It sounds like a moody retro pop ballad. An ode to the sounds of the eighties.And by now it has already charmed hundreds of millions of music lovers onSpotify. The number Blind Lights from The Weeknd took over from Ed Sheeran’sthis weekend with 3.3 billion streams Shape Of You as the most listened songever on the popular streaming platform. The two songs remain the only pair tosurpass three billion streams on the platform.
Read also: The Weeknd makes you forget the curse of the present for amoment
The Weeknd, pseudonym of Canadian artist Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, who alreadyended 2022 as Spotify’s most-streamed artist of the year, reflected on themilestone on New Year’s Day on Twitter. “Happy New Year to you _Blind Lights_the most streamed single of all time.”
In the song, originally released in November 2019, The Weeknd sings about atheme that has been sung about time and time again: the longing for your lovedone. But it distinguishes itself in several ways, says Farid Benmbarek, amember of management at record label Top Notch. He describes Blind Lights asa clever combination of songwriting strategies that lead to “the perfectcruise missile” in pop music. “Just look at the programming language of thesong: it is a pop single with a strong eighties retro feel, but it soundsvery modern. Also special: without the lyrics, the song remains standing. Forexample, one of the leading keyboards exactly matches the vocal melody of hisvoice. It’s a very clever way to cement the melody in your head.”
Blind Lights was written by Swedish music producer Max Martin, mastermindbehind several number 1 hits: from Bon Jovi and Adele to The Backstreet Boysand Taylor Swift. For Benmbarek there is no doubt. “He is at once the mostartisanal and most successful songwriter of all time.”
Spotify
Where in the past the annual Billboard list was still the most importantindicator for international artists, nowadays every musician looks at Spotify.Thus comes The Weeknd’s milestone sixty years after the Billboard success of_Surfin ‘ USA _of the Beach Boys and forty years after _Every Breath You Take_from The Police.
Top Notch manager Benmbarek tells how during school breaks he relied on thecassette tape or CD player in his backpack to listen to his favorite artist.Today, streaming services give him constant access to all the music ever made.On average, sixty thousand songs are added to Spotify every day. Within themusic landscape, the competition for the listener’s attention has becomefierce, says Benmbarek. “It is no longer enough to simply create a beautiful,artistic or aesthetically pleasing song. Artists, record managers know that,and are determined to win that competition.”
In an era where artists heavily restrict the length of their songs in the hopeof being streamed more often, Blind Lights well over three minutes. The songinspired millions of TikTokkers to record dances during the pandemic. At thesame time, music fanatics should not be blinded by the numbers, saysBenmbarek. “It seems impressive, because it is now measurable how often a songhas been listened to. It may well be that songs by The Beatles, MichaelJackson or Elvis were played much more often. At that time, listening behaviorwas not so accurately expressed in statistics. That is precisely what makesthe current music era so intriguing”.