Kendrick Lamar enjoys 99% Spotify traffic rise after Grammy Awards performance
The rapper notched up the plays after collaborating with Imagine Dragons
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Your support makes all the difference.Rapper Kendrick Lamar stole the show at the 56th Grammy Awards, and now he is reaping the benefits.
The 26-year-old Californian has seen his Spotify traffic rise 99 per cent since his performance of "M.A.A.D City" and "Radioactive" with Imagine Dragons during Sunday night’s ceremony – the largest increase of any rap act on the music streaming service.
Country singer Taylor Swift certainly enjoyed the collaboration – she was filmed boogying on down in the front row, while the rest of the crowd stayed in their seats. Lorde, Beyoncé, Jay Z and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler were all spotted appreciating the music.
Lamar missed out on an award for Best Rap Album at the Los Angeles bash. Macklemore, who won the accolade with Ryan Lewis, texted Lamar after the show: "You got robbed. I wanted you to win. You should have."
"It's weird and sucks that I robbed you," the apologetic message continued. "I was gonna say that during the speech. Then the music started playing during my speech and I froze."
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis recorded a 65 per cent jump in Spotify traffic after the duo took home four Grammy Awards. Producer of the Year winner Pharrell Williams enjoyed a 54 per cent rise, while Beyoncé’s raunchy rendition of "Drunk In Love”" hiked the song's Spotify plays up by 52 per cent.
The highest increase on a single song was achieved by "Another Star", which Daft Punk performed with Stevie Wonder at the ceremony. The French dance act saw a 205 per cent increase from Sunday to Monday – the largest for a group or artist that was nominated for a Grammy or performed during the event broadcast.
This year's Grammy Awards were not without the usual memorable moments: 33 couples were married live on-stage by Queen Latifah during Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' duet with Madonna to "Same Love"; Taylor Swift headbanged at her piano while singing a ballad; the Beatles reunited; and Beyoncé donned a leather thong and fishnet tights before getting on all fours and crawling around.
Swedish company Spotify has come under attack from musicians recently, with several high-profile acts, including Radiohead's Thom Yorke, claiming that artists are paid meagre royalities by the service.
Yorke removed his Atoms for Peach project from Spotify last year, calling it "the last desperate fart of a dying corpse" and sparking the platform to launch a website explaining to musicians how its business model works.
Spotify insists that the average payment to rights-holders for a single play of a track is between $0.006 and $0.0084.
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