’s decision to charge his accuser three months after the incident.

“Did this only come about because of the high profile nature of the case?” Gaffey asked the court. “If this was an indigent, everyday New Yorker, would this arrest have happened?”

Majors is charged with misdemeanors including assault and could be sentenced to up to a year in jail if convicted.