The Grammys effect: Which winners saw the biggest streaming spikes?

The Recording Academy has revealed that several of the night's winners and performers saw major spikes in sales and streams following the award ceremony. 

After Beyoncé made Grammy history at the 2023 ceremony with her 32nd win, her Best Dance/Electronic Music Album-winning Renaissance made a huge jump.

The album earned 37,000 equivalent album units, up 109%, helping the artist with the most Grammy Award wins of all time move from No. 24 to No. 11 on the Billboard 200.

The R&B superstar, who won her first Grammy in 2001 as part of Destiny’s Child, took home awards for Best Dance/Electronic Album (Renaissance), Best Dance/Electronic Recording (Break My Soul), Best Traditional R&B Performance (Plastic Off the Sofa) and Best R&B Song (Cuff It).

In winning her 32nd Grammy award, Beyoncé overtook Hungarian-British conductor George Solti, whose record of 31 Grammys had previously stood for more than 20 years.

The award that broke the record was her win for Best Dance/Electronic Album for her critically acclaimed seventh studio album, Renaissance.

Meanwhile, Album Of The Year winner Harry Styles returned to the top 10 of the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart as Harry's House – which also took home the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album – earned 38,000 equivalent album units in the U.S., a 51% gain.

His previous two albums, 2019's Fine Line and his 2017 self-titled debut also made gains, the former up 15% and the latter up 11%.

Kendrick Lamar and Adele also enjoyed increases in sales and streams on several albums.

Lamar – who won three Grammys this year, including Best Rap Album for Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers – had a 20% gain for his fifth LP, as well as a 26% gain for 2015's To Pimp a Butterfly, 11% for 2017's DAMN., and 6% for 2012's good kid, m.A.A.d city.

Adele's 30 had a 25% increase in equivalent album units, while her 2015 album 25 went up 14%, while 2011 release 21 went up 10%. 30's lead single, Easy On Me earned Adele her fifth Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance – a record in the category.

Rising jazz star Samara Joy also had a monumental night, scoring the coveted Grammy for Best New Artist. As a result, her 2022 album Linger Awhile made its debut on the Billboard 200 with an equivalent album units gain of 319% and a 5,800% increase in Spotify streams in the U.S.

The album also hit No. 1 on the Jazz Albums, Traditional Jazz Albums and Heatseekers Albums charts for the first time, as well as the top 10 of the Top Album Sales and Top Current Album Sales charts.

Blues great Bonnie Raitt's win for Song Of The Year for her 2022 track Just Like That served as one of the night's biggest surprises, but also acted as a catalyst for some serious streams and sales success.

The song spiked from about 10,000 daily on-demand streams in the U.S. on February 3 to 697,000 the day after the Grammys (February 6) – a gain of around 6,700% – according to Luminate.

The song's sales were even better, gaining more than 10,000% on February 6; the rest of Raitt's discography also climbed 161%, from 333,000 on-demand U.S. streams on February 3 to 869,000 on February 6.

Most of the 2023 Grammys performers also celebrated sales and streams increases post-telecast. Show opener Bad Bunny saw gains on his Grammy-winning album Un Verano Sin Ti (up 16%), as well as his 2020 albums YHLQMDLG (up 11%) and El Ultimo Tour del Mundo (up 8%).

One of the songs Bad Bunny performed, Un Verano Sin Ti single, Despues de la Playa, also saw a 100% increase in Spotify streams in the U.S. in the hour following the telecast.

Lizzo delivered a medley of her Record Of The Year-winning song About Damn Time and the title track from her AOTY-nominated LP Special, the latter of which saw a 260% increase in Spotify streams in the U.S. after the show. Special also moved 11,000 equivalent album units, up 52%.

Steve Lacy won his first Grammy in the Premiere Ceremony, Best Progressive R&B Album for his album Gemini Rights. He also took the Grammys stage for a rendition of his hit Bad Habit, all helping Lacy see a 16% increase in equivalent album units for Gemini Rights.

Sam Smith and Kim Petras also celebrated a historic win at the 2023 Grammys, taking home Best Pop Duo/Group performance for their viral hit Unholy – marking the first win in the category by a trans woman. That moment, combined with the pair's risqué performance, helped the song see an almost 80% increase in Spotify streams in the U.S.

The In Memoriam segment also boosted stream increases, the biggest coming from Quavo's Without U, which he sang in tribute to his late Migos bandmate and nephew Takeoff. The song jumped 890% in U.S. streams following the show.

Fleetwood Mac's Songbird, which Mick Fleetwood, Bonnie Raitt and Sheryl Crow sang in honour of late Fleetwood Mac member Christine McVie, experienced an almost 100% increase in U.S. streams.

In other US Spotify stream gains for performers, Harry Styles' As It Was saw a more than 75% increase, Brandi Carlile's Broken Horses saw a more than 2,700% increase, DJ Khaled's star-studded God Did (featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, and John Legend) saw a more than 650% increase, while Mary J. Blige's Good Morning Gorgeous saw a more than 390% increase.

Streaming numbers are from DKC News, a PR representative of Spotify.

Image credit: Mason Poole