Ed Sheeran’s dance pop track Shape of You has become the most played song ever on Spotify.
The song about ‘looking for love at a bar’ has been heard 1.318 billion times on the world’s most popular streaming service.
Shape of You came out in January as one of the first songs on Sheeran’s chart-topping album Divide.
This album was the first by the ginger-haired guitarist since he was moved to stardom by the ballad Thinking Out Loud, which remains Spotify’s sixth most streamed track ever.
Shape of You and One Dance share subtle similarities; both incorporate the rhythms of dancehall, the Jamaican club music of the 1970s that has seen a revival through pop producers.
Sheeran brings in drum machine off-beats of dancehall underneath a minimalist, minor-key synthesised melody.
The dancehall influence is more obvious in One Dance as Drake, who became prominent as a rapper, sings in a Jamaican patois and also incorporates Afrobeat, with an appearance by Nigerian pop singer WizKid.
One Dance rose to the top of Spotify’s all-time list in October 2016, despite Drake’s close association with rival streaming service Apple Music.
Two months later, One Dance became the first song to hit one billion streams on Spotify, a feat since matched by three other tracks.
