Usher might have received rave reviews for his performance at half time in the Super Bowl on Sunday evening, but he won’t be paid for his appearance.
It has long been the case too that half-time performers don’t get paid – yet still the biggest stars on Earth clamour to get the coveted spot.
And the reason is simple: exposure. While Usher might already be a superstar who has sold millions of records across the globe, his performance will have reached whole new audiences who might not be familiar with his work. The Super Bowl is usually the most-watched TV event of the year with north of 100 million people watching in the US, with hundreds of millions more watching around the world.
Indeed, streaming rates on Spotify for the songs that Usher played at the Super Bowl have increased hugely since the event, according to Forbes. The publication reports that four of the songs Usher performed had an increase in streams of more than 1,000% on Sunday night.
Overall, Spotify streams for Usher tracks increased by 550% in the US following his performance at the Super Bowl, Spotify revealed on Instagram. Meanwhile, streams for ‘Caught Up’, Usher’s 2005 hit that was first in his set, jumped by 2000% between 6pm-12am PT – the biggest increase for an individual song.
The other songs to top a 1000% increase in streams on Sunday evening were ‘U Don’t Have To Call’, ‘Love In This Club’ (featuring Young Jeezy) and ‘Bad Girl’.
Usher also released a new album, ‘Coming Home’ two days before the Super Bowl. While his Super Bowl set focused on classic hits, it is probable the new album will also receive a boost in sales on the back of his performance in Las Vegas.
