Indian rapper Badshah sets viewer record but YouTube isn't talking about it

Badshah broke a record even Taylor Swift couldn't touch. The clip, a dancehall romp, was seen 75 million times in one day, eclipsing a mark set by Korean boy band BTS in April.

Within 24 hours of posting his video “Paagal” to YouTube, Indian rapper Badshah broke a record even Taylor Swift couldn’t touch. The clip, a dancehall romp, was seen 75 million times in one day, eclipsing a mark set by Korean boy band BTS in April.

But then a funny thing happened: YouTube declined to credit the Sony Music artist. Since introducing a new way to premiere videos last year, the Google-owned site has trumpeted the setting of every new record, from Ariana Grande’s “thank u next” to Blackpink’s “Kill This Love,” culminating in BTS’s “Boy With Luv.”

It even said Swift’s “ME!” set a record for “most-viewed female solo debut.” But Badshah’s feat elicited no response from the world’s most popular online video hub.

Rival executives in the Indian music industry began whispering “Paagal” had benefited from server farms and bots—two tools grouped under “fake views.” But in subsequent days, a different explanation emerged: Badshah and his representatives had purchased advertisements from Google and YouTube that embedded the video or directed fans to it in some other way.

The incident has led to scrutiny of what many in the music industry say is a common practice—buying tens of millions of views. When releasing a new single, major record labels will buy an advertisement on YouTube that places their music video in between other clips. If viewers watch the ad for more than few seconds, YouTube counts that as a view, boosting the overall total. Blackpink and Swift, among others, have done it. Badshah just took it a step further, people familiar with the matter say.

The practice creates doubts about the real popularity of these clips and reveals some of the murky ways in which artists and their labels promote their music—especially in emerging markets. YouTube, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.’s Google, is now reevaluating the way it judges records, according to two people familiar with the company’s thinking.

Business Standard