The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights has becomes the first song on Spotify to have been streamed 5 billion times.
The hit song topped charts upon release in 2019, and six years later, it is still streamed at a heavy rate, which helped it to become the most-streamed song in Spotify history.
Previously, when his song surpassed four billion streams on the platform, in 2024, the singer, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, said to Billboard, “I’ll never stop being humbled by anything I create making its way to millions of people let alone billions!”
“I’m so thankful this song makes people feel a way that they keep going back to listen,” he added.
The Weeknd also has a remarkable 28 different songs that have been streamed over a billion times on Spotify, with 111 million monthly listeners.
In recent months, many artists have chosen to withdraw their music from the streaming platform.
Hotline TNT are among the latest to boycott Spotify, explaining to fans, “The company that bills itself as the steward of all recorded music has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that it does not align with the band’s values in any way.”
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard took charge of bands removing their work from Spotify in July. The Australian band shared: “A PSA to those unaware: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek invests millions in AI military drone technology. We just removed our music from the platform.”
Other acts who have boycotted the platform include Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Deerhoof and Cindy Lee.
