Sleep Token Reach A Million Monthly Listeners On Spotify
Just 10 days ago I reported that the band Sleep Token had reached 393,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, up from around 280,000. Well the band just hit a massive milestone in the short time since. Sleep Token have now have a million monthly listeners on Spotify. This is huge, and it is worth analyzing what helped the band grow at such an extensive rate in a short amount of time.
So let’s jump on in and discuss how Sleep Token reached a million monthly listeners on Spotify.
How Did Sleep Token Reach A Million Monthly Listeners So Fast?
There are many factors that went into the seemingly sudden success of Sleep Token during the past two weeks. In truth though, while this growth was exponential, getting to this point was not sudden at all. Sleep Token have been perfecting their craft and growing their loyal fan-base since 2016.
However, the band just needed all the stars to align for their big breakthrough moment to explode them onto the scene. Fortunately, that happened thanks to the fantastic start to their latest album cycle.
Let’s breakdown what exactly happened that caused Sleep Token to blow up the way they have the last two weeks.
#1 – Cultivating A Loyal And Dedicated Fanbase
A big factor in Sleep Token’s growth is that they have been putting in the work since day one.
Sleep Token have had unconventional release patterns since the beginning of the band, and they have put out high-quality music nearly constantly ever since.
Throw in the mystery and the lore behind Sleep Token, and there are a ton of reasons for fans to talk about the band.
This has helped the band form a dedicated fan-base that want to see the band grow and reach new heights.
#2 – Two Surprise Singles Kick Off 2023
Why now though? Why did it take this month for Sleep Token to blow up and reach nearly 5x their monthly listener count?
Well while the band had a dedicated fanbase before, thanks to the release of two surprise singles, “Chokehold” and “The Summoning” in early January, Sleep Token were able to gain some long-awaited hype and get some major traction.
#3 – Reaction Channels Go Wild With The Summoning
Nearly a minute after the release of The Summoning, high-profile reaction channels like Nik Nocturnal were already reacting to the track live. Interestingly enough, it was entirely on a whim and by pure coincidence.
Coincidentally though, The Summoning was a track worthy of live reactions. The song features two breakdowns and an incredibly shocking jazz session at the end of the song.
This caused nearly every reaction channel to react to the song on Youtube, as these videos were getting a ton of views right out the gates by the band’s dedicated fanbase.
Rapidly, more reaction channels like Metalbirb, got in on the Sleep Token hype. This started a whole cultural phenomenon around the track that was highly contagious on social media.
Now each of these Youtuber’s individual fans were now also discovering and enjoying The Summoning and Sleep Token as a whole.
#4 – The Summoning Hits TikTok
Youtube wasn’t the only place that The Summoning ran wild on. Thanks to the jazzy bridge at the end of the song, it also had some success on TikTok.
The sound reached 1,000 videos shortly after release, with many of these videos receiving hundreds of thousands of views – and for some even likes – on the platform.
This includes videos from orionreacts, metalbirb, and originalmikewheeler, and many more.
#5 – An Unconventional Album Roll Out
Now social media isn’t the only factor that contributed to the marketing success of the new Sleep Token tracks.
Without the hype to begin with, new songs could have gone under the radar. Fortunately, the hype was huge in the Sleep Token sphere of the internet.
The band returned to the unconventional album rollout from their debut album “Sundowning“. For Sleep Token’s first album, the band released one song every two weeks leading all the way up to the release of Sundowning.
This allowed the fans to spend time with each song and grow to love the album as an entire whole. Fans loved this album release schedule.
Fortunately, this similar concept has returned for the band’s upcoming record “Take Me To Eden“. Sleep Token dropped 2 songs one day apart for the last two weeks. No one knows if this pattern is continuing, but it sure did generate a ton of hype so far.
#6 – Two Well-Timed Tours With Architects and Northlane
Sleep Token wasn’t just getting hype on the internet though. During the release of the latest singles, the band was simultaneously participating in two back-to-back high-profile tours.
These tours included opening for Architects and headlining a UK tour with Northlane.
The word of mouth coming from these tours was huge on alternative social media, and this surely contributed to an increase of new fans.
#7 – Securing Top Placement On Major Spotify Playlists
Perhaps one of the boosting factors with the most staying power, Sleep Token managed to get top placement on the biggest metal playlist in the world. This playlist is the “Kick Ass Metal” playlist on Spotify.
Additionally, The Summoning got high placement on several other playlists, which will all surely help with its streaming numbers too.
This high playlist placement was likely the result of all of the social media buzz behind the song. However, it isn’t just mindless buzz, the song is also the first huge banger of the year, which surely makes this placement a natural choice.
#8 – Sleep Token Finally Hit The Radio
Not every rock or metal fan searches the internet or social media for new music, but Sleep Token have that covered as well.
Sirius XM Octane has been playing Sleep Token as long last. Following the success of their latest singles, the satellite radio station has been playing them on rotation.
This includes putting The Summoning up for their Test Drive, where fans can vote for a song to get on the current rotation of airplay.
Sleep Token playing on hard rock radio is sure to help them gain a whole new sector of fans.
#9 – Even More Fantastic Songs Follow
Sleep Token were able to make this immense hype last beyond the release of their initial singles by releasing two other fantastic singles only two weeks later.
With the release of the sexy dark pop banger “Granite” and the beautiful piano-led jazz inspired “Aqua Regia“, the band were able to once again become the talk of social media.
#10 – The Hype For The Full-Album
In a world where singles run wild, Sleep Token create albums that are enjoyed in full by their fans.
After releasing four fantastic singles just this month, excitement for Sleep Token’s third album is at an all-time high. I have no doubt that this consistent hype will carry until the release of more singles and the full release of Take Me Back To Eden itself.
Need More Sleep Token In Your Life?
Need more Sleep Token in your life? I highly recommend you my This Place Will Become Your Tomb track-by-track album review. In this in-depth review I breakdown Sleep Token’s sophomore attempt piece by piece and track by track. This was easily one of my favorite albums of 2021, and if you want to know why then click the link below.
Closing Thoughts
There you have it! That was all of my thoughts on how Sleep Token reached a million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Hopefully their current unconventional release cycle continues, as this has been such an exciting time to be a Sleep Token fan.
Sleep Token are likely only going to grow more as we get closer to the release of their upcoming album Take Me Back To Eden. Worship.
