Streaming Masters – Iron Maiden

More than 40 years into their career, Iron Maiden aren’t slowing down. Their last album, Senjutsu, shot to the top of charts in various countries.

Heavy metal artists tend to perform much better on physical sales than on streaming platforms though. So, how many streams have the band’s songs, old and new, amassed up to date?

Iron Maiden 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* : QQ video streams * 50 if the song is available for audio stream, QQ video streams * 5 elseway (scale built based on known figures for several major artists)– 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 on 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 + ( QQ views* 50(or 5) + YouTube ) / 11750

Iron Maiden streaming review – the results

Total: 2,819,194 EAS

Iron Maiden most streamed tracks (EAS)

1. The Trooper [Piece of Mind] – 277,000
2. Fear of the Dark [Fear of the Dark] – 256,000
3. Run to the Hills [The Number of the Beast] – 247,000
4. The Number of the Beast [The Number of the Beast] – 179,000
5. Hallowed Be Thy Name [The Number of the Beast] – 130,000
6. 2 Minutes to Midnight [Powerslave] – 105,000
7. Wasted Years [Somewhere in Time] – 99,000
8. Aces High [Powerslave] – 88,000
9. Wasting Love [Fear of the Dark] – 59,000
10. The Wicker Man [Brave New World] – 47,000
11. Blood Brothers [Brave New World] – 38,000
12. Phantom of the Opera [Iron Maiden] – 37,000
13. The Evil That Men Do [Seventh Son of a Seventh Son] – 36,000
14. Can I Play with Madness [Seventh Son of a Seventh Son] – 35,000
15. Dance of Death [Dance of Death] – 32,000
16. Flight of Icarus [Piece of Mind] – 30,000
17. Afraid to Shoot Strangers [Fear of the Dark] – 30,000
18. Iron Maiden [Iron Maiden] – 29,000
19. Speed of Light [The Book of Souls] – 29,000
20. Powerslave [Powerslave] – 27,000