Ed Sheeran tops Spotify's list of young artists

Ed Sheeran has topped Spotify’s list of the top 25 most influential artists under the age of 25 as the company’s most streamed artist of 2014.

Ariana Grande, Sam Smith, Miley Cyrus and One Direction rounded out the top five young artists on the list released by the music streaming service.

The list is based on total streams, but also on Number 1 hits, volume and growth of streams over the past year and Spotify’s viral chart.

Sheeran, 24, also has Spotify’s most streamed song ever with Thinking Out Loud, streamed 450 million times.

Pop music dominated with artists such as Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Meghan Trainor and Justin Bieber.

New electronic and hip-hop artists such as Disclosure, Rae Sremmurd and Charlie Puth also made the cut.