Streaming Masters – Black Sabbath

The first album of the legendary heavy metal band Black Sabbath was released 50 years ago. Are they forgotten now? Or is their music still listened to nowadays?

Black Sabbath 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

Black Sabbath streaming review – the results

Total: 1,427,794 EAS

Black Sabbath most streamed tracks (EAS)

1. Paranoid [Paranoid] – 348,000
2. Iron Man [Paranoid] – 212,000
3. War Pigs [Paranoid] – 121,000
4. Children of the Grave [Master of Reality] – 57,000
5. Heaven and Hell [Heaven and Hell] – 54,000
6. N.I.B. [Black Sabbath] – 51,000
7. Changes [Vol. 4] – 34,000
8. Planet Caravan [Paranoid] – 33,000
9. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath [Sabbath Bloody Sabbath] – 27,000
10. Sweet Leaf [Master of Reality] – 26,000
11. Black Sabbath [Black Sabbath] – 22,000
12. Fairies Wear Boots [Paranoid] – 19,000
13. God Is Dead? [13] – 17,000
14. The Wizard [Black Sabbath] – 17,000
15. Electric Funeral [Paranoid] – 15,000
16. Into the Void [Master of Reality] – 15,000
17. Snowblind [Vol. 4] – 15,000
18. Neon Knights [Heaven and Hell] – 11,000
19. Behind the Wall of Sleep [Black Sabbath] – 11,000
20. Hand of Doom [Paranoid] – 11,000

Sources: Spotify, YouTube, AWA (app), Xiami, Genie.