For rapper Drake, 2018 has been a significant year in the streaming space. Most recently, his new album Scorpion became the first album ever to be streamed 1 billion times in just one week, and broke the number-of-streams-in-a-day records for both Apple Music and Spotify, per Engadget. He also set a record on Twitch when he joined gamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins for a Fornite session that ended up being the most-viewed non-tournament Twitch stream of all time.
Now, Drake hss reached yet another streaming milestone: He’s the first music artist to hit 50 billion streams. The number counts every stream of Drake’s songs around the world and across all streaming platforms. And it’s a timely accomplishment, Engadget reports, given that Billboard just started to factor paid streams more heavily into its chart rankings.
While it’s tough to independently verify Drake’s number of streams, Forbes points out that Apple Music has pegged Drake’s lifetime streams at 10 billion, and his Spotify tally is reportedly around 13 billion.
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Between music streaming services and his adventures on Twitch, the rapper has proven that he’s a magnet for listeners and viewers. The question is whether Drake or his record label, Universal Music Group, will build a strategy around the streaming space for future endeavors.
