According to Variety , MÖTLEY CRÜE is experiencing a bump on multiple platforms, including downloads, streams and book sales, following last month's release of the band's biopic "The Dirt" via Netflix .
CRÜE songs were consumed 73.8 million times on Spotify and nearly 30 million plays were registered at Apple Music , a spike of 599% on Spotify and 1,081% on Apple Music , according to the band's management. Song sales also surged, with iTunes reporting 176,008 purchases, or a 1,330% rise when compared to the average 27-day period in the previous 12 months.
Reacting to the news, drummer Tommy Lee commented: "We knew the MÖTLEY CRÜE fans, who had made 'The Dirt' book a New York Times bestseller, would be keen to see the movie after hearing it was coming for the past 15 years, but we weren't expecting the new younger audience reaction to the movie and the music."
Lee 's observations from the fan reactions on social media are reflected in the streaming data. The age demo for fans streaming MÖTLEY CRÜE 's music includes a much younger demographic. In fact, over the last 28 days, 64% of Spotify streamers were between 18 and 34 years.
Recently, Netflix reported its biggest ever subscriber growth. In the first quarter of 2019, Netflix gained a record number of new subscribers and now has nearly 149 million members worldwide.
Like Netflix , MÖTLEY CRÜE has experienced rapid growth with Google search increasing 4300% and sales up 2000%, with albums including "The Dirt Soundtrack" , "Dr. Feelgood" , "Too Fast For Love" and "Greatest Hits" charting on iTunes since the release of the film.
Allen Kovac , CEO of Eleven Seven Music and manager of MÖTLEY CRÜE , commented: "We are seeing a reaction nearly identical to Spotify streaming demographic numbers with our partners at Apple , Deezer and Amazon .
"The movie is bringing MÖTLEY 's music into the homes, universities dorms and handheld devices of the streaming generation, some of which only knew MÖTLEY CRÜE as a cool t-shirt. With Pete Davidson , Machine Gun Kelly and Iwan Rheon from 'Game Of Thrones' starring in the film, people are discovering MÖTLEY and then going on to buy the vinyl or stream their music. We are already on a new reprint of 'The Dirt Soundtrack' vinyl, as we sold out across Europe."
"The Dirt" currently has 39% critic score from 64 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes , the online review aggregation service that allows both critics and the public to rate movies. The same site has a 95% audience score for "The Dirt" from 5,829 reviews.
Bassist Nikki Sixx added: "In the movie, we re-tell the time MÖTLEY CRÜE ignored the advice that Ozzy Osbourne gave us about too much excess driving you crazy. We motored on at 100 miles an hour, to self-destruction which ultimately lead to me being declared medically dead and the band splitting up. I find it hard to watch myself being resuscitated in the ambulance with a double shot of adrenaline to the heart. It's like an out-of-body experience all over again. If we can persuade one person not to take hard drugs, this film will be worth it just for that."
With tremendous success from the film's soundtrack, the lead track, "The Dirt (Est. 1981) (Feat. Machine Gun Kelly)" , has helped introduce the band from a VH1 audience to a younger MTV and YouTube audience, having been added to MTV channels around the world.
As fans watch the biopic, they are Shazam -ing and (re)discovering the entire MÖTLEY catalog. One of the most-talked-about scenes from the film is Billy Squier 's song "My Kinda Lover" that Vince Neil performs with his band ROCK CANDI . And because of the renewed interest in the song, Eleven Seven Music will be releasing a new version soon.
