U2 - Why Mediocre Spotify Numbers?

I know it’s not the end all/be all, but for such a big band why does U2 have such mediocre Spotify numbers compared to other artists?

Monthly Listeners

U2 - 21 million

Red Hot Chili Peppers - 38 m
Elton John - 50 m
The Police - 31 m
The Rolling Stones - 29m
The Killers - 26 m
AC DC - 39 m
Guns n Roses - 31 m
CCR - 38 m
The Beatles - 36 m

Music is consumed by trends, nowadays.

U2 is anything but trendy.

Music is consumed by trends, nowadays.

U2 is anything but trendy.

I don't think those other bands are 'trends' though.

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Music is consumed by trends, nowadays.

U2 is anything but trendy.

Is AC DC a trend? The Police?

I think a lot of it is down to how the band has marketed themselves the last 15 years or so. They are the tragically un-hip. The apple fiasco, the old men in leather look, Bono hanging with politicians and billionaires. Younger people just don’t like them very much.

This is smart marketing. CCR’s Have You Ever Seen the Rain. Band footage no where to be found. Some young actors (who went on to fame in the series The Boys). A way for the new generation to discover a great classic song. 445 million views on YouTube.

I know it’s not the end all/be all, but for such a big band why does U2 have such mediocre Spotify numbers compared to other artists?

Monthly Listeners

U2 - 21 million

Red Hot Chili Peppers - 38 m
Elton John - 50 m
The Police - 31 m
The Rolling Stones - 29m
The Killers - 26 m
AC DC - 39 m
Guns n Roses - 31 m
CCR - 38 m
The Beatles - 36 m

Because really U2 is just not a cool band, there's no getting away from it.  Sure, folks like us and Noel Gallagher recognise their genius and would openly admit to it but most don't get it.  They think of the hits, but neglect the albums and U2 are an album band.

Yes, many of those other bands are hot right now.

RHCP - are hot.
Elton John - is hot.
The Killers - still solid
AC/DC - hot
GnR - sorta uncool but still getting play
The Beatles - hot
The Police and Rolling Stones - not forgotten. Dunno about hot.
CCR - I had no idea they hadn’t been forgotten

Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Bowie, Pink Floyd - hot as fuck

U2 - Gen Z hasn’t heard of them. Millennials hate them for fucking up their phones. Gen X hate them because duh. Boomers aren’t a force on Spotify and probably hate Bono anyway.

U2 need to introduce their catalog to the younger generation. Do some videos like CCR did with Have You Ever Seen the Rain using younger actors. Place the songs in shows/movies that the teens are watching. Just hide the band. They are the definition of uncool right now.

...AP reporting Kate Bush just rescued from underground bunker somewhere near Killiney Ireland...

STOP

...considered unharmed but in confused state...

STOP

...apparent kidnappers known to world as 'biggest band in world' U2...

STOP

...wildly popular [uh, formerly popular] frontman Bono demanding to know secret of her success in rejuvenating popularity with decades-old single 'Running Up That Hill'...

STOP

...After telling the arrogant Irish Napoleon that "Wuthering Heights' was actually a better song, KB tells Bono 'fuck off loser'...

STOP

...transcript ends with attempted intervention by 35+ U2 producers, multiple Hollywood stars and George Soros... ends with KB escaping through side tunnel to the beach and a rowboat rescue...

STOP

Dispatch cut off abruptly and disturbingly with U2 promises of new album and 'return to relevance'.  Fans cringe.

I know it’s not the end all/be all, but for such a big band why does U2 have such mediocre Spotify numbers compared to other artists?

Monthly Listeners

U2 - 21 million

Red Hot Chili Peppers - 38 m
Elton John - 50 m
The Police - 31 m
The Rolling Stones - 29m
The Killers - 26 m
AC DC - 39 m
Guns n Roses - 31 m
CCR - 38 m
The Beatles - 36 m

1. Younger demographic on Spotify as opposed to all people who listen to music whether it's an album at home listened to on purchased physical or digital format, or someone streaming from a paid subscription service or add supported service.

2. A particular song by the artist is for some reason trending or going viral at the moment. In that case its really to do with just the song than the artist that recorded it.

3. Beatles at 36 m? That right there tells you this not an accurate gauge.

4. How did Led Zeppelin do?

u2 are a highly devisive band. Way more so than any of the other bands listed. Success breeds contempt. Spending much of the last 35 years, as the biggest band on the planet, has turned people against them. They love to bash u2. Many just do it, for the hell of it it seems. It goes on in here FFS, on a "fans" forum

It doesn’t really surprise me. I think the problem being u2 haven’t made any particularly memorable music since AB. People want to play One, WOWY or ISHFWILF, for example. They don’t want to play songs from the last few LP’s because anything that is any good doesn’t have popular appeal ie Fez/BB and anything that does have popular appeal but is shit - BD comes to mind - is in short supply.

Even so, they’re still a big live draw. But even live people seem pretty bored unless they’re doing a greatest hits type of song. I can understand why the other acts on the list get more plays. Although the killers elude me, frankly. They really are awful.

Here’s the Top 40. None of the artists mentioned in the OP made the cut……