After his arrest last week, rapper P Diddy experienced a surge in streams. Reports say his music had an average 18.3% increase in on-demand streams during the week of September 17th (the week of his arrest) compared to the week prior.
We have seen something similar in the past. When R&B musician R. Kelly was accused of sexual misconduct, the following week his numbers nearly doubled.
A professor of music business management at Berklee College of Music, George Howard talked to the Associated Press about why this could be. “Music just becomes another piece of information as people try to comprehend the atrocities, it’s like, ‘What would someone whose brain works like that, allegedly, what would their music sound like…the natural curiosity that these types of charges evoke makes sense,” Howard said. “It’s like driving by a car crash. People want to look,” he said.
Howard also made an interesting point about how streaming is more anonymous. “Imagine walking into a record store now like, ‘Yeah, I want to buy this Diddy CD,’” he said. Diddy’s biggest fans might not feel like heading out to purchase an album or CD in public. To avoid any awkward looks, they can stream his music privately, which may have also contributed to the increase in online plays.
