Question for the culture : Saw yet another Beyonce Spotify streams-related, yawn-inducing @Link16 thread, and it got me to thinking: Her legacy has been uniquely enhanced by other artists sampling her art yearly.

 

(Context: Last night a Teyana Taylor album was released, and yet again Beyonce has been sampled. She's in a unique position where she's seen as an elder stateswoman in popular music while still being able to chart/stream alongside the newbies. Since 2010, she's been sampled by Drake, J. Cole, Fifth Harmony, Brockhampton, John Mayer, Pusha T/Kanye West, Meek Mill/Ella Mai, Summer Walker/Bryson Tiller, James Blake, Lil Nas X, Kehlani, Teyana Taylor/Lucky Daye, Meghan Trainor, T.I., ArrDee, Aitch, Kevin Gates, Camila Cabello, EARTHGANG, A Boogie With Da Hoodie, Skrillex, and maybe a hundred other UK rappers, DJs, indie musicians, and other acts. It's averaging 5-10 songs a year.)

 

Should we really care about Spotify streams when as a 90s act she's already the 11th most-streamed female artist on Spotify and all of these other high-streamed younger artists pay her to bake her art into their art on top of her being paid for each of their streams of the new songs? 

 

I don't really see a reason why outside of something to talk about on ATRL, but maybe I'm wrong.

Discuss.

 

 

Edited August 23, 20251 yr by trainsskyscrapers

No. 
 

that fanbase is simply jealous that their fav doesn't get the same reverence that Beyoncé gets no matter how hard their fav tries so they lash out.

Edited August 23, 20251 yr by Supernatural94

No.

Obviously not. I also saw the daily Beyoncé Spotify streams thread consistently originated by a certain fanbase desperate to tear her down but there's never anything about her overall sales, acclaim or tour gross. It's the only thing they have to try and tear her down and they will keep obsessively hitting it until she stops effortlessly dominating their own throwback faves.

 

She is the center of culture, after all.

Edited August 23, 20251 yr by Jay07

No. 

 

She's one of the biggest stars that has ever lived.  I've said it before.  She's earned her place with Elvis, The Beatles, MJ, Madonna, Prince, Whitney, ect.....Top TIER. 

 

Streaming stats won't change this.  At all. 

It's ATRL. Of course we are gonna talk about Spotify numbers

Baby… this is ATRL you knew exactly what you signed up for when you created your account, log out if it bothers you that much.

 

Can we normalize not expecting acts who debuted prior to streaming to pull numbers like ones who debuted during the streaming era?

You actually shouldn't care about anyone's streams cause you're getting nothing out of it. 

 

Bey is a legend. Others wish. And other fanbases - in here - try to lash on Bey and her stan club on every occasion cause 2025 may or may not have been an oasis in a desert career. 

 

Stream the music you like when you like it, and bop/cry/get angry to it.

The fact Beyoncé gets compared to the girls who debuted a decade later (or more) than her tells you everything you need to know.

 

These aren't her peers yet she's the only one from her time who still gets compared to them in terms of streaming etc. 

 

Her longevity is just that impressive. 

1 minute ago, WildHeart said:

I find copium is best served by fanbases that don't ooze jealousy from their pores.  

Quote

If I gave two fucks, two fucks 'bout streaming numbers
Would've put Lemonade up on Spotify

Do we track how many people read the Bible on a daily basis?

It's a pop forum 

We all know Bey is a legend 

If my fav's newest album was being out streamed by single songs released at the beginning of 2025, I wouldn't want people talking about streams either.

 

but streams are still an important metric to determine how well a new body of work is doing, and this is a music forum so obviously it's going to be in the conversation.

14 minutes ago, Miracle Whip said:

Baby… this is ATRL you knew exactly what you signed up for when you created your account, log out if it bothers you that much.

 

Was Spotify a big thing in 2012 when I created my account? Can't remember it. I came to ATRL for the single covers people were designing that looked better than the Coverlandia ones... nothing more, nothing less.   I will definitely be logging out in the near future. Too many new users (under 4K posts) with undiagnosed personality disorders taking their emotions out on random internet people they don't know. 

Edited August 23, 20251 yr by trainsskyscrapers

Yes and no. Obviously she's BEYONCE and is a successful, acclaimed artist. But for that same reason it's fair to question why she's getting less streams than Chris Brown.

They could be better, but for a 90s act I don't care all that much. 

I stay out of streaming threads unless its good news though 

I mean if ya'll are going to make comparison threads all day and brag ever 2 hours then yes.

Should we care about anybody's Spotify streams at all? Exactly

Of course people are going to talk about it this is ATRL
The hive won't admit it but not being on streaming platforms during self titled and Lemonade really hurt her numbers today 

 

Edited August 24, 20251 yr by Digitalism

Yes. Because if we don't, something REALLY BAD is gonna happen.

 

Only the bravest of folk tried...we still haven't heard from them.

should we care about a metric that shows real gp interest in your art form ? 

Beyonce's shift to focusing on albums (often exclusive to one platform and widely unavailable) has been at the expense of the actual songs and the lukewarm Spotify streams are an objective indication of that.

 

As someone who does not live in the US, the only Beyonce tracks that I've heard outside of my pop sphere since Self-Titled are the 50 Shades version of "CIL", Hold Up (mostly paired with the iconic video) and Cuff It, all 3 feeling forgotten now. She's still a huge superstar but her marketing doesn't allow the individual songs to permeate the mainstream. Whether that matters or not is another conversation, but the Spotify streams always come up in that context and, for that context, they are an accurate measurement and an interesting point to make.