Taylor Swift crowned most powerful person in pop

Taylor Swift has beaten off competition from Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Rihanna and Ariana Grande to top this year’s The Pop Powerlist for 4Music. 

The ‘Blank Space’ hitmaker has taken home the title – which is decided by a panel of industry experts – thanks to her 55 million followers on Twitter, number one album ‘1989’ and estimated £88 million fortune.

The Powerlist takes into consideration everything from critics opinions to airplay, with previous winners including Adele, Rihanna and Beyonce.

The blonde beauty’s close friend Ed took the second spot, with Sam Smith, Rihanna and Ariana Grande, taking the third, fourth and fifth spots respectively.

Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Beyonce, One Direction and Meghan Trainor make up the top ten.

Matt Rennie, Managing Director at The Box Plus Network, said: “The 2015 Pop Powerlist is conquered by female pop icons this year, with Beyoncé, Rihanna and Katy Perry joining Swift in the top ten.

“It’s great to see British artists like Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith taking the hot spots, proving the rise in popularity of our home grown talent.”

The announcement follows Taylor’s recent success at the iHeart Radio Music Awards on Sunday (29.03.15), where she took home the Artist of the Year title, Best Lyrics Award for her hit single ‘Blank Space’ and the Best Song gong for ‘Shake It Off’.

The Pop Powerlist for 4Music 2015 Top 10:

1. Taylor Swift

2. Ed Sheeran

3. Sam Smith

4. Rihanna

5. Ariana Grande

6. Katy Perry

7. Maroon 5

8. Beyonce

9. One Direction

10. Meghan Trainor