Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s original song of "Despacito" and remix featuring Justin Bieber have officially set a new global streaming record. After six months of its release, "Despacito" has already accumulated a total of 4.6 billion streams all over the globe. The hit song is currently number one in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and even some countries in Asia.
'Despacito' overtakes Justin Bieber's 'Sorry'
The phenomenal song surpasses Justine Bieber’s "Sorry" in the number one spot as the most-streamed song with 200 million more streams.
"Despacito” which means “slowly” was released on January 13, but only became popular in the English-speaking world after Justin Bieber added a verse to the original and came up with a remix. Bieber’s version of “Despacito (Remix)” has become one of the favorites on streaming services like Spotify, Google Play, and Apple Music.
CEO of Universal Muiscal Group Lucian Grainge congratulated Fonsi and everyone who made the song number one. “Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee have already the biggest and undisputed best song of the year, and now the song even setting a remarkable record,” Grainge said. According to him, streaming applications have opened up to many avenues for songs with a different beat, language, and culture.
“My congratulations to Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber, as well as to everyone in Universal Latin Entertainment for this tremendous achievement,” he announced.
Streaming will continue to open up for Latin America globally
According to Lucian Grainge, the success of Despacito showed how streaming provides equal opportunity in the music market.
Although the market has been predominantly numbered with English-speaking singers, the industry will continue to open up to everyone globally. "Everywhere and anything is up for grabs," he said.
Many critics are saying that "Despacito" will not be so popular if not because of Justin Bieber's remix. Despite the issue, Grainge does not agree since he knows that whether with or without Bieber, Universal Musical Group would still be able to harness the song's "brand power."
Still, the CEO is very thankful with Justin Bieber for his contribution to the song's success. "We are at one level, and Justin Bieber helps us to go to the next level," he said. Luis Fonsi also expressed his gratitude to Justin Bieber for contributing to the success of the song.
