Streaming Masters – Rihanna
She was undoubtedly the queen of download era. Does Rihanna dominate the streaming world just as much? Or is she down to more common numbers today now that she is well over a decade into her career?
Rihanna 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 * 2.20 (consistent with Gaon streaming numbers)
– Japan: AWA streams * 68 / 4 (AWA has 4% of the Japanese streaming market, and 32% are already considered through Spotify’s extrapolation)
– Arabic world: Anghami streams
– Sub-Saharan Africa: Boomplay + Audiomack streams
– Elsewhere: Spotify streams * 649 / 406 (649 million subscribers of global platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, etc. against 406 million from Spotify itself) + Genie streams * 2.20 (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 increased by 10% to account for various local platforms
*since Chinese streaming platforms are mostly video streaming platforms, their streams are weighted on par with YouTube streams.
Audio Stream value – 1,500 plays equal 1 album unit
Video Stream value – 6,750 views equal 1 album unit
Equivalent Albums Sales (EAS) = ( Spotify * 649/406 + Genie * 2.20 * 2 + AWA * 68 / 4 + Anghami + Boomplay + Audiomack ) / 1500 + ( QQ views* 50(or 5) + YouTube * 1.1 ) / 6750
Please be aware that when the artist is regarded as the lead act, he is rewarded with 100% of these units, while featured acts share among them a 50% piece of the totals.
Rihanna streaming review – the results
Total: 27,503,719 EAS
Rihanna most streamed tracks (EAS)
1. This Is What You Came For [Features] – 1,809,000
2. Work [Anti] – 1,494,000
3. Diamonds [Unapologetic] – 1,261,000
4. Needed Me [Anti] – 1,082,000
5. We Found Love [Talk That Talk] – 1,027,000
6. Love on the Brain [Anti] – 998,000
7. Umbrella [Good Girl Gone Bad] – 955,000
8. FourFiveSeconds [Orphan] – 938,000
9. Stay [Unapologetic] – 926,000
10. Bitch Better Have My Money [Orphan] – 737,000
11. Love The Way You Lie [Features] – 651,000
12. Take A Bow [Good Girl Gone Bad] – 643,000
13. Only Girl (In the World) [Loud] – 595,000
14. Don’t Stop the Music [Good Girl Gone Bad] – 568,000
15. S&M [Loud] – 552,000
16. Where Have You Been [Talk That Talk] – 459,000
17. Too Good [Features] – 458,000
18. The Monster [Features] – 450,000
19. Pon de Replay [Music of the Sun] – 446,000
20. What’s My Name? [Loud] – 444,000
Sources: Spotify, YouTube, AWA (app), QQ, Genie, Anghami, Audiomack, Boomplay.
You may be interested in…
… Rihanna’s full CSPC analysis