The Weeknd ends Drake's reign as Spotify king

The Weeknd has ended Drake's long reign as king of Spotify, with the singer topping the rapper in monthly listeners on the world's leading streaming service.

The Weeknd, whose new album "Starboy" came out November 25, had close to 37.5 million listeners in November -- more than one third of all Spotify users.

He edged out Drake -- a fellow Torontonian who supported The Weeknd early in his career -- who had just under 36 million monthly listeners.

Spotify, releasing data late Saturday, also confirmed that "Starboy" broke the record for streams in its first week, with listeners playing it 223 million times.

"Starboy," released just one year after The Weeknd's breakthrough album "Beauty Behind the Madness," is a sprawling work of R&B and electronica on which the singer collaborates with elusive French duo Daft Punk.

Drake had been the biggest artist in terms of monthly listeners since May after the rapper released his long-awaited album "Views," featuring viral hits such as "One Dance" and "Hotline Bling."

Spotify, in earlier figures for 2016 so far, said that Drake was the most streamed artist for a second straight year -- a ranking which does not change.

Drake's success on Spotify comes even though he has a close relationship with rival Apple, through which he released "Views" exclusively for its first week.