Favorites start to add up for me this time of year: Temperatures inch over 70 in San Francisco, pumpkin everything, the boots move from the back to the front of the closet, and of course, there’s baseball! So far 2023’s Major League Baseball postseason has not disappointed with edge of your seat twists, turns and upsets as remarkable as the soundtracks that accompany them.
The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers had something like 1700:1 odds of making the World Series. Crazy, right?! About as random as theme songs like Calum Scott’s “Dancing on My Own” and/or Creed’s “Higher.” As a music fan, it’s been fun to watch the competition stretching from the field to viral song vs viral song.
Videos of fans singing “Dancing on My Own” were hard to miss, even for a casual TikTok viewer like me. Similar story with the Rangers’ pregame ritual of cranking up “Higher.” But what does Creed have to do with Dallas? Or Calum Scott with Philadelphia? Not much, as it turns out. However, both tracks became a rally cry to represent the underdog.
Even though the Phillies didn’t make it to the World Series, in viral song competition, Calum Scott certainly did. Total streams were up 42% week over week nationally (Week 42 compared to Week 41) and Philadelphians were nearly 10x as likely to be listening to “Dancing On My Own” when compared to other markets. Streams for “Higher” are growing too, and 78% more likely to be happening in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
Here’s some more of what we know about baseball fans:
- Luminate Insights consumer research data reveals that the average baseball fan listens to Rock the most while while Gen Z and Millennial baseball fans lean toward Hip-Hop/R&B
Does all this suggest that every team should hunt for a signature song? Maybe. Or, maybe, it’s just a nod to the music that moves you. Happy Halloween & go Rangers! (or should I say go Creed!?)
Bonus Chart: Bobby “Boris” Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers “Monster Mash”
In 2022, the classic “Monster Mash” began its eerie ascent in July, with On-Demand Audio (ODA) streams creeping up like restless spirits, rising from 96k during the week ending 7/7/22 to a supernatural 9.6 million during the week of Halloween (w/e 11/3/22). As we step into 2023, the same haunting pattern emerges, now summoning over 3.6m ODA streams the week ending 10/26/23. Who knows where “Monster Mash” will end its annual climb when the clock strikes midnight on Thursday, 11/3, when the Halloween chart week wraps like a mummy.
