FANS RALLY ROUND THE WEEKND (UPDATE)

UPDATE: "Blinding Lights" soared to #2 on Spotify Global on Wednesday (12/2), the platform's Wrapped reveal having inspired listeners to revisit its most-streamed tracks of 2020. Accordingly, "Lights" has returned to the Top 10 on Spotify U.S. for the first time since August.

The ongoing wall-to-wall fallout from The Weeknd’s incomprehensible absence from the 2021 Grammy nominations has resulted in a resurgence of interest in his critical and commercial triumph, After Hours. Following the Recording Academy’s puzzling attempt to create an alternate reality, numerous current fans have revisited the album, its flagship smash “Blinding Lights” and other tracks, while newbies have been inspired to see what all the fuss is about.

Total activity on the album, released in March on XO/Republic, increased 12% to 22.4k for the week ending 11/26—most of this action occurring during the two days after the historic snub. Downloads of tracks from the album were up 53%, audio streams rose by 10% and video views increased 32%.

We’ll be watching with great interest to see whether these upward trends continue through the first full week after the Academy’s massive misstep.