If there was any doubt that the hype for the Backstreet Boys’ tour of South Africa is building, the newly-released stats from Spotify seems to have put those to bed.
Spotify data for the ’90s’ boy band indicated that in anticipation of their upcoming tour, South Africans are taking a walk down memory lane.
According to Spotify, a mere week after the announcement of their tour was made in February, the average number of Backstreet Boys playlist streams rocketed by 280%.
Unsurprisingly, according to Spotify their most popular song, “I Want It That Way” was streamed the most among all their songs.
The average number of their searches also increased significantly (Spotify noted a 115% increase).
Having observed an increase in streams from other countries where the band has already performed, the streamer is expecting a similar spike in South Africa over the next week ahead of the band’s first concert in Cape Town on May 16.
Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban andouth Africa.
“Nostalgia is such a powerful feeling, and we see how people use Spotify to seek out the music they love that spans the decades on our platform, to amplify that feeling,” shared Warren Bokwe, Sub-Saharan lead Music Strategy and Operations at Spotify.
“The ’90s birthed some of pop music’s greatest hits and was a golden era for boy bands like the Backstreet Boys so it’s not surprising that their music still resonates with local audiences in the streaming era.”
The band’s “DNA World Tour” was initially set to be held in Cape Town and Johannesburg on May 16 at Grand Arena and May 19 at SunBet Arena, but after tickets started selling like hotcakes two extra dates were added: May 17 at the Grand Arena, GrandWest, and May 20 at the SunBet Arena, Time Square.