KYGO SETS SPOTIFY SPEED RECORD

Norwegian producer/DJ Kygo (Ultra/RCA) is now the fastest artist to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify, pulling off that feat in just 12 months, the Swedish streaming service revealed today.

Kygo, who was recently named Spotify’s Breakout Artist of 2015, is the first Spotlight artist to hit the billion-streams milestone. The year-long Spotlight campaign helped launch five singles, including “Firestone” (336m streams) and “Stole the Show” (305m). Kygo has built up 50k followers to his Daylist Playlist, and 127k followers to Originals & Remixes. He’s currently the 20th-most-streamed artist on Spotify and has 14m monthly listeners.

RCA Chairman/CEO Peter Edge pronounced Kygo’s new speed record “an incredible achievement for a truly special artist… Spotify has been a fantastic partner in allowing him to share his music with the world. We are excited for what 2016 will bring for Kygo both in the United States and worldwide, as he hits the road and continues to share his unique sound and vision with his devoted fans.”

“For me, one key factor in Kygo being so successful on Spotify is down to the teams at Sony and Ultra totally embracing Spotify both as a partner and as a platform,” Spotify Sr. Account Manager Chris Stoneman offered.”

Ultra’s Patrick Moxey praised Kygo as “one of the most exciting new artists in the world,” while Toby Andrews, Head of Electronic Music Marketing for Sony Music International, stated, “We’ve spent the past 18 months carefully developing Kygo as a worldwide brand and a forward-thinking artist, and to cap off 2015 with this achievement sets a perfect stage for his debut album."