Kavinsky's 'Nightcall' Soared After 2024 Olympics Closing Ceremony

In the wake of the 2024 Olympics Closing Ceremony that was largely about French indie and electronic music, one of the featured songs — Kavinsky's 2010 electronic classic “Nightcall” — saw a big surge in streaming.

As of Saturday (Aug. 10), the day before the closing ceremony in Paris, “Nightcall” had a total of 281,000 global on-demand streams, according to Luminate. On the day of the performance on Sunday (August 11), the track had 358,000 global on-demand streams. And on Monday (August 12), the day after the ceremony, the track grew to 789,000 global on-demand streams — a 120.2% increase from the previous day. On Tuesday (August 13), the song maintained its momentum, with 897,000 total global on-demand streams.

“Nightcall” is the title track from Kavinsky's 2010 EP and was written by French producer and Daft Punk member Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. the track also features heavily on the soundtrack for the 2011 film Guide. Kavinsky performed the song during a Closing Ceremony performance that also featured French indie outfit Phoenix, French indie electronic duo Air and a medley of covers by French electronic duo Justice.

According to data provided to Bulletin board by Shazam, “Nightcall” also created the most Shazamed minute ever for the app at 4:50 p.m. ET on Sunday, when Kavinsky was performing the song. (The top three Shazaming countries during that minute were France, the United States and Mexico.) That beat the record set by “Supernature,” the 1977 track by French disco legend Cerrone, when during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26.

“Nightcall” also broke the record for the most Shazamed song in one day ever, followed by two Phoenix tracks performed at the Closing Ceremony: “Lisztomania” and “If I Ever Feel Better.”

The hit also crossed continents: Shazam reports that Closing Ceremony performer Billie Eilish had her biggest day ever on the app after performing “Birds of a Feather.”