Hundreds of songs have achieved over a billion streams across platforms, led by The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" (over 5 billion on Spotify) and Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You," with many popular tracks from diverse genres like Coldplay, Billie Eilish, Queen, and classic hits by artists like Mariah Carey (All I Want for Christmas Is You) also joining the "Billions Club". The list continually grows, with new hits like Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars' "Die With a Smile" quickly reaching milestones.
1,000 Billion-Stream Wins
Spotify has revealed that 1,000 songs have reached one billion plays on the platform. That group includes tunes performed in many different languages, from artists based all around the world, and even tracks that come from a variety of decades.
In December 2012, "Gangnam Style" became the first video to reach one billion views. By June 2015, only "Baby" had also managed to pass this threshold, but, by October 2015, a total of ten videos had done so, and the number grew further to over 400 in 2024.
The only tracks with over 3 billion streams on Spotify: 1️⃣ Blinding Lights (4.049b) 2️⃣ Shape Of You (3.774b) 3️⃣ Someone You Loved (3.198b) 4️⃣ Sunflower (3.145b) 5️⃣ Starboy (3.014b) 6️⃣ As It Was (3.002b)
To estimate your streaming royalties, use a simple formula: Royalties = Number of Streams × Average Payout Rate. For example, if you have 500,000 streams on Spotify and the average payout is $0.004 per stream, your estimated royalties would be: 500,000 × $0.004 = $2,000.
“Gangnam Style” by South Korean musician PSY became the first YouTube video to reach 1 billion views. By the end of 2012, the song had topped music charts in more than 30 countries around the world. #song4theweekend #PSY #GangnamStyle #musichistory #music.
This is a crazy milestone making Blinding Lights the first song in history to reach 5 billion streams on Spotify.
The "most played song of all time" depends on the metric, but currently, The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" is the most-streamed song ever on Spotify (over 5.2 billion streams). For recorded sales before streaming, Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" holds the Guinness World Record for best-selling single, while older, widely covered songs like George Gershwin's "Summertime" might be the most recorded,"Roadie Music" says Roadie Music.
1 billion YouTube views can earn anywhere from a few thousand dollars (for Shorts) to several million (for long-form videos), with estimates often falling between $250,000 and $5 million, heavily depending on the Cost Per Mille (CPM) and viewer engagement, with gaming/music potentially earning $0.50-$1/1000 views and high-engagement content seeing higher rates. The wide range is due to factors like viewer location, ad types, video niche, and if it's a YouTube Short (which pays much less) versus longer content.
Taylor Swift's “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” has officially surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify, making it the longest song in history to achieve this milestone.
Most viewed YouTube videos of all time 2025
In January 2021, Baby Shark Dance became the first YouTube video to surpass 10 billion views, after snatching the crown of most-viewed YouTube video of all time from the former record holder "Despacito" one year before.
As of early January 2026, Ariana Grande is the #1 artist on Spotify by monthly listeners, but Bad Bunny was Spotify's Global Top Artist for 2025, while Taylor Swift was #1 globally in 2024, showing different metrics (real-time vs. annual) can yield different artists at the top, with Bruno Mars also holding historical monthly listener records.
Over the course of Elvis' life, he achieved some of the highest accolades in music and film. It is estimated that more than one billion Elvis records have been sold worldwide, more than anyone in record industry history.
“Short n' Sweet” by Sabrina Carpenter has now surpassed 8 BILLION streams on Spotify — making it her most-streamed album on the platform. But apparently Rose will pay for a VMA over Sabrina which would be a joke!
Surpassing "Flowers" later in 2023, the fastest to reach 1 billion overall is now the “explicit version” of “Seven” by Jung Kook (South Korea, b. Jeon Jung-kook) feat. Latto (USA, b. Alyssa Stephens), which reached the milestone on 30 October 2023, 109 days following its worldwide release on 14 July 2023.
Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's “Despacito” video has established a new record. The clip reached 5 billion views on YouTube, making it the most watched video worldwide.
Uploaded almost six years ago, Blinding Lights took the crown from Shape of You by Ed Sheeran on 31 December 2022, which currently has 4.53 billion streams and held the top position for a record 1,928 days (over five years!)
The Minecraft community has crushed one trillion views on YouTube. Celebrate this huge milestone with a look back at some of the biggest moments in Minecraft history.
The #1 richest YouTuber in the world is MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson), consistently topping lists with an estimated net worth often cited over $500 million, potentially reaching $1 billion, driven by viral content, massive giveaways, and successful business ventures like Feastables and MrBeast Burger, making him the highest-earning creator globally.
This means that for every million streams, an artist might earn between $3,000 and $5,000, though this amount is typically split between the artist, their record label, producers, and other copyrights holders.
American rapper Kendrick Lamar was the first rapper to both achieve the feat and surpass the 110 million mark. Australian singer-songwriter Sia is the most recent artist to surpass 100 million monthly listeners. British band Coldplay are the first group to reach every milestone from 60 million to 100 million.
How Many Streams Do You Need to Earn $1 on Spotify? In 2023, it takes approximately 229 streams to earn $1 on Spotify. This number may vary depending on the platform used.