Drake appears on track to create a brand-new record for streaming with his latest album’s release.
On Friday (June 29), Drake dropped his newest studio album, Scorpion. Now, the 25-track album is on pace to possibly become the first album to receive one billion streams in a week’s time.
The ‘double-album’ opus features hits like “God’s Plan” and “Nice for What,” though plenty of other tracks entered heavy rotation over the weekend. The album features a few guest stars, most notably Jay-Z and the late Michael Jackson.
It also confirms previous rumors that the rap star has a son, and takes some shots at his rivals.
Since release, the new album crossed 170 million streams in just the first 24 hours on Apple Music, smashing his previous record of 89.9 million streams in a day for More Life. The new album also set a brand new single-day streaming record on the Spotify platform.
Spotify’s public charts indicated that it had over 132 million streams within the first day. The tally could be greater once the results are officially determined.
Spotify tried its best to defeat Apple Music when it came to streaming Drake’s new album. As part of a “global artist takeover” promotion, the album was placed on about 30 of the platform’s biggest playlists. That helped generate 10 million streams per hour, though that wasn’t enough to outdo Apple.
Indeed, Apple Music is now proving to have far more potency, at least in the rap world.
Despite having 120 million fewer users than Spotify, Apple Music accrued 50 million more plays in the first 24 hours.
The previous record-holder is a recent memory. Post Malone’s Beerbongs & Bentleys had 78.7 million first-day streams on Spotify this past April to set a record. However, Drake’s 132 million streams for Scorpion easily took that record down just a few months later. Both albums are among the biggest smashes of 2018, though Drake’s smash is proving far bigger.
Already, Drake’s album has two singles which have already gone platinum several times over. “God’s Plan” is 8x platinum and “Nice for What” is 3x platinum…. and counting.
Of course, records are made to be broken. But Drake has clearly mastered the art of “streamable” music — and could hold onto this accolade for a long time.