Drake has accomplished a lot this year. The
“Nothing Was the Same” rapper has won at almost
everything he’s done.
From releasing two No. 1 albums to fighting off
embattled foe Meek Mill in a rap beef, 2015
produced a streak of good fortune for the Toronto
native. But that might be about to end according to
Yahoo Finance.
His hit single “Hotline Bling” had been
skyrocketing up the Billboard charts in recent
weeks, but seems to now be stagnant in the No. 2
spot on the list behind The Weeknd’s “The Hills.”
When the “Hotline Bling” video was released, the
internet went insane. So how could that possibly
not push “Hotline Bling” past “The Hills” on a chart
that now takes into account YouTube and other
streaming views and listens?
There’s only one real possible answer: Drake’s
exclusive deal with Apple Music.
Because of the rapper’s partnership with the
streaming service (rumoured to be worth as much
as $19 million), everything Drake releases is
available only on Apple Music for its first week.
And because Apple doesn’t report views to Nielsen
Music, all of the millions of views the video surely
accumulated over the course of the week — when it
was available free on the otherwise paid Apple
service — didn’t count toward Billboard’s rankings.
Essentially, it’s as if Drake’s “Hotline Bling” video
had zero views until it was released on Vevo this
Monday.
