Morris Day and the Time ranks fourth in Spotify surge after Grammys

Above: Morris Day of The Time during the Grammys Prince tribute. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)

Just what does exposure on the Grammy Awards mean?

One measure is streaming on Spotify.

Guess who got the biggest percentage boost within one hour after Sunday’s Grammy telecast?

Adele? Nope. Beyoncé? Nah. Bruno Mars? Wrong again.

It was William Bell, the veteran R&B singer, who at 77 won his first Grammy, for best Americana album, for “This Is Where I Live.”  His streams increased 680 percent after he performed his blues classic “Born Under a Bad Sign” with Gary Clark Jr.

Also earning a 680 percent increase was Cynthia Erivo, the star of the music “The Color Purple,” who sang “God Only Knows” with John Legend during an in memoriam segment.  She also won a Grammy for best musical album for “The Color Purple.”

Americana maverick Sturgill Simpson checked in at No. 3 at 346 percent. He performed “All Around You” on the telecast and claimed a trophy for best country album, for “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth.”

Just two percentage points behind was Minneapolis’ own Morris Day. Streams of the Time songs jumped 344 percent after the original Time members did “Jungle Love” and “The Bird” before Bruno Mars saluted Prince with “Let’s Go Crazy." That made Day the highest ranking artist on the Spotify list who did not win a Grammy. (Technically, the rise in streaming was for songs by the Time but, in its news release, Spotify choose to simply mention lead singer Morris Day, not the entire band.)

A distant fifth was triple Grammy winner Chance the Rapper, who performed on the show and enjoyed a 206 percent improvement in streams.

As for individual tracks, here is who made the biggest leaps:

William Bell, “Born Under a Bad Sign” 4950 percent; Maren Morris, “Once” 2884 percent; George Michael, “Fastlove Pt 1” 1266 percent; Sturgill Simpson, “All Around You,” 742 percent; Bee Gees, “Tragedy” 467 percent; Chance the Rapper, “How Great” 461 percent; Keith Urban & Carrie Underwood, “The Fighter” 461 percent; A Tribe Called Quest, “We the People” 441 percent; Neil Diamond, “Sweet Caroline” 130 percent.