There has been an increase in the number of streams of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ music catalog following his arrest and indictment last week.
According to industry data and analytics agency Luminate, the 54-year-old rapper’s music saw an average 18.3% rise in on-demand streams during the week of his arrest compared to the previous week, under his several musical aliases, including Diddy, Puff Daddy, and P. Diddy.
George Howard, a prominent professor of music business management at Berklee College of Music, told The Associated Press that he suspected the surge was motivated by curiosity.
RELATED STORIES
He explained, “Music just becomes another piece of information as people try to comprehend the atrocities. It’s like, ‘What would someone whose brain works like that, allegedly, what would their music sound like?’”
Howard went on to note that another reason that might have contributed to the rise is the “anonymization” of streaming. “Imagine walking into a record store now and saying, ‘Yeah, I want to buy this Diddy CD,'” he said.
According to the outlet, there have been similar incidents in the past, with numbers nearly doubling following the release of R&B singer R. Kelly’s documentary about his sexual misconduct involving women and minors.
Combs entered a not-guilty plea to the accusations in federal court in New York City; nonetheless, he was twice denied bail, and he is currently being held in federal prison at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn pending his trial for sex trafficking charges.
The indictment, which includes accusations dating back to 2008, charges Combs with federal sex trafficking and racketeering. It claims that for years, he mistreated, threatened, and coerced women “to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”
As reported by CBS, the waterfront industrial facility, MDC Brooklyn, is home to 1,200 prisoners. It is well-known for its appalling conditions; in 2019, prisoners won a $10 million class action settlement for having to endure freezing conditions during an eight-day blackout.
