Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter is galloping on Spotify and bringing other Black country-based artists for the ride.
Since the album’s release on Friday, the number of first-time listeners for acts like Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts and Shaboozey — who all appear on Cowboy Carter — has increased in the past week.
Spencer saw an uptick of 170 percent in first-time listeners, Roberts and Tanner Adell both went up 125 percent, and Tiera Kennedy’s first-time listens were increased by 110 percent. Spencer, Reynolds, Adell and Kennedy collaborated with the Grammy-winning superstar on a cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” the second track on Cowboy Carter.
Related Stories
Willie Jones, who appears alongside Beyoncé on “Just for Fun,” saw an uptick of 75 percent in first-time listeners, and Shaboozey, who is featured on “Sweet/Honey/Buckiin’” and “Spaghetti,” went up 70 percent.
And the Beyoncé effect wasn’t just for first-time listeners — the budding acts also saw a major uptick in catalog listening on Spotify in the past week.
Kennedy saw an increase of 40,000 percent, Spencer saw an increase of 37,220 percent, Roberts saw an increase of 16,000 percent, Jones saw an increase of 5,650 percent, Adell saw an increase of 3,200 percent, and Shaboozey saw an increase of 1,350 percent.
Beyoncé saw an uptick of 85 percent in first-time listeners since last week, and overall, she saw an increase of 395 percent in catalog listening.
“It’s incredibly encouraging to see this kind of impact coming out of COWBOY CARTER,” NyAsia Burris, Spotify’s lead, artist partnerships, R&B, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Not only does this showcase the strength of the Spotify ecosystem and how Spotify drives discovery, but it speaks volumes to the influential power of Beyoncé. The proof is in the numbers — this album has created a cultural movement and is uplifting Black creators to new levels of visibility. It’s only been three days since release, so we’re just beginning to see the true long-term impact of this project.”
Cowboy Carter set a record on Spotify and became the most streamed album in a single day this year. Twenty-three songs from the 27-track album debuted on Spotify’s U.S. top 50 chart on Saturday, with Beyoncé’s cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” — with some additional new lyrics — reaching the No. 3 spot.
Cowboy Carter features the singles “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which topped both the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart and its Hot Country Songs chart, making her the first Black woman to achieve the feat. The album also features guests like Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Willie Nelson, Beyoncé’s 6-year-old daughter Rumi Carter, and Linda Martell, one of the pioneers for Black acts in country music and the first Black woman to perform solo at the Grand Ole Opry.
