In a surprising twist in the music world, Spotify has issued an apology after mistakenly announcing record-breaking achievements for rapper Drake. The confusion arose during the highly anticipated release of his three new albums, which sent shockwaves through global music platforms and left fans buzzing with excitement.
On May 15, Drake made a grand return with “Iceman,” “Habibti,” and “Maid of Honour,” causing a significant spike in streaming activity that even led to temporary outages on Spotify and Apple Music. Initially, the platform reported that Drake had shattered multiple records, claiming he became the most streamed artist in a single day for 2026, with “Iceman” as the most streamed album, and his track “Make Them Cry” as the most streamed song of the day.
However, the excitement quickly turned to scrutiny. Fans pointed out that “Make Them Cry,” which garnered 13.2 million streams on its release day, was not the highest debut. In fact, BTS’s “Swim,” released earlier on March 20, had achieved an impressive 14.6 million streams on its first day, making it the top debut song of 2026.
Faced with mounting criticism, Spotify conducted an internal investigation and ultimately acknowledged an error in their reporting. They clarified that the initial stream counts were incorrectly tallied due to manual verification processes. While Drake still holds the title for the most streams by an artist in a single day this year, the platform has since revised its records to reflect the accurate achievements of both artists.
Despite the clarification, the debate continues among fans. Many BTS supporters have taken to social media to assert that “Swim” rightfully deserves recognition for its record-breaking debut. However, it’s important to note that while “Swim” is celebrated for its impressive launch, the title for the most streamed song in a single day still belongs to Bad Bunny’s “DtMF,” which racked up 16.5 million streams after a Super Bowl performance in February.
Even with the confusion surrounding the records, Drake remains a dominant force in the streaming world, amassing a staggering 250 million streams across his new releases. Among these, “Make Them Cry” stands out as his most popular track from the recent albums.
As fans continue to debate the implications of these record-breaking claims, one question lingers: how will this controversy shape the ongoing rivalry between BTS and Drake in the ever-evolving music landscape?
