The 2023 Grammy Awards (Feb. 5) helped push major sales and streaming gains for winners such as Brandi Carlile, Samara Joy and Bonnie Raitt, among others, in the wake of the 65th annual show.
It’s expected that the weekly Billboard charts dated Feb. 18, which reflect the sales and streaming tracking week ending Feb. 9, will feature a number of titles that post gains thanks to exposure earned from Grammys. News on such gains is scheduled to be reported as early as Feb. 12 on Billboard.com.
Generally speaking, those songs and albums that saw the most eye-catching gains immediately following the Grammy Awards are those that had a lower-profile than the more well-known hits that have been chart hits for months. Essentially, those songs and albums (and artists) that were unfamiliar to the audience watching at home and online had much more room to grown than a well-known hit.
The Grammy Awards aired live on CBS-TV, and was also streamed on Paramount+ and CBS.com. Earlier in the day on Feb. 5, previous to the Grammy Awards, the bulk of the 91 Grammy Awards were presented during the Premiere Ceremony, which streamed live on Grammy.com.
All data comparisons below are for Feb. 5-6 (the day of the show and the day after) versus the two days prior, Feb. 3-4, in the U.S., according to initial reports to data tracking firm Luminate.
Carlile’s “Broken Horses,” which she performed on the Grammy Awards, garnered a 379% gain in on-demand official U.S. streams on Feb. 5-6 as compared to Feb. 3-4. On Feb. 5-6, the track captured 130,000 streams – up from 27,000 in the two days prior. Further, “Broken” logged a 9,273% increase in track sales, rising to 1,500 sold on Feb. 5-6 (up from a negligible sum on Feb. 3-4).
“Broken Horses” won two Grammy Awards — for best rock performance and best rock song. Both trophies were presented during the Premiere Ceremony.
Samara Joy – who won best new artist (presented during the Grammy Awards on CBS) and best jazz vocal album (for Linger Awhile, presented during the Premiere Ceremony) – saw robust gains for Linger Awhile. The album earned nearly 4,000 equivalent album units on Feb. 5-6 in the U.S. (up 675% compared to about 500 in the two days prior).
Of the Feb. 5-6 unit sum for Linger Awhile, traditional album sales comprised a little over 3,000 (up 775% compared to the under 500 sales it generated on Feb. 3-4). The album’s collected songs generated 900,000 on-demand official streams on Feb. 5-6 (up 381% compared to the 187,000 they earned on Feb. 3-4).
Linger Awhile has so far peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s overall Jazz Albums chart and No. 2 on the Traditional Jazz Albums chart. The album has yet to reach the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.
Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That” – which won song of the year – snared a 3,387% increase in on-demand official streams on Feb. 5-6, rising to 777,000 (up from 23,000 in the two days prior). In terms of track sales, the song sold 6,000 on Feb. 5-6 (up 8,001% compared to the negligible sum it sold on Feb. 3-4). “Just Like That” also won the Grammy for American Roots Song, which was presented during the Premiere Ceremony.
Raitt additionally performed on the CBS broadcast, but didn’t sing her own song – she sang Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird,” as part of the In Memoriam segment, in tribute to the late Christine McVie (the writer and vocalist of the original version of “Songbird”).
It’s likely that most viewers watching the CBS broadcast of the show learned about “Just Like That” for the first time, as the song has yet to chart on any U.S. Billboard song chart. Its parent album of the same name spent one week on the Billboard 200, debuting and peaking at No. 44 on the May 2, 2022-dated chart.
The Just Like That album earned nearly 3,500 equivalent album units on Feb. 5-6 (up 1,283% compared to the negligible sum it earned on Feb. 3-4). Of that sum, traditional album sales comprised 2,000 (up 1,021% compared to the negligible sales it had on Feb. 3-4). Finally, the Just Like That album saw its collected songs garner 1.1 million on-demand official streams on Feb. 5-6 (up 1,504% compared to the 69,000 it collected on Feb. 3-4).
Others who saw notable gains include Lizzo’s record of the year-winning “About Damn Time,” DJ Khaled’s “God Did” (a nominee and performed song), Harry Styles’ “As It Was” and Harry’s House (the former was performed and nominated for multiple awards, while the latter won album of the year), Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” (winner of best pop duo/group performance, and it was performed) and Beyoncé’s Renaissance (winner of best dance/electronic album).
“About Damn Time” logged a 9% gain in on-demand official streams on Feb. 5-6 (rising to 1.56 million), and posted a 590% sales increase (selling 3,000; up from less than 500 in the two previous days). “About Damn Time” was performed in a medley on the CBS show by Lizzo, along with “Special.” The latter song collected 251,000 on-demand streams on Feb. 5-6 (up 36%) and sold 1,000 downloads (up 1,264%).
DJ Khaled’s “God Did,” which was the closing performance of the CBS show, scored 489,000 on-demand official streams on Feb. 5-6 (up 59%) and sold 1,000 downloads (up 2,000%).
“As It Was,” which was a nominee and a performed song on the CBS-TV broadcast, nabbed a 17% gain in on-demand official streams on Feb. 5-6 (rising to 3.21 million), and a 593% sales gain (climbing to 4,000 sold).
Harry’s House, which won album of the year and best pop vocal album (both of which were presented during the CBS show), collected a 55% increase in equivalent album units earned (12,000 on Feb. 5-6), of which 3,000 were in traditional album sales (up 115%). The album’s songs generated 11 million on-demand official streams on Feb. 5-6 (up 35%).
“Unholy,” which won the Grammy for best pop duo/group performance and was performed on the CBS show, posted a 493% gain in sales on Feb. 5-6 (rising to 5,000 sold; up from 1,000 in the two previous days). In terms of on-demand official streams, it notched a 4% gain, rising to 4.58 million (up from 4.39 million). “Unholy” hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 last October – the first for both Smith and Petras – and has been a fixture in the top 10 of the chart each week since mid-November.
Beyoncé’s Renaissance, which won best dance/electronic album (presented during the CBS show), nabbed a 124% gain in traditional album sales (rising to 2,000 sold on Feb. 5-6) while its collected songs generated 8.6 million on-demand official streams (up 18%).