Supercharging Eurovision Contestants

This piece originally appeared on March 20, 2025 in Sound Signal, our biweekly newsletter that identifies emerging artists, scenes, and trending tracks, crafted by the world's best writers and curators. Sign up here to never miss our take on what's next in music.

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The Eurovision Song Contest has long been a launchpad for artists, but in the streaming era, its influence extends far beyond the live event. With digital platforms, artists can generate massive engagement before even stepping on the Eurovision stage. A look at the past three months of streaming and social media trends reveals how the digital ecosystem fuels rapid engagement and audience growth.

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Among the top streaming Eurovision contenders, Lucio Corsi stands out. His audience numbers have skyrocketed since releasing his Eurovision entry, “Volevo Essere un Duro,” growing from 177K to over 5.1M monthly Spotify listeners just over a month after the track’s debut.Similarly, Sweden and Estonia’s nominees, KAJ and Tommy Cash, saw significant boosts, reaching 2.9M and 2.1M listeners respectively. These numbers highlight how pre-contest releases serve as engagement accelerators, allowing artists to build momentum early.

On TikTok, where short-form virality often translates into streaming success, “Volevo Essere un Duro”surged to nearly 92K in just over two weeks, reinforcing its dominance across platforms. After receiving Spain’s national selection for Eurovision in February, nominee Melody more than doubled her TikTok posts for her entry, “Esa Diva,”  from 20K to nearly 59K TikTok posts.

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Last year’s Eurovision songs saw big streaming numbers by the time the competition concluded last May. Despite the winning entry being Switzerland’s “The Code” by Nemo, it was Italy’s Angelina Mango who led the nominees on streaming with 65.1M Spotify streams for "La Noia," followed closely by Dutch singer Joost Klein’s "Europapa" at 59.4M. Tracks from Spain, Sweden, and Ukraine also surpassed the 10M stream mark ahead of the competition.

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While 2025’s entrants are still in their early phases of building momentum and gaining fans, the velocity of growth among some contenders suggests this year’s songs could match or even surpass last year’s most streamed anthems. Lucio Corsi’s entry already has over 27M Spotify streams, KAJ’s track has surpassed 17M, and songs from Estonia, Spain, Finland, and San Marino have each amassed over 5M Spotify streams.

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The relationship between Eurovision and digital platforms is undeniably symbiotic. Artists use streaming services to capture attention early, while Eurovision provides an amplifying effect that drives audience retention. The data suggests that pre-contest momentum is becoming just as critical as the event itself, with digital platforms dictating which entries dominate the conversation well before the first votes are cast.