The short version
- Marie Ulven Ringheim, Girl In Red, is the first Norwegian female artist to reach one billion plays on Spotify for a single song.
- “We Fell In Love In October” from 2018 was written, produced, mixed and mastered by herself, and released on her label.
- According to Kworb, the song is the 633rd song in the world to break the billion mark on Spotify.
- Norwegian artists who have managed it before are a-ha, Alan Walker and Kygo. More are approaching.
- Girl In Red now has more than 3.7 billion Spotify plays, spread over 39 released songs.
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– It’s really fun that that song – which I wrote, produced, mixed and mastered entirely myself – has resonated so much, says Marie Ulven Ringheim (25) to VG.
She is better known as Girl In Red. And on Friday night, the Spotify numbers show that her “We Fell In Love In October” from 2018 now has a ten-digit number of plays on Spotify.
It is currently played nearly 800,000 times a day.
Celebrated company
“We Fell In Love In October” is the 633rd song in the world to break the billion mark on Spotify.
It’s in famous company: The Notorious BIG’s rap classic “Big Poppa” also enters the club now. The Bee Gees’ disco giant “Stayin’ Alive” seems to be next in line.
– A billion, that is many streams ass, says the artist.
– There are a lot of songs that I consider gigahits, and which still have 500 million on Spotify.
With this, Girl In Red joins an exclusive line of Norwegian artists who reach dizzying power metal for a single song.
At the same time, she stands out markedly:
Where Kygo and Alan Walker had a number of other actors involved in their billion-dollar songs, “We Fell In Love In October” was created in the “girl’s room” so to speak – where Girl In Red handled all the musical and technical things herself.
See more Norwegian artists and hitmakers with billion-dollar success on Spotify in the gallery here:
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a-ha’s “Take On Me” from 1985 is so popular that it would have been considered a big hit if it had been released recently. A fixture on Spotify’s global Top 200 list, it now has over 1.8 billion – the second most played from the eighties, behind The Police’s “Every Breath You Take”, and ahead of Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O ‘ Mine». -
Ina Wroldsen both sang and was a contributing songwriter on the Calvin Harris + Disciples hit “How Deep Is Your Love” (2015), but did not get her name fronted in the context. 1.1 billion on Spotify it has just as much. Wroldsen was also a songwriter on the British Clean Bandit’s hits “Rockabye” (2016) and “Symphony” (2017), both of which have over 1.4 billion. -
Nico & Vinz’s 2014 hit “Am I Wrong” was huge internationally, bringing Kahouly Nicolay Sereba (left) and Vincent Dery in with Taylor Swift (center) as well as Barack Obama. The song is now playing approx. 350,000 times a day on Spotify, and with 948 million done, they will probably pass the billion during the year and become the next Norwegian artists to reach ten figures for one song. -
Caroline Ailin Buvik Furøyen (tv) from Bodø has specialized as a songwriter for the Anglo-Albanian star Dua Lipa (th). Together, they can show over 2.5 billion on Spotify for “Don’t Start Now” (2019), 2 billion for “New Rules” (2017), while last year’s “Barbie” song “Dance The Night” probably reaches its first billion during 2024. -
Alan Walker was the first Norwegian artist to get his own song over a billion on Spotify. The breakthrough single “Faded” from 2015 reached the milestone in 2019, and is now worth 1.9 billion. -
Kygo scored his first billion-dollar song in collaboration with Selena Gomez, on 2017’s “It Ain’t Me.” His 2014 breakthrough single, “Firestone,” recently surpassed the billion mark, while 2015’s follow-up, “Stole The Show,” is coming up, which has 951 million now. -
Magnus August Høiberg (tv), known as Cashmere Cat, is the only Norwegian who has been involved in one of the only nine songs that have passed three billion on Spotify. He is a contributing songwriter and producer on “Stay” from 2021 with The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber. He is also on Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello’s “Señorita” (2019), together with e.g. Selena Gomez’s boyfriend Benny Blanco (th). “Señorita” has 2.7 billion. -
Aurora Aksnes’ “Runaway” from 2015 went viral via TikTok in 2021, and became a global hit. It lasts and is still going, with over 450,000 daily plays on Spotify, where it now has 859 million. The billions are therefore within reach well before the end of 2024. -
The hit carpentry duo Stargate had their heyday before the streaming era. But their songs with Rihanna live a good life on Spotify, where both “Only Girl (In The World)” (2010) and “Diamonds” (2012) have passed the billion, while “S&M” (2010) and “Don’t Stop The Music” (2007) will do so shortly. Katy Perry’s “Firework” (2010) was also a Stargate work, which is the billionth in the box. -
Rihanna success was also achieved by Fredrik William Ball from Fredrikstad, known under the alias Fred Ball. He produced and was one of the songwriters on her “Love On The Brain” from 2016. She has barely touched music since, but this has around 860,000 daily plays and is well over 1.4 billion on Spotify. -
Amund Bjørklund (tv) and Espen Lind hit the mark as producers and songwriters for the American band Train in 2009, on the hit “Hey, Soul Sister”. To this day, it has approximately one million daily plays on Spotify, and soon 1.5 billion in total. -
The production duo SEEB – Simen Eriksrud (tv) and Espen Berg – made a club-friendly remix of American Mike Posner’s folk pop song “I Took A Pill In Ibiza” in 2015. Their version became a global hit, and now has 1.9 billion Spotify plays.
a-ha’s “Take On Me” from 1985 is so popular that it would have been considered a big hit if it had been released recently. A fixture on Spotify’s global Top 200 list, it now has over 1.8 billion – the second most played from the eighties, behind The Police’s “Every Breath You Take”, and ahead of Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O ‘ Mine». Photo: Helge Mikalsen / VG
Ina Wroldsen both sang and was a contributing songwriter on the Calvin Harris + Disciples hit “How Deep Is Your Love” (2015), but did not get her name fronted in the context. 1.1 billion on Spotify it has just as much. Wroldsen was also a songwriter on the British Clean Bandit’s hits “Rockabye” (2016) and “Symphony” (2017), both of which have over 1.4 billion. Photo: Agnete Brun
Nico & Vinz’s 2014 hit “Am I Wrong” was huge internationally, bringing Kahouly Nicolay Sereba (left) and Vincent Dery in with Taylor Swift (center) as well as Barack Obama. The song is now playing approx. 350,000 times a day on Spotify, and with 948 million done, they will probably pass the billion during the year and become the next Norwegian artists to reach ten figures for one song.
Caroline Ailin Buvik Furøyen (tv) from Bodø has specialized as a songwriter for the Anglo-Albanian star Dua Lipa (th). Together they can show over 2.5 billion on Spotify for “Don’t Start Now” (2019), 2 billion for “New Rules” (2017), while last year’s “Barbie” song “Dance The Night” probably reaches its first billion during 2024. Photo: ALLISON DINNER / EPA / NTB
Alan Walker was the first Norwegian artist to get his own song over a billion on Spotify. The breakthrough single “Faded” from 2015 reached the milestone in 2019, and is now worth 1.9 billion. Photo: Gisle Oddstad / VG
Kygo scored his first billion-dollar song in collaboration with Selena Gomez, on 2017’s “It Ain’t Me.” His 2014 breakthrough single, “Firestone,” recently surpassed the billion mark, while 2015’s follow-up, “Stole The Show,” is coming up, which has 951 million now. Photo: JULIE SEBADELHA / AFP / NTB
Magnus August Høiberg (tv), known as Cashmere Cat, is the only Norwegian to have been involved in one of the only nine songs that have surpassed three billion on Spotify. He is a contributing songwriter and producer on “Stay” from 2021 with The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber. He is also on Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello’s “Señorita” (2019), together with e.g. Selena Gomez’s boyfriend Benny Blanco (th). “Señorita” has 2.7 billion. Photo: MARIO ANZUONI / Reuters / NTB
Aurora Aksnes’ “Runaway” from 2015 went viral via TikTok in 2021, and became a global hit. It lasts and is still going, with over 450,000 daily plays on Spotify, where it now has 859 million. The billions are therefore within reach well before the end of 2024. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB
The hit carpentry duo Stargate had their heyday before the streaming era. But their songs with Rihanna live a good life on Spotify, where both “Only Girl (In The World)” (2010) and “Diamonds” (2012) have passed the billion, while “S&M” (2010) and “Don’t Stop The Music” (2007) will do so shortly. Katy Perry’s “Firework” (2010) was also a Stargate work, which is the billionth in the box. Photo: Storyline Studios / Storyline Studios
Rihanna success was also achieved by Fredrik William Ball from Fredrikstad, known under the alias Fred Ball. He produced and was one of the songwriters on her “Love On The Brain” from 2016. She has barely touched music since, but this one has around 860,000 daily plays and is well over 1.4 billion on Spotify. Photo: Private
Amund Bjørklund (tv) and Espen Lind hit the mark as producers and songwriters for the American band Train in 2009, on the hit “Hey, Soul Sister”. To this day, it has approximately one million daily plays on Spotify, and soon 1.5 billion in total. Photo: Espen Braata / VG
The production duo SEEB – Simen Eriksrud (tv) and Espen Berg – made a club-friendly remix of American Mike Posner’s folk pop song “I Took A Pill In Ibiza” in 2015. Their version became a global hit, and now has 1.9 billion Spotify plays.
The now five-and-a-half-year-old song even has its own peak season, attached to the title.
– Every October you see that people stream it even more. It’s quite … iconic, really, laughs Girl In Red.
On October 1, 2023, the song was played almost two million times; about twice as much as the average throughout the rest of the year.
So, will a billion Spotify streams make any money then?
Industry magazine Billboard’s streaming calculator, which is based on US rights figures, says that one billion now generates approx. NOK 52.8 million, which is distributed as follows:
- 40.4 million to the person who has the copyright to a song recording, usually a record company or an artist.
- 6.7 million to the owner of the composed work. Often this will go to a music publisher who then pays the songwriter(s) a share according to agreement.
- 5.7 million to organizations that collect royalties for publicly performed works, and then pay songwriter(s) and music publishers.
Streaming everywhere
Spotify’s press service for Norway tells VG that they do not calculate payment per play, as Billboard’s calculator does, but that they calculate a streaming share.
“Our payments to licensees depend on various factors, such as the licensee’s market share and the number of subscribers in a market,” it further states from there.
In other words, a country with many paying subscribers – like Norway – will have more valuable streams than a country where many people use free and advertising-driven Spotify.
For Girl In Red, however, the whole world is her playground. According to Spotify, she is currently the most played in the USA, Indonesia and Brazil.
VG has asked her management for a comment on how much she earns from the billion-dollar hit, but has not received a response to the request.
Girl In Red’s cash flow
Marie Ulven Ringheim has two music companies, one for concert activities and one for other music income.
These are the results from the years these have existed:
World In Red AS:
- 2022 – Turnover: 42.1 million. Profit: 27 million
- 2021 – Turnover: 18.5 million. Profit: 7.8 million
- 2020 – Turnover: 11.6 million. Profit: 6.4 million
World In Red Live AS:
- 2022 – Turnover: 26.4 million. Profit: 1.9 million
- 2021 – Turnover: 2.9 million. Deficit: 1.2 million
The 2023 figures have not been published at the time of writing.
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In total, Girl In Red now has over 3.7 billion Spotify plays, spread over 39 released songs.
Her second most popular song is “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend”. It is also from 2018, and is expected to reach half a billion during the summer.
Tags: Girl Red song Fell Love October passes billion Spotify
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