Drake’s ‘Views’ Album Sets One Week Streaming Record

The outlook for Drake's Views may be critically mixed, but commercially, the rapper's latest continues to storm on, with Billboard reporting that not only will the album debut at No. 1 but the songs included on it were streamed a record 245.1 million times in the U.S. in its first week. While projected sales estimated a total of 1.2 million copies moving, in fact, 852,000 physical versions of Views were sold, with its equivalent album sales, including streams, totaling at 1.04 million.

Views is set to be Drake's sixth straight No. 1 album, following last year's releases of What a Time to Be Alive and If You're Reading This It's Too Late. Drake's chart-topping latest will be reflected in the May 21-dated chart, which will be updated tomorrow, Tuesday May 10. Making the achievement all the more impressive is the fact that Views was an Apple Music and iTunes exclusive for its first week, and still has yet to expand fully to all streaming services. While the album remains unavailable on such services as Spotify, the streaming numbers do include plays on songs available on the platform such as "One Dance" and "Pop Style."

Drake's record setting release dethrones Beyonce's Lemonade as the biggest opening streaming week, as the singer's most recent album earned 115.2 million plays in its first seven days. Views' 245.1 million streams for its songs figures to 163,392 streaming equivalent albums, for those curious how it all adds together. As more high-profile artists take the exclusivity route with their releases, these numbers will either support or debunk the growing trend, with Drake's record setting pace likely to further the notion that it will continue.

Read the full story over at Billboard.

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