One Week Later: How Did We Receive Mariah Carey’s Music Box 30th Anniversary?

Music Box: 30th Anniversary Edition by Mariah Carey still delivering the goods, one week since its release. We’ve analyzed the Spotify streams, revealing the top tracks, the most listened-to tracks that continue to deliver, and more. Discover our extensive analysis one week later.

A week after the highly anticipated release of Music Box: 30th Anniversary Edition by Mariah Carey, we delivered our promise upon the release article and we’ve taken a deep dive into the Spotify streams.

With previously unreleased tracks like “My Prayer” and “Workin’ Hard“, new remixes, and her iconic live performance at the Proctor’s Theatre, fans around the world have been treated to an abundance of content. So, how did the album fare on the streaming platform? 

With a staggering 34 million+ copies sold worldwide, Music Box and the additional tracks previously available on Spotify already had a major impact before the 30th Anniversary edition was released. With 659,727,386 total streams before the release, Music Box was already a huge success.

While Music Box and the additional tracks previously available on Spotify already had a respectable number of streams, much of the 659,727,386 total streams was owed to the iconic hits “Hero” and “Without You”, which contributed greatly to the impressive number.

This number is just a small part of the album’s overall success, as the 439,818 equivalent album sales on Spotify alone add to Music Box’s already staggering worldwide sales.

 

Music Box’s Classic Tracks: A Look at Our Streaming Habits Before the Anniversary Release

Before last Friday’s release of Music Box: 30th Anniversary Edition, lambs and fans alike were streaming the album an average of 350,000 times daily. The vast majority of these listens were dedicated to “Hero“, “Without You“, and “Endless Love“, with other popular cuts such as “Dreamlover” and “Anytime You Need a Friend” garnering around 30,000 and 11,000 streams per day, respectively. The remaining tracks were streamed daily on average less than 4,000 times apiece.

In addition to the iconic tracks from the original version of Music Box, the newly added tracks previously available on Spotify, such as “Dreamlover Def Club Mix” and “Anytime You Need a Friend C&C Club Version“, were only bringing in a fraction of the streams, falling below 500 streams daily. A snapshot of the album’s daily performance before the 30th Anniversary release is illustrated below.

Streaming Magic: The Day Before the Release of Music Box’s 30th Anniversary Edition

We couldn’t wait until midnight, so as soon as the 30th Anniversary edition of Music Box’s track listing was announced, we prepared our ears and streams with excitement in anticipation for the surprise to come. And it didn’t disappoint, as the album’s daily streams increased by 6.7% overall with the previously available songs, with tracks like “Do You Think of Me?” shooting up from 714 to 1796 streams in one day. Below is the full breakdown for each song’s streaming numbers leading up to the Anniversary release day.

The Day Has Finally Arrived: Music Box 30th Anniversary Edition Released

On September 9th, 2023, the 30th Anniversary Edition of Music Box was finally released to the public across all platforms. With an unprecedented 800,000 streams that day, fans were on standby to listen to the album the moment it was available.

With “Hero” and “Without You” remaining in the 100 thousand mark, other album cuts also saw a significant uptick in numbers, such as “Anytime You Need a Friend” which saw a duplication in daily streams, and “Now That I Know” and “Everything Fades Away” seeing a quintuple in daily streams.

In addition to the iconic tracks from the original version of Music Box, other songs previously available on Spotify that were now added to the expanded Music Box collection for the anniversary album soared in their daily streams. Songs such as “Anytime You Need A Friend – Soul Convention Remix” or “Dreamlover – Live at Proctor’s Theater” increased by over 1000% in streams.

While the excitement and anticipation around Music Box 30th Anniversary Edition drove a lot of the listening on the release day, it was indeed the novelty of the previously unheard tracks such as “Workin’ Hard” and “My Prayer” that sparked a lot of our repeat listens. The two newly added tracks, in particular, dominated the release day streams with “Workin’ Hard” leading in the numbers game with 45,112 streams and “My Prayer” coming in as our second most streamed track on the day with 29,143 streams.

 

In the third and final disc of Music Box 30th Anniversary Edition, Mariah Carey delivers an epic performance from the Proctor’s Theater. All the tracks from the live performance garnered streams that ranged from 5,000 to 10,000 on the album’s release day, with the top spot landing on the timeless “Emotions” at 10,208 streams.

While albums typically have a high-performance spike on their release date, we were interested in seeing how Music Box 30th Anniversary Edition performed after the initial excitement of its release had subsided.

How The First Week of Streaming Impacted Music Box 30’s Spotify Performance

As the novelty of Music Box 30th Anniversary Edition’s release week subsided slightly the following day, we observed a 25% fall in daily streams. Despite this, the album still managed to score 624 thousand streams on that day, about double relative to its prior average. With “Hero” and “Without You” still leading the pack, both “Workin’ Hard” and “My Prayer” remained popular by staying in the 5-digit league for the day’s streaming numbers.

After a week of steady decline in daily streams, Music Box 30th Anniversary Edition reached its 7-day period with 468 thousand daily streams (46% less than its release date). Although down considerably, that daily stream count remains 33% above average for the album prior to its release.

This past week, Music Box 30 has managed to rack up an impressive 4.643 million streams on Spotify alone, equivalent to selling 3,095 albums in their release week. Despite the novelty beginning to wear off, we are still relishing in every track on a daily basis, and we’re certain that streaming and physical sales of the anniversary release will propel the album to new heights and certifications, solidifying its status as one of Mariah’s best selling albums to date and one of the top-selling albums in the world to date. See below a breakdown of Music Box’s release week streaming numbers.

Until then, we hope you relish on yet another great addition to Mariah’s majestic catalog.