The Beatles achieve another milestone as ‘Here Comes the Sun’ has become the first Beatles song to hit 1 billion Spotify streams.
“Here Comes the Sun,” a George Harrison-penned track from the Beatles’ Abbey Road album, became the 406th song to join Spotify’s Billions Club — the first Beatles song to achieve that milestone.
In 2016, Drake became the first artist with a song to reach one billion streams on Spotify with his hit “One Dance” from the album Views. As the platform has grown, songs can generate massive streaming numbers rapidly, like Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” which she dropped in January. Last week, the track became the fastest song on Spotify to achieve 1 billion streams.
But why did it take so long for the Beatles to have a song of such magnitude on Spotify? First, the Fab Four were among the industry greats to hesitate regarding the online distribution of music. Their catalog wasn’t available on iTunes until 2010, where it remained exclusive until December 24, 2015.
The fact that the Beatles are a classic group and the demographic that typically uses Spotify factors in. Many older music enthusiasts still listen to physical versions of albums, like compact discs and vinyl records. While younger listeners may also enjoy the Beatles, they’re likelier to listen to newer artists whose staying power on streaming platforms already dominates, such as Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Bad Bunny.
Notably, “Here Comes the Sun” is the first Beatles song to reach 1 billion streams and the first song from the ’60s to achieve that milestone. But it won’t be alone for long — Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s 1967 single “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” is estimated to reach that goal within ten days.
Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” is expected to become the third by the middle of June, although CCR already has a song from the ’70s on that list: “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” from the 1970 album Pendulum. That track joined the prestigious club in March of this year.