Music sales may be down as a whole, both in terms of albums and songs, but that doesn't mean there aren't records to be broken. The acts on this list all managed to set a mark during 2014, some more impressive than others.
"Wake Me Up!" Becomes The Most Streamed Song of All Time
No topic is hotter within music than streaming, what many imagine will be the biggest source of music distribution in the near future. That makes it more than relevant that Avicii managed to grab the record for the most streamed song of all time with his 2013 single "Wake Me Up!" earlier this year. The track had been played more than 200 million times at the time the record was set and that's sure to have gone up since. That's good for the EDM star as much of the debate over the format is in regard to how little musicians are paid per stream...the track's vocalist and songwriter Aloe Blacc said just as much later in the year.
X Sets Record for Most Streams for First-Week Album
Another record was set on Spotify during 2014, this one for albums. Ed Sheeran and his new set X broke the short-lived record Daft Punk set during 2013 with its own collection Random Access Memories for most streams within an album's first week on the service. Sheeran's album got nearly 6.5 million streams during its first week, beating out Punk by around 60,000 streams overall. This was one record that the pop star couldn't have grabbed without help from his homeland: He's currently the best-selling performer in terms of sales and streams in the UK for 2014.
Nicki Minaj Gets More Vevo Views in a 24-Hour Period Than Anyone
Another major player in the internet-driven era of music is the music video and trying to find clips that will go viral. Nicki Minaj grabbed our ears (but mostly our eyes) with her controversial "Anaconda" video. As you might be able to predict based on the album art, this video features plenty of good looks at Minaj's most curvaceous asset. We're sure that the majority of the 19.6 million people who watched "Anaconda" in its first 24-hours were doing it strictly for an aural appreciation. To further our case that it's all about the music and not about nudity: Minaj took the record from Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball."
Jason Aldean Most Downloaded Male in Country Music History
Some people are still buying music, and if any genre scene is responsible you know it's got to be country fans. Thereby it's impressive that Jason Aldean comes out on top for total downloads for a male solo performer (although admittedly Garth Brooks just made his discography available for download for the first time ever this year. That might have thrown a wrench in Aldean's record breaking). Although he tops the charts for men in country music, he's still got a couple of gals to catch up to, including Carrie Underwood and...dang. What's that other lady's name?
Taylor Swift Dominates Adult Pop Songs Chart
Oh right. Taylor Swift. Although she's formally ditched country music, she's still the belle of the music industry ball, going platinum in one week with 1989 and topping both the downloads chart and Hot 100 with various singles. The first song to drop from her new album, "Shake It Off," became the first song to debut within the Top 10 for the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart, opening at no. 9. That might not seem impressive but cracking into the Top 10 on any genre chart in your debut week is no joke. You need a lot of help from radio...which Swift got. Clear Channel had its stations playing the single on the hour, helping the song chart without major download numbers.
Bruno Mars Brings in Biggest Super Bowl Halftime Audience Ever
Music sales may be down but fortunately concert performances are not. Everyone knows that the biggest stage in music is the Super Bowl halftime show as millions of football fans stick around for huge performances from huge performers. This year's performer, Bruno Mars, might not have been the biggest name in the game's history but he and his guest the Red Hot Chili Peppers did manage to grab the biggest audience in the show's history: The act brought in 115.3 million viewers, narrowly edging the 114 million that Madonna attained for her 2012 appearance.
The Book of Mormon Earns Biggest Gross for Traveling Broadway Show
Two musicals vie for the most attention brought to Broadway in recent years: The Book of Mormon and Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark, and only one of those is for the right reasons. When Mormon went on tour earlier this year it managed to grab the highest weekly gross in the history of touring Broadway productions. The production stopped at Atlanta's Fox Theatre for eight gigs over seven days, selling out each show (nearly 4,700 tickets at each) and made $2,802,606 in the process. The show was making $19 million a month between tickets and merchandise while hanging out in New York.
The Eagles Get Biggest Record...Literally
All these records. What about a record for the biggest record? Say what? That's what The Eagles did with its 1977 classic Hotel California as part of a promotional campaign for the group's six-night concert campaign at The Forum in Los Angeles. The disco was more than 407 feet in diameter and featured 15,000 LED lights to help those flying into Los Angeles International be able to see it at night. We at Music Times take issue with this record: Although it spins (at 17 mph), it's not actually capable of playing music, even with the world's largest stylus. No music, no record.
