Come on Barbie, let’s go party.
Those words, spoken by Aqua member René Dif in the 1997 hit song “Barbie Girl,” are back in the pop cultural zeitgeist. The success of Greta Gerwig‘s Barbie movie has led to viewership spikes on several related music videos, including “Barbie Girl.”
According to data from VEVO, the “Barbie Girl” music video tripled its average day-to-day viewership in the week after Barbie‘s theatrical release. The video, which joined YouTube’s billion-view club last year, was already an enduring international hit. Its sudden jump to 3x viewership — even though it did not appear on the Barbie soundtrack — shows us just how big Gerwig’s film has become.
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Barbie has received particular praise for its music supervision. The songs that did make it into the film include new tracks by artists like Lizzo, HAIM, and Charli XCX. Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice‘s “Barbie World” has collected 41 million YouTube views, while Dua Lipa‘s “Dance the Night” has reached 57 million views.
Those music videos both debuted weeks before the Barbie premiere, but more recent releases from the film’s soundtrack have made dents on the YouTube Music charts. With 16 million views in its first two weeks, Billie Eilish‘s “What Was I Made For” debuted in 69th place on the Global Top Songs ranking.
YouTube has discussed the way its multiformat approach has elevated viral tracks (such as Miley Cyrus‘ “Flowers”), and that phenomenon is playing a big role in Barbie-related music video viewerships. Viewers who come to YouTube to watch a review or a bass cover are encouraged to stick around and surf the platform’s library of official music videos.
But even as Barbiemania sweeps across the world, the film’s featured artists can’t keep up with the hottest act in global music. On the same week as the Barbie premiere, Blackpink became the first band to reach 90 million subscribers on its official YouTube account.
