One Direction Tops Billboard’s 100 Artists Of 2014 List

As the year comes to a close, Billboard has released their list of the 100 top artists of 2014. At number one on the list is “Steal My Girl” hit-makers One Direction, followed closely by Katy Perry and Beyonce. How does the popular music magazine determine the year’s best pop artists? From activity on the Billboard 200 albums tally and the Billboard Hot 100 singles list, as well as streaming, social and box-score data, naturally.

Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake round out the top 5, respectively, although we expected Taylor to be higher on the list because of how popular 1989 is. Also, Justin Timberlake didn’t put any new music out this year, but did pull off a massive world tour to get his music out there. Coming in at number six, seven and eight on the list is Iggy Azalea, Ariana Grande, and Miley Cyrus: the former two for their amazing breakout years, with “Fancy” and “Problem.”

Finishing off the top 10 artists are Pharrell Williams and Eminem, proving that pop belonged to the ladies in 2014 with only three males out of the seven gals in the top section of the list.