See the 20 Most Pirated Musicians of 2013

December 31st, 2013

Nina Corcoran

This year was big for music, and, as always, a big loss in terms of sales. According to to new statistics released from music analytics firm Musicmetric, Daft Punk, Kanye West, Justin Timberlake, and Drake were a few of the musicians to see their music illegally downloaded the most in 2013. Bruno Mars and Rihanna came in first and second, respectively, with Mars’ singles peaking at 5,783,556 downloads and Rihanna’s at 5,414,166 downloads.

If you’re having trouble remembering what exactly Bruno Mars, Rihanna, and half of the other artists on this list put out this year, know you aren’t out of the loop. They didn’t release any records in 2013. Because Musicmetric’s data collection includes singles, guest spots, and feature appearances when making the list, a number of these artists flew to the top (see: Pharrell Williams at 19).

Musicmetric CEO/cofounder Gregory Mead believes the data can be helpful, despite it’s sad truth. “Of course we don’t condone piracy, but what is clear is that Bit Torrent data offers a granular insight into a band’s fan engagement,” he said. “You can see where people live and if you know where your fans are, you can plan a tour and engage with them.”

See the full list below:

Most Pirated Acts of 2013 (number of downloads):
01. Bruno Mars – 5,783,556
02. Rihanna – 5,414,166
03. Daft Punk – 4,212,361
04. Justin Timberlake – 3,930,185
05. Flo Rida – 3,470,825
06. Kanye West – 3,199,969
07. Eminem – 3,176,122
08. Jay Z – 3,171,358
09. Drake – 3,139,408
10. Pitbull – 3,138,308
11. One Direction – 2,920,445
12. Maroon 5 – 2,857,652
13. Zedd – 2,828,764
14. Nicki Minaj – 2,681,177
15. Adele – 2,594,275
16. Avicii – 2,562,151
17. David Guetta – 2,441,235
18. Linkin Park – 2,352,385
19. Pharrell Williams – 2,336,996
20. Katy Perry – 2,318,740