In the wake of a 2024 Olympics Closing Ceremony that dealt heavily in French indie and electronic music, one of the featured songs — Kavinsky‘s 2010 electronic classic “Nightcall” — has experienced a major streaming surge.
On Saturday (Aug. 10), the day before the Closing Ceremony was held in Paris, “Nightcall” had 281,000 total global on-demand streams, according to Luminate. The day of the performance on Sunday (Aug. 11), the track clocked 358,000 global on-demand streams. And on Monday (Aug. 12), the day after the ceremony, the track surged to 789,000 global on-demand streams — a 120.2% increase over the day prior. On Tuesday (Aug. 13), the song maintained its momentum, with 897,000 total global on demand streams.
“Nightcall” is the title track from Kavinsky’s 2010 EP and was written by French producer and Daft Punk member Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo; the track also features heavily on the soundtrack for the 2011 film Drive. Kavinsky played the song during a Closing Ceremony performance that also presented French indie outfit Phoenix, French indie electronic duo Air and a medley of covers of tracks by French electronic duo Justice.
According to data provided to Billboard by Shazam, “Nightcall” also generated the most Shazamed minute ever for the app at 4:50 p.m. ET on Sunday when Kavinsky was performing the song. (The top three Shazaming countries during this minute were France, the United States and Mexico.) This topped the record set by “Supernature,” the 1977 track by French disco legend Cerrone, during the 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony on July 26.
“Nightcall” also broke the record for the most Shazamed song in a single day ever, followed by two Phoenix tracks performed at the Closing Ceremony: “Lisztomania” and “If I Ever Feel Better.”
The bump also crossed continents: Shazam reports that Closing Ceremony performer Billie Eilish had her biggest day ever on the app after she performed “Birds of a Feather.”
