Aphex Twin, the renowned ambient musician, has surpassed Taylor Swift to claim the title of most monthly listeners on YouTube Music, according to the latest streaming statistics.
As of January 17th, the experimental artist from Cornwall has amassed approximately 448 million monthly listeners on YouTube’s streaming platform. In contrast, Taylor Swift, known for hits like ‘Look What You Made Me Do’, has about 399 million monthly listeners.
The metrics encompass various activities across YouTube, including audio streams on YouTube Music, music video views on official artist channels, as well as passive consumption through YouTube Shorts and fan-generated content.
Aphex Twin’s surge in popularity may be attributed to the recent viral success of his 2001 track, ‘QKThr’, which has been widely used as background music in various online content.
In addition to this, Aphex Twin has been active in releasing new music, with two songs launched on his SoundCloud in November, marking his first releases since the surprise drop of ‘From The Merch Desk (2016 – 2023)’ in 2024.
Taylor Swift continues to make headlines following her record-breaking Eras Tour, notable for substantial charitable contributions, including donations to children’s hospitals and a US food bank initiative. Her latest album, ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’, released in October, quickly became the best-selling album of the year in the UK, despite mixed reviews.
YouTube Music’s growth is notable as more music enthusiasts are moving away from Spotify, its main competitor, partly due to the increasing prevalence of ICE ads on the platform. Moreover, several artists, including King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Deerhoof, and Cindy Lee, have boycotted Spotify in the past year. Nevertheless, Spotify reported impressive profits of $669 million for the third quarter of 2025.