TV Ratings: Grammys Climb On CBS, Spotify Streams Jump

The Grammy Awards were good for CBS, which drew an estimated 9.6 million viewers to the network on Sunday night, a 3% increase from last year. Bloomberg reports it was even better for some of the artists who won the music industry’s highest awards, as many saw their listeners surge on streaming services.

Band leader Jon Batiste, who led all artists in nominations going into Sunday’s ceremony, took home trophies including best music video and best American roots performance. Streams on of his song “Freedom” were up 2,900% in the hour following the broadcast versus the same period the week before, according to data provided by Spotify Technology SA. Silk Sonic, the R&B duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, which swept the awards in all categories nominated, including record and song of the year, saw a 180% bump in streaming on Spotify.

The increased interest in the music awards stemmed in part from the drama at the Oscars last weekend, when actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage. At the Grammys, Kanye West was dropped as presenter after making comments that got him banned on Instagram, adding to the social media buzz in the days leading up to the ceremony.

The show also had compelling moments, including a video message from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and a moving tribute to Foo Fighters’ drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died last week while on tour.