Alka Yagnik beats BTS, Taylor Swift and Blackpink to become most streamed artist on YouTube

Alka Yagnik, became the most watched artist on YouTube globally last year, with 15.3 billion YouTube streams in 2022, and an average of 42 million per day. According to Liberty Games research, Alka was the most watched artist on YouTube in 2021, with 17.7 billion streams, up from 16.6 billion in 2020. The Bollywood playback singer surpassed Bad Bunny (Puerto Rico), who earned 14.7 billion streams, as well as Taylor Swift, Blackpink, and BTS, among others. 

South Korean superstars BTS received 7.95 billion streams and ranked sixth, while BLACKPINK received 7.29 billion streams and ranked eighth. Taylor Swift was ranked 26th with 4.33 billion streams, Drake was ranked 50th with 2.9 billion, and The Weeknd was ranked 13th with 5.7 billion. Udit Narayan is ranked third with 10.6 billion global YouTube listens, while Arijit Singh is ranked fourth with 10.2 billion streams. Kumar Sanu was the fifth most popular music artist in terms of YouTube play counts, just ahead of K-pop sensation BTS. Bhojpuri singer Khesari Lal Yadav came in seventh place, following BTS. Late playback singer Lata Mangeshkar, known as the "Nightingale of India," was ninth on the list, with Shilpi Raj rounding out the top ten. According to ChartMasters, nearly 25% of YouTube users are from India. She has recorded over 20,000 songs for albums and films during her four-decade career. The BBC's list of the Top 40 Bollywood Soundtracks of All Time included the legendary singer's songs.