Music Industry

And The Most-Streamed Song in History is Now…

What song has been streamed more than any other? Something by Drake or The Weeknd? No? Then it has to be something by Ed Sheeran. Wrong again.

No, the song that’s been streamed more than any other is “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee (with a little help from Justin Bieber who appears on the remix). This track has been played 4.6 billion times in just six months.

In the past, the idea of a Puerto Rican act–hell, any act–having this kind of global coverage in such a short period of time would have been impossible. But with the advent of streaming–Spotify, Apple Music, Google/YouTube, Amazon, Deezer, etc–music has the potential to every part of Earth very, very quickly. Spanish-speaking markets are also showing big upticks in streaming rates, so that also helped.

The breakdown goes like this:

  • 1.18 billion streams have come from Spotify
  • 3.08 billion views have come from YouTube
  • The rest (about 7%) can be attributed to all the other services.

I wonder how much money Fonsi and Daddy Yankee have made from these streams? It’s really hard to speculate because of the different payouts from the different services in different territories.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39367 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

One thought on “And The Most-Streamed Song in History is Now…

  • Doesn’t surprise me. So popular! Sorry, what’s this song and who does it again? Never heard it and doubt I ever will. Not loosing sleep over it either.

    Reply

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