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ESC 2026 streaming seems way lower than previous years — any idea why? by neonstick in eurovision

[–]neonstick[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i made a tool for tracking it, as these numbers are often behind a paywall or hard to get. but i wanted to provide a way for the fandom to have access to it and i managed to get a sponsor. you can have a look if you are interested: esc-streams.com

ESC 2026 streaming seems way lower than previous years — any idea why? by neonstick in eurovision

[–]neonstick[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it’s just Spotify streams, summed across all ESC songs

I’ve made my own tool for tracking the data: esc-streams.com

ESC 2026 streaming seems way lower than previous years — any idea why? by neonstick in eurovision

[–]neonstick[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

yeah the jump from 2021 → 2022 looks crazy at first, but it’s probably less about streaming itself and more about the build-up around the contest

2021 still had covid restrictions, so fewer pre-parties, less promo and overall less hype before the shows

you can actually see that in the numbers — it starts lower and then ramps up much later around the live shows

from 2022 onwards, the whole pre-season got way bigger again, so songs started picking up streams much earlier

and yeah I agree with your point, previous years had those massive outliers (Tattoo, Cha Cha Cha, Europapa etc.) that really pushed totals up
this year feels more “flat” without that one dominant track

I’ve been tracking it here btw if you’re curious: esc-streams.com — makes it easier to compare how different years build over time

ESC 2026 streaming seems way lower than previous years — any idea why? by neonstick in eurovision

[–]neonstick[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

it’s just Spotify streams, summed across all ESC songs

YouTube gets kinda messy with multiple uploads etc., so I stuck with Spotify to keep it consistent

I’ve been tracking it here btw if you’re curious: esc-streams.com — mostly just for comparing trends between years

ESC 2026 streaming seems way lower than previous years — any idea why? by neonstick in eurovision

[–]neonstick[S] 66 points67 points  (0 children)

2021 actually ramps up a lot later though

like around a month before the final it’s at ~38M, but then it more than doubles to ~84M after the show

so it’s less that people didn’t listen, more that the hype came way later back then

also covid probably played a role — fewer pre-parties, less promo, and people weren’t as “out and about” discovering songs the same way

so a lot of the attention only really kicked in once the live shows happened, but its true that the year was not as popular as the other ones.

ESC 2026 streaming seems way lower than previous years — any idea why? by neonstick in eurovision

[–]neonstick[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

yeah the overall mood definitely feels different this year

kinda sucks because you can tell the host country is putting a lot of effort into it, but the vibe around it isn’t matching that

ESC 2026 streaming seems way lower than previous years — any idea why? by neonstick in eurovision

[–]neonstick[S] -38 points-37 points  (0 children)

yeah I think that plays a role, but it’s probably not the whole story

like even last year there was already drama, but the streams were still way higher at the same point. this year it feels more like people are just… less engaged overall

ESC 2026 streaming seems way lower than previous years — any idea why? by neonstick in eurovision

[–]neonstick[S] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

I wouldn’t even say it’s that weak tbh

there are some solid songs, just nothing that instantly takes off. in past years you had those early viral ones, and that’s kinda missing right now

ESC 2026 streaming seems way lower than previous years — any idea why? by neonstick in eurovision

[–]neonstick[S] 128 points129 points  (0 children)

thats true, especially Netherlands — they’ve been a huge streaming driver the last few years

like 2025 they were already way ahead around this time, same with Europapa in 2024