Apple Music reveals who holds the record for most new album streams so far this year

We’re more than halfway through 2023 and Apple Music has shared today which artist holds the record for the most first-day streams of an album. Have a guess? Hint, as it turns out, it’s not Taylor Swift…

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It’s been five years since rapper Travis Scott released his hit album ASTROWORLD which increased the hype for this summer’s “UTOPIA.” Now Apple Music has announced that his new release has set a record for first-day streams on the platform for 2023.

UTOPIA arrived just a few days ago on July 28 and is really more like a double album with 19 tracks. And the record includes superstar guests like Beyoncé and Drake.

Here’s how Apple Music’s editors describe the new album:

Without fail, Scott delivers something only he could have delivered, a thoroughly riveting album that transmutes star power and experimental artistry into a marvelous musical monument. The opening boom-bap bombast of “HYAENA,” the funkadelic crunch of “MODERN JAM,” and the proggy thump of “CIRCUS MAXIMUS” are just a few examples of how he has so lavishly expanded his sonic universe with this record. He now seems to enjoy a certain austerity, as on “I KNOW ?” and “LOST FOREVER,” but remains incapable of completely escaping the maximalist thrills of his past.

The deliberately concealed guest list contains quite a few stars and superstars, and shrewd listeners may enjoy trying to identify them all without a cheat sheet. Drake’s unmistakable baritone leads the shape-shifting “MELTDOWN,” while Playboi Carti unspools his magnificent mumble over the buzzy “FE!N.” But when Beyoncé arrives for “DELRESTO (ECHOES),” its muted club contents echoing her own dance music renaissance, she provides a big diva energy that luxuriates amid Scott’s cutting edge.

Apple Music shared the news about UTOPIA taking the record for most first-day streams of an album for 2023 on social media. That’s an impressive feat considering other 2023 hit releases like Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).”