Hit South Korean boyband Bangtan Boys, better known as BTS, has a new addition to their 2018 list of achievements, as the group became the most-streamed act in Taiwan, according to online music giant Spotify. Taiwanese pop diva Chang Hui-mei, better known as A-mei, took the second spot, while Singaporean singer J.J. Lin came third.
With more than 8.2 billion streams on Spotify last year, Drake took the crown as the world’s most-streamed artist. The Canadian rapper’s album Scorpion was the most-streamed album, and his single God’s Plan was the most-streamed song. BTS was the world’s second most-streamed group only next to US band Imagine Dragons.
Meanwhile, as music streaming continues to boom, China’s Tencent Music Entertainment launched its US initial public offering (IPO) last month so as to compete with Spotify, and the IPO valued the company at US$21.3 billion. Under this trend, however, the nearly century-old music retail chain HMV has filed for bankruptcy again two weeks ago, putting its 125 stores and 2,200 jobs in danger.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者陳逸寬
(Eddy Chang, Taipei Times)
南韓天團防彈少年團（BTS）在二○一八年的成績單再添一筆！根據線上音樂龍頭Spotify，該團榮登台灣的最佳串流藝人，亞軍是台灣的流行天后張惠妹（阿妹），季軍則是新加坡的歌王林俊傑。
憑著去年在Spotify高達八十二億的播放次數，Drake勇奪全球最佳串流藝人寶座。這位加拿大饒舌歌手還以專輯「Scorpion」及單曲「God’s Plan」，席捲了全球最佳串流專輯及單曲冠軍。而BTS亦衝上全球最佳串流團體的亞軍，僅次於美國搖滾天團謎幻樂團。
同時，隨著音樂串流持續蓬勃發展，為了和Spotify一較高下，中國的騰訊音樂於上月赴美首次公開募股（IPO），市值高達兩百一十三億美元。在這股潮流衝擊之下，成立將近一世紀的唱片零售連鎖店HMV兩週前又再度聲請破產，旗下一百二十五家分店和兩千兩百名員工均岌岌可危。
（台北時報張聖恩〉
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A: The 21st Century is now entering its 25th year. B: So Billboard has released a list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century.” A: Who are the greatest pop singers? B: No. 25 to 16 are: Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Bad Bunny, One Direction, Lil Wayne, Bruno Mars, BTS, The Weeknd, Shakira and Jay-Z. A: Wow, my favorite K-pop supergroup BTS has made it to the list. A: 21世紀正在邁入第25個年頭了。 B: 《告示牌》雜誌特別公布：「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」。 A: 最偉大的歌手有哪些？ B: 第25至16名是：凱蒂佩芮、紅髮艾德、壞痞兔、1世代、小韋恩、火星人布魯諾、防彈少年團（BTS）、威肯、夏奇拉、Jay-Z。 A: 哇，我最愛的韓流天團BTS也上榜了！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
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