‘Drivers License’ tops global charts; NH speculates on reasons for popularity

     At just 17, Olivia Rodrigo has broken Spotify’s record for most streamed song in a day (for a non-holiday song). The song “Drivers License” is Rodrigo’s debut single, which was released on January 8.

     Within the opening week, the song had 76.1 million streams, 38,000 digital downloads and 8.1 million Airplay impressions. “Drivers License” topped numerous charts, such as Billboard, Rolling Stones, Spotify, and iTunes for three consecutive weeks. 

     And, it continues to hold at #1 on both Spotify and Apple’s global charts. As of February 1, the song now has 110.5 million streams total and 91 million views on Youtube.

     A reason for its surge in streams is that various age groups seemed to have connected to the breakup ballad emotionally. Aleathia Conner, a sophomore at Harford Christian explained, “it honestly had a lot of meaning behind it that some people just don’t understand.” 

     Additionally, fans seemed to have found connections between the song and a real life possible breakup between her and co-star Joshua Bassett. This leads Conner to believe the drama, “is all a publicity stunt”, that connects the show’s storyline that she stars in, to real life; which would only help the song grow in popularity even more. Freshman Stella Manns agrees, “the drama that comes along with the song is entertaining as well.”

     The song also blew up by numerous trends on the widely popular social media app, Tik Tok. Manns believes in its popularity, “because it was such a catchy song that got stuck in my head very easily.

     Manns adds, “I think Olivia is getting the recognition she deserves, so many popular singers and celebrities have responded positively to her song.” Recognition from several celebrities include The Jonas Brothers, Charli D’amelio, Hailey Bieber, Noah Centineo, Billie Eilish, Tana Mongeau, Ashe, and many more. 

     Rodrigo has also previously emphasized that she is a huge Taylor Swift fan. So, her most popular reaction came from Taylor Swift, who responded, “I say that’s my baby and I’m really proud.” 

     But, not everyone agrees that “Drivers License” deserves the magnitude of its response. Junior Gavin Potter thinks the song is overrated from what he has heard. Potter admits, “I feel like there’s already so many songs out that are exactly the same so I don’t know why it got so many streams.”

     Rodrigo is not only a credited songwriter, but also a favored actress. She currently stars in Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and began her career on Disney Channel’s Bizaardvark in 2016. In High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Rodrigo wrote multiple songs for the show. The most popular original, “All I Want,” has accumulated more than 193 million streams on Spotify.