New York Knicks Championship Boosts City Anthems, Oliver Tree's Catalog Sees Surge After Death
Following the New York Knicks' first NBA championship in 53 years, several New York-themed songs experienced significant increases in on-demand streaming. Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind" saw a 30% boost, while Frank Sinatra's "Theme From New York, New York" jumped 62% on June 13-14. Separately, alt-pop artist Oliver Tree's music catalog saw a dramatic spike in streams after his death on June 14. His catalog accumulated nearly 18.3 million streams on June 14-15, a 1,744% increase from the previous week, with hits like "Life Goes On" and "Miss You" leading the surge.
The New York Knicks' recent NBA championship victory, their first in 53 years, prompted a significant surge in streaming for various New York-related songs. According to preliminary reports from Luminate, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind" garnered 1.4 million on-demand chart-eligible streams in the United States on June 13 and 14. This represented a 30% increase from the 1.1 million streams recorded on June 11-12.
Other New York anthems also experienced substantial gains. Frank Sinatra's "Theme From New York, New York" saw 672,000 streams on June 13-14, up 62% from 415,000. Ja Rule's "New York" featuring Fat Joe and Jadakiss increased by 68% to 515,000 streams, and Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" climbed 71% to 190,000 streams. Cam'ron's "Welcome to New York City" and Jesse Itzler's "Go Ny Go" also recorded increases of 62% and 70% respectively during the same period.
In a separate development, the music catalog of alt-pop artist Oliver Tree saw a dramatic increase in streams following his death on June 14. On the day of his passing, Tree's tracks amassed 5.5 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate. This figure then jumped by 135% to 12.8 million streams the following day.
Over the two-day period of June 14-15, Oliver Tree's catalog accumulated nearly 18.3 million streams, marking a 1,744% spike compared to the equivalent two-day period a week prior. His Billboard Hot 100 hits, "Life Goes On" from 2021 and "Miss You" with Robin Schulz from 2022, were among the leading tracks, with stream increases of 1,919% and 1,756% respectively. His 2018 single "Alien Boy" also saw a 1,963% increase in streams.
According to Billboard, the increase in streams for New York-themed songs reflects fan celebrations of the Knicks' championship, while the surge in Oliver Tree's catalog streams indicates audiences mourning his passing.
