Kanye West album Donda breaks Apple Music streaming record

Apple Music on iPhone
Apple Music on iPhone (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Kanye West finally released his new album, Donda.
  • The album has smashed the record for streaming on Apple Music.
  • It was reportedly played 60 million times in its first 24 hours.

Kanye West's new album Donda has broken the record for streaming on Apple Music, clocking 60 million plays on its first day.

Billboard reports:

Kanye West's 10th studio album, Donda, pulled in over 60 million streams in the U.S. during its first 24 hours on Apple Music after its release Sunday, a source close to the situation tells Billboard, setting a new 2021 record for the streaming service. Those numbers make Donda Apple Music's third-most streamed album ever in the first 24 hours of release, and it set another record by topping Apple Music's top albums charts in 152 countries in that time span.

Not only did it manage 60 million plays, but it was also the top album in 152 different countries, and 19 of the top 20 songs on Apple's Daily 100 in its first 24-hours. The album was finally released following a series of live-streaming events in Atlanta and Chicago. By comparison, Billboard reports Spotify has been streamed 94 million times globally, "good enough for second place."

Both Apple Music events streamed on the platform broke records, from our previous report

A new report says that Kanye West's second Donda live stream even on Apple Music smashed his own previous record for a live streaming event.According to Billboard, the second livestream on Thursday, August 5, drew in 5.4 million viewers and generated a staggering $7 million from in-person merchandise sales at the event. As Billboard notes the viewing figures are more than double the current record for a Twitch live stream. Twitter hype was also reportedly at a massive high, generation 1.1 million during the event at its peak.

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design.

Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9