Drake, Ed Sheeran, Game of Thrones, top Apple Music’s 2017 editorial picks

Apple Music’s 2017 editorial picks – made up of data across the App Store, Apple Music, iTunes, iBooks and Apple Podcasts – was an interesting indications of the trends of 2017 in music, apps, movies, TV shows, books and podcasts.

Drake’s More Life was announced as the streaming service’s Top Music Album of 2017, and Ed Sheeran ’Shape of You’ Top Song.

Although it was just out last month, Taylor Swift’s Reputation was the #1 album for the year in the United States.

Of those given a global boost by Apple through its Up Next initiative, Khalid, Daniel Caesar and 6LACK went on to gain Grammy nominations.

Moana may have been released last year but the continued success of its soundtrack saw it rate Top Movie of the Year.

It was followed by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Wonder Woman.

Drama seemed to be the genre of choice in terms of television choices.

Of iTunes TV, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead led the list, followed by new series’Big Little Lies, This Is Us, Victoria and The Americans.

Of apps, four trends were identified through 2017.

These were the introduction of AR (augmented reality) apps and games, the rise of real-time competitive gaming, apps focused on mental health and mindfulness, and apps transforming storytelling and reading.

The iPhone App of the Year went to the health and fitness appCalm while the iPad win was for Affinity Photo.

iPhone’s Game of the Year was Splitter Critters while iPad Game of the Year was assigned to open-ended exploratory puzzler The Witness.

Fresh Air remained the most downloaded podcast of the year.

Daily news proved a popular genre, with new podcasts this year like The Daily from the New York Times and Up First from NPR charted in the most downloaded podcasts of the year.

True crime continues to drive listenership with top shows like A Murder On Orchard Street, Dirty John and S-Town.

See the full list here.