Beyoncé breaks streaming records
‘Cowboy Carter’ sets milestones on Spotify, Amazon Music
There’s a lot of talkin’ goin’ on about “Cowboy Carter,” including news that Beyoncé’s twangy release broke multiple streaming records just days after its release.
The 32-time Grammy winner’s “Cowboy Carter” dropped late Thursday evening, but has already set numerous milestones for both Spotify and Amazon Music, the platforms shared over the weekend. Spotify announced in a Saturday Instagram post that “‘Cowboy Carter’ became Spotify’s most streamed album in a single day in 2024 so far.”
The platform added that “Cowboy Carter” became the first country album to hold the title in 2024. “Cowboy Carter” may spotlight Beyoncé’s years-long relationship to country music, but “this ain’t a Country album,” she declared before its release.
“This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album,” she wrote in an Instagram missive last month. Still, “Cowboy Carter” is prominently featured on Spotify’s country page: She covers the genre’s “Hot Country” playlist and her album is first in the “New Releases in Country” lineup.
Amazon Music also announced “Cowboy Carter” made for Beyoncé’s “biggest album debut” on the platform. The album earned Beyoncé the “most first-day global streams” of any of her albums. It also made for the “most first-day streams for a country album by a female artist.” Neither Spotify nor Amazon Music’s posts provided an exact number for the streams.
As of Monday morning, “Cowboy Carter” also brought Beyoncé to the top of Apple Music’s top songs and albums charts. Five songs from the 27-track album dominate the first five “Top Songs” spots, while the album sits at No. 1 on “Top Albums.”
Since its release, “Cowboy Carter” received praise from social media fans and the singer’s music industry peers and collaborators, including Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus.
Parton shared her thoughts about Beyoncé’s cover of Parton’s song “Jolene” on the new album.
“Wow, I just heard Jolene. Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it,” Parton wrote.
There had been pushback after Beyoncé signalled her move into country music by dropping two songs on Super Bowl Sunday, “Texas Hold ’Em” and “16 Carriages.”
While some fans applauded the move, there was resistance from other country music fans and the music industry as a whole, with many radio stations refusing to play the two songs. Yet “Texas Hold ’Em” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 country charts.
This isn’t the first time Dolly has praised Beyoncé.
On Instagram, Parton wrote, “I’m a big fan of Beyoncé and very excited that she’s done a country album.… Can’t wait to hear the full album!”
Dolly’s statement about “Jolene” was met with mixed feelings.
“If you are disagreeing with … checks notes, Dolly Parton, on what is country … maybe be more like Dolly,” one commenter wrote; others said they think “country music should sound like country music.”