Last week’s BRIT Awards saw its YouTube live stream watched by 1.7 million viewers, up 60 per cent on last year’s ceremony, with more than 15 million views accumulated after 48 hours.
Hosted at the O2 in London with 4,000 audience members in attendance - no masks were required inside and all attendees underwent Covid tests prior to entry - the 2021 BRITs achieved record breaking engagement across digital platforms.
Twitter peaked at 20,000 tweets per minute during the show, while over 11 million views of show day content were registered on TikTok. Meanwhile, record event day engagement was seen on Instagram, with two million likes of content on the platform, marking a 125 per cent year-on-year increase.
In addition, the BRITs Red Carpet Live Show scored over 800,000 views on Twitter, TikTok and YouTube – the first time it has been broadcast on multiple platforms.
Overall, 250,000 new flowered were picked up across all BRITs channels on the day of the show.
Broadcast on ITV and ITV Hub in the UK on May 11 and hosted by Jack Whitehall, the 2021 BRIT Awards featured exclusive performances from Arlo Parks, Coldplay, Dua Lipa, Elton John and Years & Years, Griff, Headie One, Olivia Rodrigo, Rag’n’Bone Man & P!nk with the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust Choir and The Weeknd. Of the 4,000 audience, 2,500 were key workers and their guests, with their tickets gifted by the BRITs.
Official Digital Music Partner for the BRITs 2021, Amazon Music, reported a significant spike in streams for the night's award winners in the 24 hours following the show. International Group award winners, HAIM, saw a leap of 158 per cent following their win.
The streaming service also saw a 105 per cent increase in streams for Breakthrough Artist winner, Arlo Parks, who was also named at Amazon Music’s Breakthrough act in 2020.
Elsewhere, Amazon’s Alexa saw voice requests for BRITs Rising Star winner Griff soar 230 per cent following her reimagined performance of Black Hole, which is now available to listen to and view exclusively in the Amazon Music app.
Based on just two days consumption and with further increases expected, overall uplift across winners and performer physical and digital (all platform) album sales was +15.6 per cent, while streams across tracks by performers increased by 18.7 per cent. Arlo Parks and The Weeknd were the main beneficiaries with Arlo Parks’ album Collapsed in Sunbeams seeing a 93 per cent sales increase, and The Weeknd’s After Hours album increasing sales by 41 per cent.
Geoff Taylor, chief executive, BPI and BRIT Awards, commented: “The significant increases in digital engagement across all BRITs channels confirm that the performances in front of invited key workers, and the live excitement of the night, really connected with the public. We are delighted at the success of this year’s digital campaign.”
Kate Wyn Jones, business development director at EMI Records, also said: “Our ambition for this year was one of inclusion, bringing audiences along with us on the road to The BRITs, most significantly, through the eyes of nominees and performers. Artists’ content played a pivotal role in building anticipation from nominations to show across their own social communities. This year’s results are a testament to the combined efforts of the BRITS digital committee, Remedy Inc and Somethin Else that resulted in some truly memorable moments ahead of the show. The extensive coverage captured on the day, culminated in a comprehensive cross platform activation, offering audiences unique access to the day’s proceedings and more opportunities than ever to engage with artists and feel part of the show!”
Giuseppe De Cristofano, BPI director of digital, added: “I am delighted with the social results from this year’s campaign. Despite a challenging on-site set-up, the Somethin’ Else team were able to provide our passionate audience with unprecedented real-time coverage. We have seen remarkable year-on-year growth in engagement, views and artist engagement with the BRITs. The success of our Red Carpet Show on all platforms coupled with the strong performance of our international YouTube stream demonstrates the continued global digital appeal of our channels and the strength of the BRITs brand. I’d like to thank my co-chair Kate Wyn Jones for all her help in leading and shaping this year’s event.”
Photo of Dua Lipa by John Marshall/JMEnternational