Fact Finder - Music

In 2021, 'Stay' by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber became one of the fastest songs ever to reach one billion streams on Spotify. The song is a prime example of the 'hyper-pop' and 'synth-pop' revival of the early 2020s. The track’s driving, 170-BPM tempo and emotionally raw lyrics resonated with a global audience dealing with the isolation of the pandemic. For The Kid LAROI, it marked his first number-one hit, making him the first Australian male solo artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 since Rick Springfield in 1981. The song's success was amplified by its presence on TikTok and a high-budget music video that used 'frozen time' visual effects. It spent seven non-consecutive weeks at number one, proving that shorter songs (it is only 2 minutes and 21 seconds long) are increasingly becoming the standard for modern hit-making.