Mariah Carey’s newest record isn’t one her fans can hear.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You,” the pop singer’s 1994 holiday tune, was played on Spotify more than 10.8 million times Monday, setting a new record for the most streams in a single day.
The song was streamed on Spotify a total of 10,819,009 times on Christmas Eve, according to the company’s data, surpassing a record set in June by rapper XXXTentacion a day after his death.
Ms. Carey shared news about the achievement on social media Tuesday, calling it “an amazing Christmas gift” on Instagram.
Spotify did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Ms. Carey’s best-selling single, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has consistently experienced a surge in popularity each holiday season nearly a quarter-century since its release, reportedly earning the artist more than $60 million in royalties as of 2017.
“At the time, I thought it was overly simple, and I really didn’t like it,” co-writer Walter Afanasieff told the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 2014. “The oversimplified melody, I guess, that made it so easily palatable for the whole world to go ’Oh, I can’t get that out of my head.’”
The previous record for most streams on Spotify in a single day was set by XXXTenacion’s “SAD!” The song was played on the platform more than 10.4 million times on June 19, a day after the rapper, born Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo, was fatally shot outside a motorcycle dealership in Deerfield Beach, Florida.
Taylor Swift’s song “Look What You Made Me Do” previously held the record for most streams in a single day prior to “SAD!” That tune was streamed 10.1 million streams in a 24-hour span on Spotify following its release in August 2017.
Spotify boasted 191 million active users as of September 2018, including 87 million paid subscribers. The platform provides over 40 million songs to be streamed for users in 78 different markets, according to the company’s own statistics.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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