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Not Taylor Swift or Karol G: Who Holds the 1 Billion Stream Record?

The success of a song is no longer about physical sales, but streams

Archivado en: The Weeknd  •  

The success of a song is no longer about physical sales, but streams, and Spotify remains the main benchmark for that. The platform has just announced that an artist has broken the tie for the most songs reaching 1 billion streams, joining the ranks of streaming billionaires alongside J Balvin, who holds the record for the most videos hitting that mark.

You might think artists like Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Karol G, or Beyoncé would be in the running for this record, but that’s not the case. The two artists who previously held the title were The Weeknd and Drake, both from Canada.

Both had 17 songs pass 1 billion streams, but now The Weeknd has pulled ahead. A track from his fourth studio album, After Hours, has become his 18th song to reach 1 billion streams.

That same album includes Blinding Lights, which is still the most-streamed song on Spotify, with nearly 4.5 billion streams. These are the songs that have passed the billion-stream mark, something most artists can only dream of adding to their résumés.

  1. ‘After Hours’
  2. ‘One of the Girls’ ft JENNIE, Lily-Rose Depp
  3. ‘Often’
  4. ‘Reminder’
  5. ‘Stargirl Interlude’ ft Lana Del Rey
  6. ‘Creepin’ ft Metro Boomin, 21 Savage
  7. ‘Heartless’
  8. ‘Die For You’
  9. ‘I Was Never There’ ft Gesaffelstein
  10. ‘Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)’
  11. ‘Call Out My Name’
  12. ‘The Hills’
  13. ‘Starboy’ ft Daft Punk
  14. ‘I Feel It Coming’
  15. ‘Can’t Feel My Face’
  16. ‘Save Your Tears’ ft Ariana Grande
  17. ‘Save Your Tears’
  18. ‘Blinding Lights’

The Canadian artist is also about to complete his album trilogy with Hurry Up Tomorrow, and its lead single, ‘Dancing in the Flames,’ is already climbing the charts in the U.S. He performed that track, along with many others, this past weekend at the iHeartRadio Music Festival.