While the view count listed on YouTube suggested it fell short, Vevo announced Friday that Nicki Minaj’s racy new “Anaconda” video indeed broke the opening day viewership record.
According to Vevo, “Anaconda” scored 19.6 million views. during its first 24 hours of release. That tops the mark previously held by Miley Cyrus’ buzzworthy “Wrecking Ball,” which launched in September 2013.
“Wrecking Ball” is nominated for Video of the Year at Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards ceremony.
To date, the Vevo-on-YouTube version of Minaj’s video has already earned more than 37 million streams. In addition to reviving sales interest in the song, the hefty streaming total will also send “Anaconda” soaring up next week’s Billboard Hot 100.
