Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter and Alex Warren are keeping the momentum, but the race for the top still has its own measure
Taylor Swift remains the reference point of the global pop industry, but in recent months it has become increasingly clear that several big names are seriously breathing down her neck when it comes to the combination of nominations, reach and market momentum. Among them, Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter and Alex Warren stand out in particular, three performers who come from different musical and career contexts, but are connected by the same thing: the ability to be relevant at the same time on streaming services, on the radio airwaves, on social media and during awards season.
That combination now determines who truly leads the conversation in the industry. Popularity alone is no longer enough, just as having one big song or one viral moment is no longer enough either. At the top remain those who can connect audiences, platforms, live performances and professional recognition. That is precisely why, in recent months, there has been increasingly frequent talk of a new balance of power in which Taylor Swift remains the strongest standard, but is no longer the only story dominating the conversation about global pop reach.
Taylor Swift remains the benchmark, but the race has become tighter
To understand why so much is being said about the momentum of Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter and Alex Warren, it is first necessary to look at where Taylor Swift stands today. On February 18, 2026, IFPI confirmed her as officially the biggest global female artist by sales and total music consumption in 2025, for the sixth time in her career and the fourth consecutively. This is one of the most important global industry recognitions because IFPI takes into account streaming, physical releases and digital sales on a worldwide level.
Such a result means that Swift still holds the top spot when looking at the total commercial strength of her catalogue and new releases. But the same IFPI overview also shows that the space behind her is exceptionally dynamic. Bad Bunny is fifth on that chart and Sabrina Carpenter eighth, confirming that behind the strongest name there is a group of performers who are no longer just the audience's current favourites, but stable global players. Alex Warren is not yet at the same level of overall catalogue volume, but in terms of singles breakthrough, radio reach and visibility among new names, he has become one of the most important indicators of where the broader audience is moving.
This is exactly where what the industry likes most comes into being: a race in which results are not measured by just one parameter. Awards give institutional weight, streaming confirms everyday presence in listening habits, radio expands reach to audiences who do not live exclusively on social media, and social networks turn songs into cultural events. When all of that comes together, a performer is no longer just popular, but becomes the central figure of the moment.
Bad Bunny continues to confirm that Latin sound is a global centre, not the edge of the market
If there is an artist who most powerfully shows how the global music centre has permanently expanded beyond anglophone pop in recent years, it is Bad Bunny. His album
DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS brought him Album of the Year at the Latin Grammys in November 2025, followed by a win in the Album of the Year category at the Grammys on February 1, 2026. Such a sequence of recognitions is important for several reasons. First, it confirms that his success is no longer seen only as immense popularity within the Latin market. Second, it shows that the Spanish language long ago ceased to be an obstacle to the top of the global mainstream.
His strength is not only symbolic. Spotify's Wrapped for 2025 showed that Bad Bunny was the most streamed artist globally that year, for the fourth time, with 19.8 billion streams, while the same project was also marked as the most streamed album globally of the year. This is an exceptionally important signal because it shows that this is not just about awards season or a media wave, but about real, everyday listening on a massive scale. When one artist simultaneously dominates streaming, wins the biggest recognitions and remains present in social media conversation, then it is possible to speak of full industrial momentum.
Supporting that is also the fact that Bad Bunny appears in the nominations for the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards in the Artist of the Year category, while the song
BAILE INoLVIDABLE has been included among the candidates in the socially voted categories for lyrics and video. It is important to note the broader meaning of such nominations as well. iHeart does not track only prestige, but also real presence in radio and digital space throughout the year. When an artist appears both in general categories and in those strongly driven by fan communities, that means both the industry and the audience are carrying him at the same time.
Bad Bunny's rise therefore can no longer be reduced to a story of a "crossover" phenomenon. He is not a guest at the global summit, but one of those who define that summit. His example shows that Latin sound today is one of the main axes of world popular music, not an addition to the dominant Anglo-American model. Precisely in that lies the biggest change of recent years: the centre of the market is no longer monolingual or culturally narrowly set.
Sabrina Carpenter is moving from star status to the status of a lasting pop force
For Sabrina Carpenter, the past year may have been the most important precisely because it showed that her success was not a fleeting peak after one album or several viral singles. The Recording Academy confirmed that at the 2026 Grammys she had six nominations, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for
Manchild and Album of the Year for
Man's Best Friend. In addition, she was also announced as a performer at the ceremony itself, which is a further indication of the position she is in: she is not only nominated, but also one of the key figures of the evening.
Such a combination says a great deal about her current status. Sabrina Carpenter is no longer viewed only as a performer who knows how to deliver a hit, but as an author and pop persona around whom a complete cycle is built: single, album, tour, television appearance, viral clips and continuous media presence. Her song
Manchild further confirmed that range when it finished at the top of the Official Singles Chart in the United Kingdom, and iHeart included her among the candidates for Song of the Year and Pop Song of the Year, while Carpenter herself was also nominated for Artist of the Year and Pop Artist of the Year.
In industrial terms, it is especially important that Sabrina functions simultaneously on several audience levels. She has a strong enough base to fill major tours and trigger fan behaviour patterns on social media, but also broad enough reach to remain strongly present in the main pop categories. In other words, she is not confined to the niche of an intensely online audience, but is moving into the space of general pop recognisability. That is the key difference between a star of the moment and a performer who lasts.
Her position is further confirmed by the IFPI global overview, in which she holds eighth place among the biggest world artists of 2025. That may not be a direct strike at Taylor Swift's first place, but it is proof that Carpenter is no longer just "a rising name". She is already part of the highest commercial tier. In practice, that means that every new single or public appearance no longer comes from the position of a challenger just entering the top, but from the position of a performer who is expected to shape the season.
Alex Warren is no longer just a new face, but proof of how quickly the top of pop is changing
While Bad Bunny and Sabrina Carpenter are already deeply integrated into the strongest part of the industry, Alex Warren perhaps represents the most interesting case of the speed with which the hierarchy of popular music can change today. The Recording Academy included him among the nominees for Best New Artist at the 2026 Grammys, and his profile on the official Grammy website confirms that he reached that point with the project
You'll Be Alright, Kid. At the same time, he is nominated at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards for Song of the Year and Pop Song of the Year with the song
Ordinary, as well as for Pop Artist of the Year and Best New Artist in the pop category.
These are not secondary nominations. They show that Warren, in a short period of time, entered the space where the industry does not treat him only as an internet phenomenon or a one-hit performer. NPR's report from June 2025 recorded that
Ordinary reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, which was a turning point in his breakthrough to the wider audience. Forbes later also stated that the song spent a full 52 weeks on the Hot 100 chart, which shows rarely seen staying power for a performer who is still building a long-term catalogue.
That staying power is precisely what matters for understanding his momentum. In today's industry, virality alone is no longer enough. A song must survive the initial wave, move to radio, remain on playlists, enter the broader public and continue to live beyond the first wave of internet attention. Warren achieved exactly that with
Ordinary. His case clearly shows how the boundary between internet recognisability and full mainstream is crossed faster today than before, but still only when a song withstands the test of time.
That is why Alex Warren in this story is not a random addition alongside bigger names. He is a symptom of the change in the model according to which popularity is produced and maintained today. If Bad Bunny is proof of the global cultural centrality of Latin sound, and Sabrina Carpenter an example of consolidated pop expansion, Alex Warren is an example of how quickly a new name can enter among the most followed figures when he has a song that breaks through platform boundaries.
When awards, social media and streaming come together, a new form of power emerges
The main thread connecting Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter and Alex Warren is not only that they are present in nominations or that they are doing well on the charts. What connects them is the fact that in each of their cases there is a circular effect between several key mechanisms. Nominations bring legitimacy and additional media space. Social media turn performances, statements, fashion moments and lyrics into content that is shared far beyond the core of fans. Streaming confirms that attention is neither short-lived nor artificially inflated. Radio, where present, gives breadth toward audiences who do not necessarily participate in every online trend.
Because of that, the concept of "momentum" today must also be read more broadly than before. It is not enough for an artist to have a good year. The question is whether they can turn one good year into a structure that renews itself: a new nomination boosts listening, increased listening raises negotiating and promotional value, that brings bigger performances and an even stronger social echo, and then a new round of recognition. In that mechanism, these three names are currently situated very clearly.
That is why it is not accidental that they are spoken about together, even though they do not come from the same genre or the same phase of their careers. Bad Bunny represents an artist who has already turned cultural influence into a global standard. Sabrina Carpenter shows how a contemporary pop star is built beyond one hit, through an entire ecosystem of presence. Alex Warren, meanwhile, shows that audiences still want new faces, but only when behind them there is a song that can withstand a collision with the biggest names.
While Taylor Swift still remains the strongest measuring unit of total reach, the latest data clearly show that the space below the top is no longer static. Bad Bunny firmly holds the global power of Latin sound, Sabrina Carpenter is turning her rise into a lasting position, and Alex Warren is moving from the circle of new names into the conversation about the most important artists for the broader audience. At a time when the music industry is increasingly divided less into "mainstream" and "alternative", and more into those who know how to hold attention across several platforms at once, it is precisely through them that one can see where the next phase of pop is headed.
Sources:- IFPI – official announcement on the global artists chart for 2025, including Taylor Swift's first place and the rankings of Bad Bunny and Sabrina Carpenter (link)
- GRAMMY.com – official announcement of Sabrina Carpenter's six nominations for the 2026 Grammys and her performance at the ceremony (link)
- GRAMMY.com – official artist page for Alex Warren confirming his Best New Artist nomination at the 2026 Grammys (link)
- GRAMMY.com – overview of the nominees for Song of the Year at the 2026 Grammys, including Bad Bunny and Sabrina Carpenter (link)
- GRAMMY.com – official announcement of Bad Bunny's win for Album of the Year at the 2025 Latin Grammys with the album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (link)
- GRAMMY.com – official record of Bad Bunny's Album of the Year win at the 2026 Grammys (link)
- Spotify Newsroom – Wrapped 2025 data according to which Bad Bunny was the most streamed artist globally of the year, and his album the most streamed album globally (link)
- iHeart – full list of nominations for the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards, including Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, Alex Warren and Taylor Swift (link)
- NPR/VPM – report that Alex Warren's song Ordinary reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 2025 (link)
- Forbes – overview of the run of Alex Warren's song Ordinary on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including 52 weeks on the chart (link)
- Official Charts – report on Sabrina Carpenter's song Manchild returning to number one on the UK singles chart in June 2025 (link)
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