MTV VMAs: Justin Bieber and Tori Kelly earn boosts on Spotify and social media
Singer Justin Bieber arrives Sunday for the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. The show helped generate the highest increase in music streams for the artist following the show, according to Spotify.
In the social media era, awards are in the eye of the beholder, meaning that the ultimate winners from shows such as Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards aren’t limited to the ones who left the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles toting statuettes.
So even though Justin Bieber didn’t collect a “Moonman” trophy this time around, he sparked major interest among viewers, posting the biggest spike in listeners of his music on Spotify, according to the music-streaming service.
His streams were up 32% following the live performance of his new single “What Do You Mean?,” which has been averaging 4 million streams per day since its release Friday.
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Bieber also ranked among the top five moments from the awards ceremony as measured by quantity of conversations on Facebook about various performances, the social network site’s reps report.
The top Facebook conversation starter was rapper Kanye West’s acceptance of this year’s Video Vanguard Award, followed by host Miley Cyrus’ performances of “Dooo It,” Nicki Minaj’s win for hip-hop video (during which she traded barbs with Cyrus), Bieber’s performances of “Where Are You Now?/What Do You Mean” and Tori Kelly’s “Should’ve Been Us.”
Additionally, Facebook reports that overall, 16 million people took part in 39 million VMA-related interactions on the site on Sunday. Broken down by state, California ranked only No. 10, with the most interactions emanating from, surprisingly, New Mexico.
Meanwhile, Shazam reports that Kelly’s performance of “Should’ve Been Us” generated the most requests from viewers using the song-identifying app. Kelly was followed by performances from Twenty One Pilots with A$AP Rocky, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, The Weeknd and, once again, Bieber.
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