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Eminem’s “Mockingbird” Hits 1 Billion Spotify Streams Thanks To TikTok

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However you feel about Eminem, odds are that you at least appreciate “Mockingbird,” which many people on TikTok clearly do. The Detroit rapper’s 2004 cut from his album Encore just gained over 1 billion streams on Spotify. For context, the track had half as many streams less than a year ago. Of course, this newfound appreciation for the song can be traced back to one social media giant: TikTok. The platform’s already revived past hits on the charts and shown them to a new audience, whether it’s their original version or a remixed rendition.

In this specific example, some videos with the hashtag #mockingbird received over 1.5 billion plays on the platform. Also, other videos with #mockingbirdeminem gained over 375 million plays. Moreover, the song appears in many ways: a sped-up version (used in over 150,000 videos), covers, the base track, one of the verses, the chorus, and the list goes on. Not only that, but this week (March 17), “Mockingbird” is No. 42 on Spotify’s Global Top Songs chart. It’s four spots ahead of Drake and 21 Savage’s “Rich Flex” and 200,000 streams behind Lil Uzi Vert’s “Just Wanna Rock.” While this track was already a hit, peaking at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, this rediscovery certainly brings a new weight to the song dedicated to Em’s daughter Hailie and niece Alaina.

Eminem’s “Mockingbird” Is A TikTok Favorite

However, Encore as a whole album did not receive the kind of praise that “Mockingbird” got from fans and critics alike. Granted, it still sold very well, going five times platinum in the U.S. alone. Still, “Mockingbird” was a standout track regardless of how its album turned out for many. It’s the seventh song in Eminem’s discography to reach over a billion streams on the platform, along with hits like “Without Me” and “The Real Slim Shady.” Last year, during his XXL 25th Anniversary cover story, Marshall Mathers remarked that Encore‘s reception left him frustrated with himself for some time.

“It became a misstep and I struggled to get over the fact that I didn’t do my best,” the 50-year-old expressed. “My best would’ve been good enough if the leaks hadn’t happened. But I released what I had at that point in time, and I feel that put a kind of a mark on my catalog. Encore did some decent numbers, but I was never that concerned with numbers. I was more so worried about what people think about the album. Critics and fans were important to me, and they were always at me about that project.” Despite that disappointment, “Mockingbird” stands as one of his best songs, and it’s great to see TikTok show some love to an almost nineteen-year-old album. Regardless, come back to HNHH for the latest on Eminem.

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One Of The World’s Biggest Artists Said No To Spotify And Apple Music (But Is All In On Amazon) And Explained Why

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Garth Brooks 2022 Medallion Ceremony at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum 2022
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Garth Brooks is one of the most successful musicians of all time. He has the most diamond-certified albums ever with nine (The Beatles are in second with six). His Garth Brooks World Tour that concluded in 2017 sold 6.3 million tickets, the most ever for a North American tour. He’s also the best-selling solo artist in history when it comes to RIAA certifications. If you want to stream his music, though, you’re out of luck if you use Spotify, Apple Music, or any other platform besides Amazon Music.

In 2016, he signed an exclusive deal with Amazon to bring his music to streaming. Now, he has elaborated on what he saw in Amazon that he didn’t in other services.

As Digital Music News reports, at the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville yesterday (March 13), Brooks said that it has to do with Amazon’s ability to sell physical releases of albums and how that benefits songwriters like himself:

“The fact is that Amazon is a retailer as well. So you can sign your streaming deal, but part of that streaming deal is to move those physical units so the songwriters get paid. And people, we can talk all day that ‘Garth went on to raise his kids, what a great…’ — Garth did that for himself. I stick up for the songwriters because I’m freakin’ one of them! Everything I do for the songwriters, I do for myself.

I’m the most selfish guy you’ve ever met, OK? But if we don’t take care of these songwriters, what do you guys have to play? It’s just tough, so that’s why I love partnering with [Amazon]. So the physical comes in, and nobody’s doing physical anymore. So these songwriters are still doing well.

And I hope that songwriters want to get a Garth Brooks cut. One, because I hope that they think that it would be cool. But two, right behind it closely, I hope it’s because they know that if you’re a Garth Brooks songwriter, you’re going to get paid.”

Given Brooks’ popularity, other platforms have tried to lure him. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek once even had a meeting with Brooks to try to get him on board. In 2017, Brooks said of Spotify and Apple Music:

“Spotify came in, Daniel Ek came down to sit with me, sweet man, I love Daniel, great guy. I think he gets a lot of crap. His parents were both street musicians — he’s a good guy who understands music, and I think he wants to help and believes 100 percent he’s helping.

Apple’s a little different story. They came in with their own set of rules, and if you’re already established, you have to change to get to them. I’m never going to change to fit their rules. Nice guys, we have respect for each other, we’re just never going to work together. So we were kind of dead in the water. Then out of the blue, thank God, Amazon shows up and wants to get into the streaming business. The views they shared seemed to correlate with the views we shared.”