Oscar night is known to have a pretty positive effect on many of the films nominated, and this years’ winners fared no differently. Not just the actors, directors, writers and producers, but also musicians such as Billie Eilish, who at 22 became the youngest ever two-time winner in the ceremony’s 96th year, and brother Finneas. The duo’s awards season success with the Barbie single “What Was I Made For?” continued even beyond their win and “whoa”-inspiring live performance, with the news that it enjoyed a last-minute Academy-fueled burst of singles purchases that equaled out to a wowzers 704% increase in sales.
That highly impressive percentage increase is based on the number of singles sold the previous week ahead of the Oscars, according to BIllboard, which was just under eight months after the song was first released back in July 2023, and it only incorporated the night of the Oscars, March 10, and the Monday after, March 11. Which is all to say, not exactly a time when buying the track would have been something tons of people would still be doing, so for things to jump up so noticeably is definitely a nod to Oscar-sourced buzz.
As far as the actual totals go, “What Was I Made For?” logged more than 5,300 digital song sales during that two-day stretch, so it’s not like it just went from 2 copies to 100 copies, or whatever numbers make that math work way more properly. It also produced 2.2 million on-demand U.S. streams during that same two-day window, which was a 27% increase from the prior week. So not as big of a percentage jump in the slightest, but a far larger total number to gawk at. But any way you gawk, it’s a crowning achievement for a Summer 2023 jam.
Relive the telecast performance below:
Another reason why Eilish and Phinneas’ tender ballad may have racked up big sales coming out of that weekend is that the pair performed for the March 9 episode of Saturday Night Live, in which Scarlett Johansson appeared as Katie Britt. It hadn’t yet won at that point, so it’s harder to gauge, but it couldn’t have hurt.
Speaking of live acts and Barbie, Ryan Gosling’s Oscars stage performance of “I’m Just Ken” was a mightily impressive sight to behold, and on the opposite end of the spectrum from Billie Eilish’s traditionally subdued vibes. (Eilish seemed to love it, too, judging by her reactions.) While that track obviously didn’t end up winning for Best Song, it also enjoyed a big burst of sales thanks to its prominents across Oscar weekend, and nearly tripled the percentage increase of “What Was I Made For?”
While only 900 digital copies of "I'm Just Ken" were sold during that Sunday and Monday, it marked a 2,000% increase. And the song also enjoyed a 176% uptick in digital streams, totalling somewhere around 417,000.
Barbie can be streamed now with a Max subscription, and fans can find Billie Eilish's music in one out of every five movies and TV shows being produced today. Which is hyperbole, but not by that much.
