Streaming Masters – The Police
In spite of a very short career and a mere five studio albums, The Police are responsible of many hits such as Roxanne, Message in a Bottle and Every Breath You Take.
Are these classics and their remaining songs still well listened to on streaming platforms?
The Police streaming review – the method
Streaming is made up of audio and video streams. Our CSPC methodology now includes both to better reflect the real popularity of each track. The main source of data for each avenue is respectively Spotify and YouTube.
To factor in the growing impact of multiple Asian countries where these platforms aren’t always the go-to site for music streaming, more sources have been added.
In order to account for their real popularity in each relevant country, the below sources have been used along with the mentioned ratios that reflect the market share of each area.
Audio Streams
– South Korea : Genie streams * 3.05 (consistent with Gaon streaming numbers)
– Japan : AWA streams * 100/5.5 (AWA has 5.5% of the Japanese streaming market)
– Elsewhere : Spotify streams * (370 – 8.5 – 9.5 – 33 – 9) / 207 (370 million global subscribers minus 8.5 million from South Korea minus 9.5 million from Japan minus 33 million from China divided by the number of Spotify only users minus 9 million more Asian users) + Genie streams * 3.05 (uses Genie rather than Spotify to extrapolate markets like Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam)
Video Streams
– China* : Xiami streams * 125/6.5 (Xiami has just over 5% of the Chinese streaming market)
– Elsewhere : Youtube views
*since 96.4% of Chinese streaming platforms are free users, that paid-for users pay less than $2 a month and that they are also used as video streaming platforms, their streams are weighted in par with YouTube streams.
Audio Stream value – 1500 plays equal 1 album unit
Video Stream value – 11,750 views equal 1 album unit
Equivalent Albums Sales (EAS) = ( Spotify * 310/207 + Genie * 3.05*2 + AWA * 100/5.5 ) / 1500 + ( Xiami * 125/6.5 + YouTube ) / 11750
The Police streaming review – the results
Total: 1,962,362 EAS
The Police most streamed tracks (EAS)
1. Every Breath You Take [Synchronicity] – 793,000
2. Roxanne [Outlandos d’Amour] – 280,000
3. Message in a Bottle [Reggatta de Blanc] – 204,000
4. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic [Ghost in the Machine] – 138,000
5. So Lonely [Outlandos d’Amour] – 73,000
6. Don’t Stand So Close to Me [Zenyatta Mondatta] – 67,000
7. Walking on the Moon [Reggatta de Blanc] – 66,000
8. Can’t Stand Losing You [Outlandos d’Amour] – 41,000
9. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da [Zenyatta Mondatta] – 37,000
10. King of Pain [Synchronicity] – 30,000
11. Wrapped Around Your Finger [Synchronicity] – 21,000
12. Synchronicity II [Synchronicity] – 17,000
13. Spirits in the Material World [Ghost in the Machine] – 15,000
14. Bring on the Night [Reggatta de Blanc] – 13,000
15. Next to You [Outlandos d’Amour] – 11,000
16. Driven to Tears [Zenyatta Mondatta] – 10,000
17. Invisible Sun [Ghost in the Machine] – 10,000
18. The Bed’s Too Big Without You [Reggatta de Blanc] – 9,000
19. Synchronicity I [Synchronicity] – 7,000
20. Canary in a Coalmine [Zenyatta Mondatta] – 7,000
Sources: Spotify, YouTube, AWA (app), Xiami, Genie.