DRAKE SMASHES STREAMING RECORD WITH NEW ALBUM
NEW YORK— Drake has smashed streaming records with his new album, “Scorpion,” with Apple Music and Spotify both reporting unprecedented listenership on its first day.
Apple Music said on Instagram that the Canadian hip-hop superstar’s fifth studio album was streamed 170 million times in the 24 hours since its release on Friday.
The worldwide figure is the highest ever reported by any streaming service for an album over one day and comes even though Apple Music significantly trails industry leader Spotify in total users.
The album inexplicably appeared two hours late on Spotify. But “Scorpion” also set a record after Spotify heavily featured the album.
The site Spotify charts, which tracks listening data, said that users streamed the album’s 25 songs more than 132 million times over the first day.
“Scorpion” features a posthumous duet with Michael Jackson, a collaboration with rap great Jay-Z and Drake’s admission he secretly had a son with Sophie Brussaux, a French actress in pornographic films.