Canât stop, wonât stop is a real thing, at least when it comes to Diddyâs music catalog. Sean Combs’ extensive songs, albums, and collaborations have experienced a notable increase in streams following his recent arrest and the unsealing of an indictment against him.
Look, that was expected. People are going to play his music more out of sheer curiosity.
Get this: According to Luminate, a leading industry data and analytics company, Combsâ music, spanning his various monikersâincluding Diddy, Puff Daddy, and P. Diddyâsaw an 18.3% rise in on-demand streams during the week of his arrest compared to the week prior.
George Howard, a professor of music business management at Berklee College of Music, stated, âMusic just becomes another piece of information as people try to comprehend the atrocities,â Howard explained to The Associated Press. âItâs like, âWhat would someone whose brain works like that, allegedly, what would their music sound like?ââ
Moreover, people also noted that many may now associate Combs more with his various business ventures, such as Revolt TV and Ciroc vodka (although heâs no longer affiliated with either), than with his music career.
âThe natural curiosity that these types of charges evoke makes sense,â Howard added. âItâs like driving by a car crash. People want to look.â
Such increases in streaming numbers following controversy are not uncommon. For instance, after a documentary accused R. Kelly of sexual misconduct involving women and underage girls, his streaming numbers nearly doubled.
Howard pointed out that the âanonymizationâ of streaming might contribute to the spike in plays for both Combs and Kelly. âImagine walking into a record store now like, âYeah, I want to buy this Diddy CD,ââ he said.
No matter how you feel about Diddy, heâs made more music than most humans alive, and avoiding it will not be easy, even for those who want to.