"That's a retirement plan": Internet reacts as The Weeknd becomes the first artist with 29 songs over 1 billion Spotify streams

The Weeknd has set a new benchmark in global music streaming history. The Canadian singer has officially extended his record as the artist with the most songs that have surpassed one billion streams on Spotify. The number of tracks is 29. The announcement comes weeks after his hit "Blinding Lights" became the first song to cross five billion streams on the platform.

Fans reacted to The Weeknd's latest achievement, stating:

"Twenty-nine songs over a billion streams? That’s not even a record anymore, that’s a retirement plan. At this point Spotify should just rename the platform “The Weeknd & Friends." Man drops one track and suddenly everyone’s playlist starts orbiting around it like a satellite. What’s wild is that half of us streamed “Blinding Lights” so much during lockdown it basically carried the pandemic economy. Now he’s extending records while some artists still begging for their first million plays. Give this man a new challenge like trying to release a song without breaking the internet in 24 hours.💀"

Internet reactions to The Weeknd becoming the first artist with 29 songs over 1 billion Spotify streams

Pop Crave took to its official X (formerly Twitter) platform to announce that,

"The Weeknd extends his record as the artist with the most songs with over 1 billion streams on Spotify (29)."

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Fans soon jumped into the comment section of the X post to pen their thoughts about The Weeknd's latest Spotify milestone. Below are some of their remarks:

"Top 5 artists with over 1 billion streams: The Weeknd 29. Drake 23. Bad Bunny 22. Ariana Grande 21. Taylor Swift 18", shared an X user.

"he took my darkest 3 am thoughts and turned them into hits that could fill stadiums... respect 💜", expressed another.

"It's a staggering monument to the modern music industry's shift from creating cultural moments to manufacturing perpetual, low effort consumption. This record doesn't necessarily speak to the depth of his artistry, but to his masterful understanding of the playlist economy crafting sonically consistent, emotionally flatlined tracks that function as perfect background noise for a global audience. Each billion-stream song is less a classic and more a unit of frictionless content, optimized to avoid the skip button. He hasn't just broken a record; he's perfected the art of being inoffensively ubiquitous.", penned a third.

Others also chimed in:

"The Weeknd’s just farming billions like it’s nothing, I thought Taylor would be up there?", shared a netizen.

"At this point, The Weeknd’s competing with himself, man’s basically the algorithm.", declared another.

"Wow, 29 songs over 1 billion streams? The Weeknd is practically running Spotify at this point!", commented a third.

Recently, The Weeknd talked about his stage name. He mentioned:

"[I am closing the chapter] on my existence as the Weeknd. It is a headspace I have gotta get into that I just don’t have any more desire for. I feel like it comes with so much… You have a persona, but then you have the competition of it all. It becomes this rat race: more accolades, more success, more shows, more albums, more awards and more No. 1s. It never ends until you end it."

Following his After Hours Til Dawn world tour, The Weeknd is set to hit the road again in 2026 with international shows. The tour will cover Latin America and Europe. A complete itinerary for The Weeknd's 2026 tour is as follows: