Kendrick Lamar - H 2015
AP Images/InvisionKendrick Lamar‘s surprise release of To Pimp a Butterfly around midnight on Sunday prompted a deluge of commentary and a surfeit of surprise across the Internet. (A reaction that the without-warning drop, pushed up a week from its announced release date, was likely intended to evoke.)
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Critics enthusiastically, at times beautifully, rendered their first impressions of the dense and kaleidoscopic work.
Considering that, it’s no surprise that a lot of people streamed the record on its first day. A lot of people. Tracks from the record were listened to 9.6 million times on Spotify during its first day in release, a new global record for first-day streams on the service. (Michael Buble‘s Christmas was the previous record-holder.)
How much is that worth? A Spotify representative confirmed that the 9.6 million represents any stream from the record, meaning Lamar’s new long-player brought in about $44,160 in a single day globally, according to Billboard estimates.
Importantly, the iTunes Store did not have the album available for immediate download until well into Monday, driving fans to streaming services in order to hear the record.
Requests to Rdio and Deezer for their own first-day stream tallies from the record were not immediately returned.
Additional reporting by Ed Christman.
This article originally appeared on Billboard.com.
