Jackson Family Catalog Experiences Streaming Surge Following ‘Michael’ Biopic Release

Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip. This week: Three weeks into the Michael biopic and its subject’s catalog is still growing, while even his missing-in-film-action sister is feeling the benefits, and a couple very different acts see new gains for 2010s hits.

Jackson Rewrites Personal Weekly Streaming Record

For the third consecutive week, Michael Jackson obliterates his personal-best weekly streaming count as impact from Michael biopic continues to spell massive streaming returns and more chart placements for many of his best-known songs.

For the May 1-7 tracking week, Jackson’s solo catalog registered 181.6 million official on-demand song streams in the United States, according to Luminate. The new seven-day sum is a 32% increase from what was his previous best, last week’s haul of 137.6 million, itself a 146% improvement over a then-high of 55.9 million clicks in a week.

“Billie Jean” repeated its standing atop the songs’ pack, with 14.8 million official on-demand streams, up 31.7% from last week (11.3 million). That streaming swell translates to the Billboard Hot 100, where the seven-week former champ rockets 38-17. Fellow Thriller singles “Beat It” and “Human Nature” finished second and third in Jackson’s catalog, respectively, 11.4 million plays and 10.8 million clicks.

Early signs indicate Jackson gliding to another nine-digit streaming sum next week. According to initial reports submitted to Luminate, the King of Pop’s solo catalog has already crossed 86 million official on-demand streams from May 8-10 alone. Should it maintain its pace in the high 20 million-plus range per day, it’s possible that Jackson’s catalog could once again set a new personal benchmark, and while a longer shot, make a play for a 200 million+ week.

Janet’s Up a Decent Amount in Streams, Too

Much has been made of the absence of Janet Jackson from the Michael biopic, with the baby of the Jackson family — a pop legend in her own right , of course — not only not portrayed in the movie, but not mentioned at any point. (Janet “kindly declined” to be depicted in Michael , according to sister La Toya.) But despite her total lack of representation in the box office smash, Ms. Jackson has been seeing streaming gains of her own over the past couple weeks.

The catalog bump isn’t nearly on the level of the one her older brother’s discography is currently enjoying, of course. But for the week ending May 7, Janet amassed over 9.4 million official on-demand U.S. streams — easily her best weekly total for 2026, and a 31% gain from the 6.9 million streams she totaled two weeks earlier (Apr. 17-23), according to Luminate.

A healthy chunk of that is attributable to the increased streaming presence for “Scream,” the lone song co-credited to the two superstar Jacksons — which amassed nearly 1.2 million plays on its own in the most recent tracking week. But even removing that MJ duet from the equation, Janet’s catalog is still up a full 20% in streams from two weeks earlier, a difference of nearly 1.4 million streams.

Could a Janet biopic of her own be in the cards for the not-too-distant future? It feels like only a matter of time. — ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Apex Sync Spurs Huge Gains for Chemical Brothers’ “Go”

Apex , a new Netflix survival thriller, is the latest hit movie for actors Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton — and it’s also reviving a 2015 track from The Chemical Brothers .

The Grammy-nominated track plays in the film’s official trailer , which arrived on March 25, setting the stage for its key sync in the full movie, which hit Netflix a month later on April 24. As viewers watched Apex and word of mouth spread, people have recreating Taron Egerton’s unnerving, villainous dance scene set to “Go,” launching a new meme challenge for the Q Tip-assisted song. On TikTok, the official “Go” sound now boasts over 68,000 clips, with most spoofing the “I thought you liked danger” line from the film. “Go” also plays in nearly 60,000 Instagram Reels , with solo runners and gym buffs gravitating towards the song.

According to Luminate, “Go” earned over 91,000 official on-demand U.S. streams the week before Apex hit Netflix (April 17-23). During the film’s debut week (April 24-30), “Go” soared over 431% to over 487,000 official streams. By the following week (May 1-7), that number jumped a further 167% to a whopping 1.3 million official on-demand U.S. streams. Over the past two weeks, “Go” has exploded by over 1,319% in streaming activity.

Notably, thanks to these gains, “Go” is now The Chemical Brothers’ highest-charting hit on Dance/Electronic Songs (No. 9). Perhaps more chart feats are in store should “Go” continue its resurgence. — KYLE DENIS

Katy Perry’s ‘The One That Got Away’ Spins a Streaming Resurgence Out of Fictional Romance Fancams & Real-Life Testimonials

Katy Perry is a mainstay in the headlines — and this time, all the buzz is around a 15-year-old song! “The One That Got Away” was a massive hit during its initial 2011 run, peaking at No. 3 and helping extend Perry’s enormous Teenage Dream era as the sixth single from its standard edition.

Over the better part of the past 12 months, the song has experienced a relatively slow but steady surge across streaming and social media. This winter, many fans gravitated towards the song to bid farewell to their favorite fictional romances, spurred by the final season of Stranger Things , which aired last November-December. By the spring, social media users started using “The One That Got Away” in two different ways. Some used the ballad’s wistful chorus to soundtrack escapes from domestic violence or epic defenses of loved ones, while others used the song to mourn fictional romances from Euphoria , their perceived real-life friendship between Rihanna and Perry herself and Manon’s hiatus from KATSEYE. Other users have also leaned into the nostalgia of it all, remarking how the song still has an intense emotional impact on them 15 years later.

During the week of March 6-12, “Got Away” logged over 2.8 million official on-demand U.S. streams, with that number leaping nearly 40% the following month to over 3.9 million official streams (April 3-9), according to Luminate. By the week of May 1-7, “Got Away” leapt a further 56% to over 6.2 million official streams, marking a 118% surge in streaming activity for the song over the past two months.

Katy Perry has also seized the moment in several ways. She shared a “director’s cut” of the music video (narrated by Steve Nicks, no less) on April 21, used an acoustic version to soundtrack clips of her MET Gala glam sessions , and trolled her ex-boyfriend Josh Groban’s engagement announcement by playing “Got Away” over a screenshot of the news. On May 13, Perry dropped a new compilation album titled The One That Got the Plays , with “Got Away” slotted first on the tracklist.

Thanks to all of this motion, “The One That Got Away” now stands as Perry’s highest-charting entry on the Billboard Global 200 since the chart’s inception in September 2020 (No. 37). — KD

_Originally reported by [Billboard](https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/michael-jackson-janet-jackson-streams-trending-up-1236247833/)._