Videos by According2HipHop
Major album releases from artists including Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift have been linked to an increase in deadly traffic crashes in the United States, according to a new study involving researchers at Harvard Medical School.
Published in JAMA Network Open, the study examined the release dates of the 10 most-streamed albums between 2017 and 2022 and compared traffic fatalities on those days with the 10 days before and after each release. Researchers found that streaming activity jumped dramatically when major projects dropped — and traffic deaths increased at the same time.
The albums studied included Drake’s Certified Lover Boy, Scorpion and Her Loss with 21 Savage, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, Taylor Swift’s Midnights, Red (Taylor’s Version) and Folklore, along with projects from Bad Bunny, Harry Styles and Kanye West.
Streaming averaged 123.3 million plays on major album-release days compared with 86.1 million on surrounding days — an increase of roughly 43%. Researchers also found an average of 139.1 traffic fatalities on release days compared with 120.9 on surrounding days, representing a 15.1% increase and an estimated 182 additional deaths across the 10 release dates studied.
The increase was particularly noticeable among younger and male drivers, as well as crashes involving drivers traveling alone. Researchers believe distracted driving associated with smartphones, infotainment systems or interacting with newly released music could help explain the connection. However, the study found an association and does not prove that listening to the albums directly caused the crashes.
Among the individual artists examined, reports on the findings noted that Drake’s three album releases were associated with some of the largest increases in fatalities, while the increases surrounding Swift’s releases were comparatively smaller.
The findings add another dimension to concerns surrounding distracted driving in the streaming era, suggesting that the massive attention generated by highly anticipated music releases may have consequences far beyond the charts.
