“Baby Shark,” the children’s earworm courtesy of South Korean educational entertainment giant Pinkfong, has made YouTube history as the first video to surpass 10 billion views.
“Baby Shark Dance” was first released in June 2016, surpassing previous leader “Despacito” in Nov. 2020, and crossing 10 billion views today – which Pinkfong notes is a greater sum than the entire human population.
The song spawned a viral dance challenge, the #BabySharkChallenge, which sees creators mimicking the moves from the music video, and remained on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for 20 weeks. It is certified RIAA Diamond, meaning it has sold more than 10 million units. The Baby Shark universe also includes an animated show on Nickelodeon titled Baby Shark’s Big Show (season two has been greenlit and an accompanying feature film is in development), merch, tours, games, and NFTs.
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The Baby Shark milestone arrives as Pinkfong broke another record earlier this week – receiving its third Diamond Creator Award after its Spanish-language YouTube channel surpassed 10 million subscribers on Jan. 10. All told, Pinkfong says its YouTube channels have 90 million subscribers and 50 billion lifetime views.
After “Baby Shark” (below), the most-viewed videos on YouTube are “Despacito” (7.7 billion), another children’s music video titled “Johny Johny Yes Papa” (6.1 billion), “Shape Of You” (5.6 billion), and “See You Again” (5.4 billion).
