VMAs Wins: Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan, Benson Boone & More Winning Artists Streams

Welcome to Billboard Pro's Upward trends newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the attention of the music industry. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all could become ubiquitous with the flash of a TikTok clip.

This week: VMA winners and performers get a nice boost in streams and sales, an outpouring of posthumous affection for Frankie Beverly results in huge consumption gains for the Maze catalog, and Britney Spears fans have a very unusual day of celebration for one of them ex.

The VMAs Bump: Chappell Roan, Benson Boone, 'Fortnight' & More of the Night's Winners See Gains

As usual, the big wins from the 41st annual MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday (September 11) came not only on stage, but in the days that followed at DSPs and music retailers. Several of last week's top artists — both in terms of moonshiners taken home and big shows delivered on stage — enjoyed strong gains in consumption of their catalogs and hits after the awards show.

And as has often been the case so far in 2024, perhaps the biggest winner there was Chappell Roan. The rising alt-pop star took home the award for best new artist and also had perhaps the most anticipated (and later highly anticipated) performance of the night, performing the hit “Good Luck, Babe!” in medieval armour, flanked by a line of dancing swordsmen. In the three days following the VMAs (Sept. 12-14), “Good Luck, Babe!” garnered 9.6 million official US on-demand streams and 2,700 digital song sales — gains of 20% and 152%, respectively, from the three days leading up to the VMAs (Sept. 8-10), according to Luminate — while the entire catalog combined for 41.6 million streams and 6,5000 sales in the same period, gains of 22% and 116%, respectively. (In an average week, songs will often stream better Thursday through Saturday than Sunday through Tuesday, though usually not by as much.)

Chappell wasn't the only winning performer to see such gains: Benson Boone, whose impressive and acrobatic rendition of “Beautiful Things” was one of the night's highlights, also saw a 20% streaming gain (to a 6.9 million streams) for His now signature hit in the same period, while also growing 210% in sales (to 3,800). Meanwhile, Karol G missed out on the only award she was nominated for of the night, but her delightful, high-energy performance of current Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hit “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” connected enough with viewers to 25% see it. Streams soared during that time (to 5.7 million) while also seeing a 164% increase in sales (to over 800).

And of course, there was Taylor Swift — who didn't appear on the night, but did take the stage twice to accept the best collaboration and video of the year, along with Post Malone, for their Hot 100-topping team-up “Fortnight.” The night's grand prize winner saw a 26% increase in streams during that period to 3.6 million, while also growing 235% to over 700 sales. – ANDREW UNDERBERGER

Before We Let You Go: Frankie Beverly's Passing Spurs Massive Catalog Gains

Frankie Beverly, an R&B and soul legend who has soundtracked generations of black gatherings from cookouts to graduations, sadly passed away on September 10 at the age of 77, another tragic loss for the music industry this month.

As the iconic voice behind anthems like 1981's “Before I Let Go,” Beverly's music has had an incalculable impact on countless listeners, particularly black Americans, despite a relatively short list of appearances on Bulletin board charts during his six-decade career. According to Luminate, Beverly's catalog streams (credited to Maze feat. Frankie Beverly) increased 970% from just over 690,000 official on-demand streams in the US during September 8-10 to over 7.4 million the three days after his death (September 11-13).

Two of Beverly's biggest hits with Maze, 1980's “Before I Let Go” and “Joy and Pain,” received particularly notable hits. The former, which Beyoncé notably covered in 2019 (and peaked at No. 65 on the Billboard Hot 100), jumped 540% during that time, from 156,000 streams to just over 997,000 streams. Similarly, “Joy and Pain” saw a whopping 1,200% from just over 50,000 to over 654,000 streams. Additionally, Beverly's death also prompted fans to purchase tracks across his discography, with him and Maze's catalog seeing a 9,308% increase in sales activity. During September 8-10, they sold just 95 digital tracks. From September 11th to 13th, that number grew to over 8,900 digital tracks sold. – KYLE DENNIS

Want a song blasted on Streaming as a Kevin Federline Diss? You are better “work bitch”

Last Thursday (September 12), Jayden James Federline, the youngest son of Britney Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline, turned 18 — and Britney fans were well aware of it, having circled the date in their calendars as the reported end by Spears. Child support payments to Federline now that their two sons were no longer minors. Although reports of those child support payments ending last week have been disputed, fans got in on a little Federline dip on the big day by streaming Spears' 2013 single “Work Bitch” — that is, the song in which the pop superstar declares that if you want anything extra in this life, you better work for it (bitch).

The lampooning resulted in tangible streaming gains for the track: US official daily on-demand streams for “Work Bitch” jumped 35% between Sept. 11 and 12, from 47,000 streams to 64,000 streams, according to Luminate. It's time to ask what Britney Jean The track could get a similar revival — maybe “Chillin With You” with Jamie Lynn if Spears and her sister ever make amends? – JASON LIPSHUTZ