Drake's massive 2016 hit song "One Dance" has just become the first song ever to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify, the world's most popular music streaming service. The track and the album from which it originates, Views, have won Drake a slew of illustrious music honors for streaming this year.
Drake And "One Dance" Rule 2016 Streaming Charts
The achievement is all the more impressive in that "One Dance" was only just released this past April, meaning that it hit the 1 billion stream mark in just over eight months. By far the biggest hit of Drake's career, "One Dance" has hit number 1 on the charts of 15 different countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States, where it was Drake's first number 1 song as a main artist. Drake's 2015 hit "Hotline Bling" stalled at second place on the pop charts.
Drake had already been racking up the accomplishments at Spotify, as the release of the Views album soon won him the title of most streamed Spotify artist ever, overtaking previous champ Justin Bieber. Then, in October, "One Dance" won the title of most streamed song ever on Spotify, surpassing the number of listens for the previous champ, "Lean On" by Major Lazer. The song also topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts for ten weeks earlier in 2016 and was named the Song of the Summer by the music industry bible.
Drake has received eight nominations for the upcoming Grammy Awards, and Views just hit the quadruple platinum mark, certifying that the song has sold 4 million units in the U.S., where 1,500 streams are considered equal to one unit.
"One Dance" Is U.S. And Global Phenomenon
When asked why he believes "One Dance" has managed to amass so many streams in such a short time span, Spotify's global head of creator services Troy Carter explained it had a lot to do with the universal sounds and themes captured by the song.
"It's a phenomenal record, that's where it starts," said Carter. "It's just one of those rare records that translates throughout the world. Drake's always been great at really capturing hip-hop and pop sensibilities, but to be able to do that globally with a record like this is just amazing."
A look at the current U.S. Spotify streaming charts shows that Drake isn't resting on his laurels. The singer is back in the number 1 spot with his recent release "Fake Love," while "One Dance" continues to rack up streams in the number 26 position.
