Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee’s ’Despacito’ becomes most streamed song of all time
Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s monster reggaeton hit ’Despacito’ has become officially the most streamed song of all time.
In six months since January 13, it has generated 4.6 billion streams globally across all major platforms, according to Universal Music Latin Entertainment.
The sales tally consist of the original version as well asthe official remix featuring Justin Bieber,who asked to add a verse after he heard it in a nightclub, with Spotify contributing 1.1 billion plays and a further 3 billion generated by the official YouTube channels.
’Despacito’’s success pushes into second place’Sorry’ by (who else?) Justin Bieber with 4.38 billion – an achievement which Universal Music Group CEO Sir Lucian Grainge hails it as a “tremendous accomplishment”.
“Streaming has opened up the possibility of a song with a different beat, from a different culture and in a different language to become a juggernaut of success around the world,” hesaid.
“Streaming is a connector for audiences worldwide and it has helped my music reach every corner of the planet,”39-year-old Fonsi added.
“It is truly an honour that ’Despacito’ is now the most streamed song in history.”
Fonsi admits he was trying to write a hit,but even he was stunned by what a crossover smashit became.
Despacito means “slowly” in Spanish (referring to the speed of Fonsi’s love-making technique) but its achievements have been anything but –it became the quickest music video to reach 2 billion views on YouTube, taking just 154 days.
On Vevo, it was the first Spanish-language video to have the most views in 24 hours –notching up 5.4 million –and the first to reach 200 million views (in 22 days).
Topping the charts in 35 countries,’Despacito’ is currently spending its ninth week at #1 in Australia and tenth week in the United States.
It’s the first Spanish-language #1 in the USA since ’Macarena’.
The song’s success is seen across many global charts, including #1 for nine weeks in the UK (the longest stay by a foreign language track) and top spot for 17 weeks in Spain, as well as being the first Spanish-language song to reach #1 on Spotify’s Global 50 Chart.
The trackhas also opened the doors on streaming services for other Latin tracks as J Balvin’s ’Mi Gente’, Maluma’s ’Felices Los 4’ and Danny Ocean’s ’Me Rehúso’ in countries which they might have otherwise gone unnoticed.
Jesús Lopez, Chairman & CEO of Universal Music Latin America, agrees.
“Streaming has democratised music consumption, it has made Latin music increasingly relevant on the charts and it has amplified our songs and videos to a world stage,” he says.