This thread in a nutshell

Sales thread when GNX dropped: “this album should’ve been streamed more, less tracks doesn’t matter, 380 million streams for a 12 track album is terrible!!!”

Sales thread when HUT dropped: “this album should’ve been streamed more since it has more tracks, long albums always stream better than shorter ones. His last album did 171 million streams, so 140+ million streams for a long album is terrible!!!”

Sales thread when For All the Dogs dropped: “500 million streams for a 23 track album with major features is amazing! Who cares that it was streamed 200 million times less than his last rap album, there’s a ton of R&B on here that’s why the number was so much lower, good job Aubrey :)”

You can't push this narrative because too many albums have dropped where you've insisted that an album should stream better simply off it having more tracks. You insisted GNX was a massive success because it streamed so well with few tracks and insisted that it'd have done a lot better if it had more songs.

You yourself have said multiple times on here/agreed with people who have said that Drake is only able to put up huge streaming weeks because he drops 20+ track albums.

But for some reason, that can't be flipped back on the Weeknd now that he has dropped a 20+ track album? You keep posting the Spotify Global numbers and insisting that HUT performing better than his previous albums with fewer tracks is some sort of huge W but isn't that the expectation, based on what you've said about other albums in the past?

No one’s stopping you from giving backlash to The Weeknd

I don't know why I'm surprised that you're so shameless in just how disingenuous you are but I know I shouldn't be.

I said for months in this thread:

The Weeknd HAS NEVER done crazy streaming numbers first week.

Pop music (in general) RARELY does crazy stream numbers first week.

Y’all expecting this album to do 300+ million streams first week was always an exercise in delusion

All of this is cope. Drake has dropped enough albums and put up massive streams with each of them to prove he can put up massive streaming numbers with 14 or 20+ songs.

We're talking about the Weeknd now.

What exactly is disingenuous about what I said?

Rap, on average, streams exceptionally better than Pop does first week. I truly don’t understand why y’all are expecting a pop album to do blockbuster numbers via streams first weeks when that rarely ever happens within the genre.

Drake is a rapper. Hope this helps.

He’s so obviously not a human in his music or business practices that it’s funny to clown on him for being so shameless. It’s deserved tbh, I think they should all get constant backlash. Shame these mfs more give even more backlash for being anti-art

This is why I call your takes disingenuous. You just made a post trying to paint For All the Dogs doing 500M US streams (something Drake has done more times than any other artist) as some sort of L for him, but here you are, giving the Weeknd every kind of excuse for underperforming as a US streaming artist.

I've already told you to stop making blanket statements like "pop artists don't stream well." That's categorically false and untrue. Many pop acts have grown to become US streaming forces in their own right. Because the Weeknd can't manage it doesn't mean everyone else can't.

After Hours did 220M US streams back in 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic. Back then, that was one of the best streaming weeks for an R&B/Pop album. You will argue everyone under the table that the Weeknd is a far bigger global star in 2025 than in 2020 but yet, the streaming numbers don't reflect that whenever he drops an album. That's all that's being pointed out to you. You can't twist the argument whatever way makes the Weeknd look good but then dismiss criticisms laid out about his US streaming performance because it's convenient.

I just listed off a bunch of non-rap artists who have done blockbuster US streaming numbers with their albums but keep repeating this take if that'll make you feel better.

That doesn't mean s***. Drake and Taylor are outliers, that's why I'm not comparing his US streaming performance to the Weeknd's.

There are a handful of pop/R&B acts who aren't as big as the Weeknd in the US, who blew up years after he did and who have dropped albums that posted up massive US streaming numbers. Way bigger than anything he's ever done.

Stop deferring to "pop acts don't stream well. Why are you expecting pop acts to put up huge streaming numbers?" That's cope.

You will come on here and insist the Weeknd is a massive global force and that's true but when he gets held to the standard we hold ALL massive artists to, you defer to this silly cope and start making excuses for dude.

I've already told you that if he was dropping an album in another genre that wasn't R&B/Pop and underperformed, it wouldn't even be a discussion as to why it happened. This is like if Drake drops a standard rap album and flops in US streaming and I come in here making excuses. You'd be saying the same thing to me.

One day we gonna find the strong correlation between a consumption threshold of single consumption on at least ONE of the formats and crazy first week sales (crazy being 800k+). I know there’s trusted indicators throughout the eras

Ie so and so # of chart points or sales = so and so first week sales

KTT said he was a pop artist last May

Here is a genre breakdown of the Top 100 Streaming Weeks of All-Time. Taylor Swift is an anomaly in the music industry, so she will get her own category. But even if you want to include her in Pop, the numbers are not close whatsoever:

Rap: 47/100
Pop: 14/100
Taylor: 14/100
Country: 11/100
Latin (all Bad Bunny): 8/100
R&B: 4/100
Dance: 1/100
Gospel: 1/100

And EVEN if you want to stretch it and say “Drake is an anomaly as well, he should be his own category”; then he amounts for 16/100, leaving rap still at an overwhelming majority of the 100 at 32/100.

At best, half of the Top 100 biggest streaming weeks ever are rap albums, and at worst, 32% of them are.

In the US, Pop DOES NOT stream better on average than rap does, and the first week stats literally back that up.

And y’all are worried about first week streaming numbers

Who do you think are the top three biggest pop artists in the US over the past five years, excluding Taylor?

Billie & Olivia are #1 and #2. The third spot seems to be up for grabs at the moment. I would include Chappell and Sabrina but they both only had one hot year so far

P&D about to do a cool 122k

You're STILL coping. The Weeknd is a mega star. That's why he's getting hit with these expectations. He's one of the biggest artists in the US in the past 25 years. If he wasn't, no one would have expectations for him.

There are many non-rap artists who don't have nearly as much success as he does, who haven't been popular as long as he has and who aren't household names like he is who drop albums and post massive US streaming numbers but for some reason, he can't do it. That's what's being challenged.

Abel won

This is why you're being called disingenuous. You'll post s*** like this to insist he's a massive force in the US but that doesn't translate to his US streaming numbers whenever he drops an album. I guess now the narrative you want to push is streaming doesn't matter if you can sell stadiums right? But then again, you'll be the first one to post Spotify Monthly Listeners figures and speak endlessly about how the Weeknd has more songs with over 1B streams on Spotify than any other but God forbid anyone hold him to the standard any artist who has achieved those things gets held to. The cope and excuses start flying

Man, you got it. I've proven my point.