Greta Gerwig‘s Barbie movie was successful for its talented casting, feminist undertones, and pretty-in-pink set design. But you can’t forget about the comedy’s memorable music. The box office phenomenon managed to land 11 Grammy nominations, and Billie Eilish won three, including Song of the Year for “What Was I Made For?” After winning Best Original Song at the Oscars, record sales started booming for Eilish and her brother Finneaus.
Billie Eilish and Finneau O’Connell’s song “What Was I Made For?” spoke volumes during awards season. Critics and fans loved the Barbie song’s message about a woman’s journey of self-discovery. It not only won at the Golden Globes and the Grammys but also Best Original Song at the Oscars. After that high honor, Billboard revealed a boom in digital song sales of 5,300 copies. It also helps that the trending song played on Saturday Night Live one night before the Oscars.
From March 10th-11th, “What Was I Made For?” achieved 2.2 million official on-demand streams in the U.S. This led to a 27% increase over the previous week. When looking only at purchases, sales rose a total of 704%.
Another Barbie Song That Benefitted From the Oscars
“I’m Just Ken” also received a nomination at this year’s Oscars and became a real fan favorite. The Barbie song that placed Ryan Gosling on the Billboard Top 100 last summer also found post-Oscars success in streams and sales. It’s understandable, considering his upbeat Gentlemen Prefer Blondes-inspired performance was the highlight of the ceremony. From March 10th to 11th, numbers soared over 2000% with nearly 417,000 streams and over 900 digital song sales.
Because the Oscars experienced a surge in ratings over the past four years due to Barbenheimer, more people tuned into the Academy Awards to see the summer’s most successful films snag awards. With Billie Eilish and Ryan Gosling giving incredible performances that Oscar night, it’s no wonder Barbie fans want to keep hearing these songs over and over.
