Some of the biggest beneficiaries of the 2021 Grammy Awards on Sunday (March 14) were those songs performed on the CBS television broadcast that were likely getting their biggest audience ever. Among the tracks that are shining brightest in the days after the show: Mickey Guyton’s “Black Like Me,” Black Pumas’ “Colors,” Billie Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted” and Post Malone’s “Hollywood’s Bleeding.”
More than 20 songs were performed on the Grammys by over 20 different acts. Here’s a look at how many times the tunes were streamed in the U.S. in the days leading up to the show (March 12-13), the day of the show (March 14), and the day after the show (March 15), according to initial reports to MRC Data.
Date – On-Demand U.S. Streams (Audio & Video Combined)
Friday, March 12 – 21.66 million
Saturday, March 13 – 21.54 million
Sunday, March 14 – 18.76 million
Monday, March 15 – 27.97 million
(Note that Sundays, in general, tend to be a low day for streaming activity, hence the dip in streams on March 14 – which also happened to be the day of the Grammy Awards.)
The streaming figures above (and sales figures below) include the original or hit versions of songs covered on the show, including Kenny Rogers’ “Lady” (which was performed in tribute to the late Rogers on the broadcast by its songwriter, Lionel Richie).
If we focused just on a comparison of March 14 to March 15, the collected songs were streamed 27.97 million times on March 15, a gain of 49.1% compared to 18.76 million on March 14. Every song performed on the Grammys saw a streaming increase on March 15, versus March 14.
Collectively, the songs performed on the 2021 Grammy Awards were streamed 46.73 million times in the U.S. on March 14-15 — a gain of 8.2% compared to 43.2 million streams on March 12-13.
Looking only at March 14-15 activity, there were 12 songs performed (not counting snippets heard in a medley) that were streamed at least 100,000 times with a gain of at least 10% (compared to March 12-13). They are:
Artist, Title – March 14-15 Streams – % Gain (March 12-13 Streams)
Mickey Guyton, “Black Like Me” – 185,000 – 124% (83,000)
HAIM, “The Steps” – 117,000 – 111% (55,000)
Black Pumas, “Colors” – 442,000 – 77% (249,000)
Post Malone, “Hollywood’s Bleeding” – 613,000 – 57% (391,000)
Taylor Swift, “August” – 522,000 – 56% (336,000)
Billie Eilish, “Everything I Wanted” – 1.63 million – 52% (1.07 million)
BTS, “Dynamite” – 2.18 million – 50% (1.45 million)
Taylor Swift, “Cardigan” – 911,000 – 41% (645,000)
Harry Styles, “Watermelon Sugar” – 2.09 million – 36% (1.53 million)
Lil Baby, “The Bigger Picture” – 1.22 million – 27% (956,000)
Dua Lipa, “Levitating” – 4.49 million – 22% (3.67 million)
Cardi B, “Up” – 7.91 million – 14% (6.92 million)
Awarded On-Air: Grammy Awards in 84 categories were presented on March 14, though the bulk of them were announced earlier in the day before the CBS television broadcast began. During the CBS show, 11 categories were presented, including best new artist (won by Megan Thee Stallion).
Here’s a look at the streaming gains of the songs that were awarded during on-air presentations on the CBS broadcast:
Category: Artist, Title – Streams on March 14-15; gain
Record of the year: Billie Eilish, “Everything I Wanted” – 1.63 million – 52% (1.07 million)
Song of the year: H.E.R., “I Can’t Breathe” – 284,000 – 353% (63,000)*Best R&B performance: Beyoncé, “Black Parade” – 275,000 – 46% (188,000)*
Best pop solo performance: Harry Styles, “Watermelon Sugar” – 2.09 million – 36% (1.53 million)
Best melodic rap performance: Anderson .Paak, “Lockdown” – 120,000 – 30% (92,000)*
Best rap song: Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé, “Savage” – 1.45 million – down 3% (1.50 million)
* not performed on CBS television broadcast
Sales Update: As earlier reported, the songs performed on the televised Grammys collectively posted a 330% sales gain on March 14 — selling 40,000 copies in the U.S. (up from 9,000 sold on March 13), according to initial reports to MRC Data.
Here’s a look at the daily sales of the collected songs performed on the Grammys in the U.S. in the days leading up to the show (March 12-13), the day of the show (March 14), and the two days after the show (March 15-16), according to initial reports to MRC Data.
Date – Sales
Friday, March 12 – 8,200
Saturday, March 13 – 9,000
Sunday, March 14 – 40,000
Monday, March 15 – 30,000
Tuesday, March 16 – 17,200
Collectively, the songs performed on the 2021 Grammy Awards sold 70,000 in the U.S. on March 14-15 — a gain of 302% compared to 17,000 on March 12-13.
