Ed Sheeran has notched yet another streaming record, surpassing a staggering 69 million monthly Spotify listeners, and is on course to hit 70 million. Sheeran has seen a spike in Spotify ‘Sheerios’ – as his fans are known – with the July 12th release of his album ‘No. 6 Collaborations Project’.
On 800 Official Spotify Playlists
The latest album leans more towards one of Spotify’s top overall categories – R&B/hip-hop and included collaborations with Justin Bieber, Stormzy, Eminem, 50 Cent, Camila Cabello, Chance The Rapper, Travis Scott, Cardi B and Khalid. In part because of these collaborations, Sheeran was placed on 800 official Spotify playlists.
Sheeran has broken other Spotify records. The release of Divide (styled ÷) set a new high for first-day streams for an album (56M+ streams) and ‘Shape of You’ set the record for best single-day streams for a track at the time of release (10M+ streams).
On the first day of release, songs from ‘No.6 Collaborations Project’ claimed five of the Top 10 tracks worldwide on Spotify. The biggest track from the album, the previously released ‘I Don’t Care’ (with Justin Bieber) was Spotify’s second-biggest song worldwide on its release day.
A Global Promo Powerhouse
“Ed Sheeran is an undisputed international superstar, so it’s really no surprise he and the Atlantic UK team are enjoying such success,” said Sulinna Ong, UK Head of Artist & Label Services and Acting Head of Music Culture & Editorial at Spotify. “He and his team were eager to leverage Spotify’s discovery capabilities to reach fans across our nearly 80 markets around the world and make No. 6 Collaborations Project even more of a global sensation. From prominent out-of-home advertising and exclusive listening parties across key markets, to a custom playlist featuring in-depth track-by-track interviews, this was a holistic campaign that was thought through at every angle.”
“Ed and his team deserve every bit of the credit they’ve earned, and given the very strong early indications, we’re excited to see how the album continues to resonate with listeners throughout the summer and beyond.”