In perhaps the most obvious news of 2016 so far, Drake‘s ridiculously hyped Views has gone platinum one week after its release. Drake himself recently boasted that the record sold more than 630,000 copies in its first day, and it turns out that was pretty damn accurate.
According Drake’s label Republic Records, Views has sold a total 1.2 million copies in just six days since it came out, including streaming equivalents. The streaming numbers are gargantuan – 250 million streams already, with 200 million of those coming from the USA alone.
The most impressive thing about these astronomical numbers is that the album is currently only available to hear on iTunes or Apple Music. Physical copies will be made available today, and it is scheduled to arrive at all other streaming platforms on May 13.
It’s almost impossible to not compare these figures and the relative simplicity of this release to Kanye West‘s The Life of Pablo, which kind of came out earlier this year. It was only made available on Tidal at first, hitting other streaming services later – but only after West had promised us this was never going to happen. In fact, some people were so mad at his change of heart that they tried to sue him.
As we previously reported, these numbers were greatly helped by the gargantuan popularity of 2015’s viral hit Hotline Bling, which was added to Views as a bonus track. As such, its massive streaming and sales numbers were retroactively added to the overall total of Views, making its immediate platinum status inevitable.
You too can contribute to Drake’s endless success by purchasing Views here.
Image: Fader