KYGO IS THE FASTEST ARTIST TO REACH 1 BILLION STREAMS ON SPOTIFY
Spotify has announced today that Norwegian superstar and tropical house maven, Kygo, (Ultra Records / RCA Records) is the fastest artist of all time to reach one billion streams, achieving that feat in just 12 months. (As a comparison artists – such as Sam Smith and Ariana Grande – will typically take two years from the release of their debut single to reach 1 billion plays on Spotify).
Spotify previously announced, as part of its annual Year in Music announcement, that Kygo was its Breakout Artist of 2015, becoming the first Spotlight artist to reach one billion streams. The year-long Spotlight campaign has helped launch five singles, including “Firestone” which has 336m streams, and “Stole the Show” with 305m streams. Kygo has built up 50k followers to his Daylist Playlist, and 127k followers to Originals & Remixes.
Kygo is currently the 20th most-streamed artist on Spotify, and has 14 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Says Kygo, “Reaching this milestone in such a short period of time is really incredible and I’d like to say thank you to each and every person who streamed one of my songs this past year. I’m so happy people have enjoyed listening to my tracks and I can’t wait to share my album with you all early next year.”
RCA Chairman & CEO Peter Edge states, “This is an incredible achievement for a truly special artist. Kygo is a global phenomenon and Spotify has been a fantastic partner in allowing him to share his music with the world. We are excited for what 2016 will bring for Kygo both in the United States and worldwide as he hits the road and continues to share his unique sound and vision with his devoted fans.”
Patrick Moxey, President & Founder, Ultra Music & President of Electronic Music, Sony Music says,”Kygo brings quality musicianship and songs as well as a magnificent feel for melody to Electronic music in an unparalleled way. As one of the most exciting new artists in the world, it comes as no surprise that Kygo is breaking records and barriers across the musical landscape.”
Toby Andrews, Head of Electronic Music Marketing, Sony Music International, states, “To reach this milestone faster than any other act in the world really just goes to prove the immense popularity of Kygo and the support his fans have for him. We knew when we signed him that he had a fanatical following, and we were really able to harness that with the support of Spotify as a global partner on the project. We’ve spent the past 18 months carefully developing Kygo as a worldwide brand and a forward-thinking artist and to cap off 2015 with this achievement sets a perfect stage for his debut album.”
Myles Shear, Owner, Golden Hare Management and Kygo’s manager says, “It is an absolute honor to have earned such an accomplishment on a platform that we were strangers to only one year ago. From the start, the Kygo project has tried pushing the boundaries within the online space, whether it’s been through blogs, or through streaming. We were always strong supporters of streaming from the beginning and it feels great to know that the users really liked it. We are all excited for what the next year has to bring and want to thank everyone for their support!”
Chris Stoneman, Senior Account Manager for Spotify says, “For me, one key factor in Kygo being so successful on Spotify is down to the teams at Sony and Ultra totally embracing Spotify both as a partner and as a platform. We’ve collaborated closely to launch Kygo globally and build a strong and integrated fan engagement campaign, which has delivered this great success so far, and for the future.”
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TIMELINE
Dec 1st 2014 – Kygo released his first single ‘Firestone’, exclusive to Spotify for 24 hours, which reached #4 in Spotify global chart.
Feb 10th – Instrumental track ‘ID’ was released, the soundtrack to Ultra Music Festival. The track becomes so popular that it is reworked into a full single released in September.
Mar 16th – ‘Stole The Show’ released exclusive to Spotify for one week, launched with Global Home page takeovers and playlist placement. The track hits Spotify’s global Top 10 within one week, one of the fastest tracks to do so.
May 1st – Stole the Show (Live) recorded at Spotify’s London office. Video pieces start to reveal the man behind the piano (watch here).
July 31st – ‘Nothing Left’ feat. Will Heard released. 3m plays in first week alone,
Sept 4th – ‘Here For You’ feat. Ella Henderson’ released, a rework of ideas first surfaced in the instrumental track ‘ID’ released in February.
Dec 1st – Announced as Breakthrough Artist of 2015 in Spotify’s annual Year in Music campaign. Kygo also soundtracks the accompanying ad campaign.
Dec 4th – Latest single ‘Stay’ released, amassing 5m plays in its first week.
Earlier this month Kygo announced his first ever Worldwide “Cloud Nine” Tour. The musical prodigy will be making stops in a number of major cities across the globe including his biggest headlining show to date at Barclays Center in New York City, NY. See full list of tour dates below. Click HERE to purchase tickets.Since blowing up on the electronic music scene, Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll, a.k.a Kygo, has gone from bedroom producer to one of the most hyped artists on the planet in unprecedented time. His latest U.S. single, “Stole the Show,” was certified gold or platinum in sixteen countries. Tipped by Billboard Magazine as “electronic music’s next superstar”, Kygo made his U.S. television debut on The Late Late Show with James Corden on October 27th, where he performed an acoustic version of his hit song, “Stole The Show”, featuring Parson James. Before the show, Kygo was awarded with a plaque commemorating RIAA Certified Gold Sales of more than 500,000 downloads for his hit single “Firestone”, out now via Ultra Records/RCA Records. With the upcoming world tour and a hotly anticipated album, it is clear this is only the beginning for the 24-year-old Norwegian prodigy.
FRI JAN 15 San Francisco, CA Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
THU JAN 21 New York City, NY Barclays Center
FRI JAN 22 Toronto, Canada Direct Energy Centre
SAT JAN 23 Chicago, IL Navy Pier
SAT MAR 26 Amsterdam, Netherlands Heineken Music Hall
TUE MAR 29 Cologne, Germany Palladium
WED MAR 30 Antwerp, Belgium Lotto Arena
FRI APR 1 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg Rockhal
SAT APR 2 Offenbach, Germany Satdthalle
MON APR 4 Zurich, Switzerland MAAG Halle
TUE APR 5 Milan, Italy Mediolanum Forum
THU APR 7 Vienna, Austria Gasometer
FRI APR 8 Munich, Germany Zenith
SAT APR 9 Prague, Czech Republic Forum Karlín
SUN APR 10 Berlin, Germany Columbiahalle
TUE APR 12 Paris, France Le Zénith
THU APR 14 Barcelona, Spain Saint Jordi Club
FRI APR 15 Madrid, Spain La Riviera
SAT APR 16 Lisbon, Portugal MEO Arena
WED APR 20 Glasgow, Scotland O2 Academy Glasgow
THU APR 21 Manchester, UK Manchester Academy
SAT APR 23 London, UK O2 Academy Brixton
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