Artist Billie Eilish has achieved a new streaming milestone on Apple Music, breaking the service's all-time record for users "pre-adding" an album to their libraries ahead of its release. According to Apple, Eilish's upcoming album "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" has earned more than 800,000 pre-adds on ‌Apple Music‌ ahead of the album's launch on March 29 (via Music Business Worldwide).

By pre-adding an album, subscribers can save it in their ‌Apple Music‌ libraries and listen to any songs that may already be out for it. Then, when the full album is released Apple adds the entire album to their account.

billie eilish pre adds
Although this process can be unreliable on ‌Apple Music‌, and sometimes the full album isn't added at the time of its release, ‌Apple Music‌ executive Oliver Schusser sees pre-adds as a sort of modern pre-order feature for the streaming era. Schusser said that, "While most services focus the majority of their efforts around playlists, ‌Apple Music‌ still emphasizes albums because we understand their value as a storytelling tool for artists to create context around their music."

“To that end, pre-adds are great early indicators of engagement around an artist and the intention of the fans. To actively pre-add an album, much like the pre-order we invented with iTunes, means that the fan is excited about the content and wants to be among the first to enjoy it the moment its available. That kind of engagement is very valuable to an artist and to us.”

He added: “For Billie in particular it’s really exciting because she is such a big part of the Apple artist community and someone the whole company has really rallied around. It’s amazing to see the positive reaction from our subscribers.”

Apple has been a longtime supporter of Eilish, first featuring her as the Up Next artist for September 2017, showcasing her in interviews with Beats 1 Radio hosts, exclusively premiering some of her songs and videos, and partnering with her to host her own Beats 1 show. Apple also worked with Eilish on its holiday commercial "Share Your Gifts" last year, where her single "Come Out and Play" was featured.

Eilish's team also commented on the pre-add numbers, with Interscope vice chairman Steve Berman stating, "These pre-add numbers are incredibly exciting for Billie, and a real validation of everything we – the artist, Darkroom, Apple and Interscope – have worked together on over the last three years. Internally, hearing these [Apple pre-add] results, it makes us all incredibly proud – and it makes us want to work that much harder, because we can see exactly what the opportunity is."

According to Schusser, the criticism that streaming music services have taken the personality out of artists is incorrect, and he points toward Eilish as the prime example: "Apple has always given creators platforms to connect with audiences around the world and the space and freedom to be creative. It goes to the core of who we are as a company."

Top Rated Comments

itsmilo Avatar
78 months ago
It happened. I am officially old. Who is she? A YouTuber?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lunarworks Avatar
78 months ago
The last real music was Black Sabbath, man. AC/DC. Humble Pie. Cream. ZZ Top. Deep Purple. The stuff in the last 35 years has been trash.
Are you the creepy old guy who lives in the basement apartment below me?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ButteryScrollin Avatar
78 months ago
yeah, be nice if the pre-add process worked and didnt still show as unavailable after the album had been released.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iObama Avatar
78 months ago
The last real music was Black Sabbath, man. AC/DC. Humble Pie. Cream. ZZ Top. Deep Purple. The stuff in the last 35 years has been trash.
I love Sabbath, AC/DC, Humble Pie, Cream, ZZ Top, Deep Purple (both Gillian and Coverdale/Hughes), and I also love Billie Eilish.

It just takes an open mind :)
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zachari Avatar
78 months ago
Billie Eilish is crazy talented. She deserves it. Unlike other “artists”.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
19SK91 Avatar
78 months ago
I haven't heard much of her, but I really like "you should see me in a crown". It's got this raw, dark energy to it.
Give Bellyache, Ocean Eyes, When The Party‘s Over (video is great!), Bored and Lovely a listen as well. Those are my favorites but I actually like most of her songs.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

cook trump

Trump Responds to Apple Keeping Diversity Policies

Wednesday February 26, 2025 6:32 am PST by
In an all-caps post on Truth Social today, U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple should fully end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Tim Cook meeting with President Trump in 2017 "APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM," he wrote. Trump's post comes one day after Apple held its annual shareholders meeting, during which a majority of...
iOS 18

Apple Says iOS 18.4 Will Be Released in April With These New Features

Wednesday February 26, 2025 7:15 am PST by
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April. From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
iPhone Fold Vertical Feature

Apple's 2026 Foldable iPhone Has No Visible Display Crease – Report

Tuesday February 25, 2025 2:58 am PST by
Apple is making significant headway on its long-rumored foldable iPhone, with a new report suggesting the company has achieved a major breakthrough by effectively eliminating the screen crease that plagues current foldable devices. According to Korean publication ETNews, Apple is finalizing its component suppliers for the foldable iPhone, with the selection process expected to be completed...
trump iphone dictation issue

Apple Fixing 'Trump' Dictation Processing Bug

Tuesday February 25, 2025 1:18 pm PST by
Multiple iPhone owners today noticed a pronunciation processing issue that causes the word "Trump" to momentarily show up when using dictation to send a message with the word "racist." In some cases, when speaking the word racist through the iPhone's built-in dictation feature, the iPhone briefly interprets the spoken word as "Trump" and "Trump" text shows up in the Messages app before being ...
airpods pro purple

Here's When AirPods Pro 3 Are Rumored to Launch

Monday February 24, 2025 9:14 am PST by
According to a post on X today from a leaker known as Kosutami, Apple plans to launch AirPods Pro 3 in May or June this year. The leaker also claimed that an AirTag 2 will launch around the same time. Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately...
airtag orange

AirTag 2 Rumored to Launch in May or June With These New Features

Monday February 24, 2025 6:11 am PST by
Apple plans to launch a second-generation AirTag in May or June this year, according to a post today from a leaker known as Kosutami. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that a new AirTag would be released in mid-2025. May or June would align with that timeframe. Below, we recap three new features rumored for the AirTag 2: With a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, the...
ios 18 4 carplay

iOS 18.4 Includes a Small But Useful Change for CarPlay

Sunday February 23, 2025 2:23 pm PST by
The first beta of iOS 18.4 is now available, and it includes a small but useful change for CarPlay. As we noted in our list of iOS 18.4 features, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra, which can be equipped...