Who’s Bumping Up the View Count? An Analysis of Mariah Carey’s YouTube Fans Around the World

While Mariah Carey’s success during the peak of her career in the early 90s and 2000s is well documented and legendary, her longevity and continued dominance in this modern era of streaming and video on demand has been spectacular. Amassing a mind-blowing 1.66 billion Youtube views in just the past 12 months alone, it’s only natural to wonder where these incredible numbers are coming from. And given her international appeal and popularity spanning multiple decades, you may have wondered which countries are listening to which songs. After doing some research, we discovered some fascinating facts.

Mariah and the YouTube Platform

YouTube is one of the world’s most popular websites, offering unlimited content, diverse creators, and an entertainment experience unlike any other. Not only is it an accessible and entertaining platform, but it’s also transformed the way we consume media, enabling us to engage with content and creators on a personal level. Currently, 122 million users watch over 1 billion hours of YouTube videos daily. With the rise of YouTube VEVO, artists have had a platform to place their music videos online and earn income from their video views, combatting piracy. VEVO has reportedly paid the music industry an average of USD 0.0022 per view, and with many artists reaching millions and even billions of views, consumer usage has forced music charts across the world to reflect these numbers, as well as equivalent sales certifications. This advancement has changed the music industry, allowing artists to reach a broader and more diverse global audience, creating a wider selection of music, and improving access to different genres. By making entertainment more accessible and interactive, YouTube has made a profound impact on both consumer behavior and the music industry as a whole.

Mariah Carey has shown her continued relevance in the new era by outperforming many of her 90s peers in the streaming game. Although she has released no new albums in the past year, she has gathered 1.66 billion views on YouTube in 12 months alone, totaling almost 7 billion views in total. If the values mentioned above are an accurate average, this translates to USD 3.43 million in revenue for Mariah and her entire team, just from YouTube, in only one year.

So which countries are watching Mariah’s videos?

And are they all viewing the same songs? While there are many factors beyond simple devotion to Carey’s music, such as a country’s population size, internet accessibility and overall cultural YouTube usage, we will still provide you with the top 10 countries (and some other notable ones) contributing to Mariah Carey’s global YouTube numbers:

1. United States of America

Unsurprisingly, Mariah Carey’s videos continue to garner incredible views in the United States, with 405 million views in the past year alone. While Los Angeles and New York are responsible for 34 million of those views, that still leaves a lot of viewing across the entire American territory. This enduring popularity is reminiscent of both her status as the most certified female artist by the RIAA and her impressive record of 19 Billboard chart-topping singles, including One Sweet Day, We Belong Together, and as time goes by, All I Want for Christmas Is You. It would only make sense that in a country with so many accolades throughout her career, the views keep on raking in.

2. Brazil

Moving to Brazil, Mariah Carey’s chart history reveals interesting insights. Her song “I Want to Know What Love Is” holds the title of her most popular song in Brazil to date. The song’s six-month reign at number one was fueled by its prominent usage in the telenovela “Viver a Vida” where it served as the recurring soundtrack for the main love couple storyline. In the past 12 months, Brazil has contributed a remarkable 142 million views to Mariah’s YouTube videos. São Paulo leads as the city with the highest viewership, accumulating 20.9 million views, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 10.9 million views.

3. Philippines

Surprisingly, the Philippines secures the third position in Mariah Carey’s global viewership rankings. Despite selling only 875 thousand albums in the market to date, Filipino fans have displayed their adoration for Mariah through high streaming numbers. Many attribute this phenomenon to the Filipinos’ love for karaoke, where Mariah’s classics become the perfect showstoppers. Notably, “Love Takes Time” continues to receive significant radio airplay and makes frequent appearances on airplay charts. Quezon City and Manila emerge as the two cities with the highest viewership, accumulating 20.1 million and 10.1 million views, respectively. However, Mariah’s viewership extends far beyond these cities, with a staggering 140 million views countrywide. This widespread popularity is reflected in the current presence of three of her albums, “E=MC2,” “Emancipation,” and “Daydream,” on the Philippines Spotify charts. Additionally, her hit single “Touch My Body” is steadily climbing the Shazam charts, currently sitting at number 40.

4. United Kingdom

Moving across the Atlantic, Mariah’s impact in the United Kingdom is apparent. While not as great a chart-topper as in the US, she has managed to sell over 5 million albums in the Queen’s territory. The city of London alone was responsible for 15 million views in the past year, contributing to the UK’s total of 60 million views. Mariah Carey’s top hits in the UK align with her European choice of hits, with the most successful songs being “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” “Without You,” “Fantasy,” “We Belong Together,” and the version of “Against All Odds” that features Westlife.

5. France

France provides an intriguing surprise in Mariah’s viewership rankings. Although on a personal note, we once accidentally purchased 20 copies of “All I Want for Christmas Is You”, so we ended up selling the remaining 18 copies online, and interestingly, all the buyers were from France.

Although her success has not translated into chart-topping achievements, “Without You” introduced Mariah and took France by storm, and her Diamond-certified “Music Box” album remains her best-selling album in the country which may help understand the streaming fuel. Paris alone contributed 10.9 million views while overall, France tallied a total of 40.9 million views. It is worth noting that France’s top 20 is primarily composed of French-speaking artists, making Mariah’s presence as one of the highest-viewed non-French artists in 2023 all the more remarkable.

6. South Africa

Moving to the southern tip of Africa, Mariah’s popularity shines through in South Africa. Cape Town stands out with an impressive 11.1 million views in the past year. South Africa, as a whole, has accumulated 41.3 million views. Curiously, Mariah’s singles “Endless Love” and “We Belong Together” recently entered the South African Spotify charts at number 166 and 41, respectively. Additionally, while “Heartbreaker,” “I’ll Be There,” and “Endless Love” were her only number-one hits in the country, all five singles from her debut album spent an astonishing 55 weeks on the South African charts, with more than half of those weeks for Vision of Love and Love Takes Time. This just shows South Africans have been with Mariah since the beginning and are here to stay.

7. Indonesia

Indonesia proves to be an unexpected market in Mariah Carey’s viewership statistics coming in at 7th place. Despite having only sold 1.3 million albums in Indonesia alone, it’s still an impressive feat given that the top 20 best-selling albums in the country solely belong to Indonesian artists, Mariah’s YouTube videos have attracted 36.5 million views from Indonesian viewers. Jakarta leads the country’s viewership, contributing close to 9 million views.

8. Canada

Mariah’s popularity extends across Canada, with Toronto emerging as the top viewing city responsible for 5 million views out of a total of 32.8 million. Historically, Mariah Carey has achieved 11 number-one songs on the Canadian Hot 100 chart. Her best-selling albums in the country include “Mariah Carey,” “Music Box,” and “Daydream” which have achieved 7 times platinum certifications, reflecting their immense success. Notably, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” holds the status of being her best-selling single in Canada, reaching Canadian Diamond status in October 2022. With these numbers, it comes as no surprise that Canadians love to tune in to watch Mariah on YouTube.

9. Mexico

Mexico presents yet another surprise in Mariah Carey’s viewership rankings. Despite her total album sales in the country falling short of 1 million, and her music not currently charting on any platforms, Mexico has contributed almost 33 million views to her tally in the past year. While her holiday hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” rises early in cold weather countries such as Iceland, Norway and Sweden, it doesn’t usually become a massive chart-topper in warmer climate countries. However Mariah did release Spanish versions of Hero, Open Arms and My All to tailor to Spanish speaking countries and Mexico’s viewership shows a significant level of engagement even without substantial sales or audio streaming numbers.

10. Thailand

Lastly, Thailand concludes the list with a respectable 30.6 million views, with Bangkok accounting for half of these views (16.5 million). Mariah Carey has sold fewer than 300 thousand albums in Thailand, yet her impact is still notable considering that the best-selling foreign album in the country has sold around the same number of copies. “The Emancipation of Mimi” stands as her most successful album there, with reported sales of 40,000 copies featuring in Thailand’s all-time Top 50 album sales. Streaming has played a crucial role in Mariah’s everlasting success in Thailand and TikTok has not shied from making its mark with viral videos: “Touch My Body” is currently sitting at number 21 on the country’s Shazam charts 15 years after its release which shows a lot of musical discovery yet to come.

What we didn’t find in the Top 10

Despite her massive success in Japan, it does not appear in the top 10 countries for Mariah Carey’s YouTube viewership. However, this can be attributed to the fact that Japan primarily uses an alternative video-sharing site called nicovideo.jp, resulting in limited YouTube usage. Nonetheless, Japan ranks as the 13th country that viewed Mariah’s videos the most.

South Korea, known for its love of Mariah Carey, has a significant number of album sales to attest to her popularity. However, due to its smaller population of less than 60 million (Indonesia has 274 million), South Korea does not feature in the top 10 countries. Nevertheless, it still holds the 15th position with 21.4 million views.

China is known for its complexity in obtaining accurate sales data, but when it comes to video streaming platforms such as YouTube, there’s no data to collect: the platform is banned in mainland China.

Surprisingly, number 20 in the list of countries that viewed the most Mariah Carey videos over the past year is Jamaica. With a total population of only 2.8 million people, Jamaicans have still managed to view her videos 24.4 million times, which is equivalent to 9 views per inhabitant! While Christmas tunes aren’t typically a Jamaican common consumption habit, and YouTube is frequently played all day long in many establishments, Jamaicans have nevertheless demonstrated some love for Mariah Carey.

So what’s next for Mariah Carey on the platform?

YouTube was created in 2005 and its viewership has increased yearly as seen on the graph. With a total of 7 billion views, 1.56 billion are from the past year alone making it clear that Mariah’s numbers are certain to continue accompanying the company’s growth. While her country’s popularity is undoubtedly influenced by multiple factors, it is remarkable to see how she has captured the hearts of fans not only in historically Mariah-loving countries but also in unexpected markets. From the USA to Thailand to Jamaica, Mariah’s music resonates with diverse audiences worldwide.

Despite variations in album sales and past chart success, her YouTube viewership proves her enduring and universal appeal. Mariah Carey’s impact on the music industry remains unparalleled, and her influence continues to captivate fans across the globe. As fans we have hope for new releases with Ratner-style videos and consequently, a peak in daily average views. Resuscitating her classics on other social media platforms has also become a great impulse for gaining new audiences. But we also know Mariah has always surprises in store for us so while we enjoy her music and videos, you can also accompany her daily video view growth here.