After Heartstopper Used This Indie Artist’s Song, Streams For It Increased 8,000%

There are many things to love about Alice Oseman’s webtoon-turned-Netflix hit series Heartstopper: the sweet teenage romance between Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke), Oscar winner Olivia Colman’s cameo, and a soundtrack so fitting that each song pulls you into the scene to make you feel all the feels. Since the show premiered on April 22, Heartstopper earned a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes and peaked at No. 5 on Netflix’s Global Top 10 most-streamed shows. The series also made a splash on music streaming platforms, where the mostly-independent artists featured on the show’s soundtrack experienced massive boosts in streams.

Independent Irish singer Orla Gartland got the biggest increase in streams after her 2019 song “Why Am I Like This?” was featured at the end of Episode 2. The scene begins after Nick and Charlie share a long hug. Charlie talks about the embrace via a group text. Meanwhile, Nick flicks through his photos of Charlie and wonders what his feelings really mean. The episode ends with him Googling, “Am i gay?” Gartland’s song plays uninterrupted through the entire sequence.

On May 13, Gartland told Bustle that before the show premiered on April 22, the song had about 94,750 Spotify streams total. Twenty days later, the song had more than 7.6 million times — almost an 8,000% increase in streams. Aside from streams, the song is also a hit on TikTok, where Gartland says the audio clip has been used 175,000 times in three weeks.

“I’m an independent artist and buzzzzzing and IN AWE of what’s happening rn,” Gartland wrote in a TikTok posted on May 2. “I wrote this song a couple years ago about my stupid brain. at the time I was thinking a lot about identity and felt so hyper self-aware about everything. I felt like I was analysing every single thing I was doing & saying in real time and it was FULLY EXHAUSTING.”

Even the actor who plays Charlie is a fan of Gartland’s hit, using the audio on his TikTok account. On May 11, just nine days after Gartland thanked fans for the initial streaming bump, she gave another update on Instagram. Reposting the Heartstopper star’s video of him lipsyncing to her song, she wrote, “over 6 million streams on this song since the show came out. RIP me.”

The Top 10 Most-Streamed Heartstopper Songs On Spotify

Spotify confirmed to Bustle that “Why Am I Like This?” is the most-played song on the Heartstopper soundtrack. But she’s definitely not the only artist who gained more listeners since Heartstopper came out. British alt-pop singer Baby Queen, who has the most songs on the playlist with four out of the 36-song tracklist, also enjoyed a spike in streams. Even before the show premiered, Baby Queen already had fans buzzing with her made-for-series single “Colours of You,” which soundtracked Heartstopper’s teaser trailer drop on March 16.

1. “Why Am I Like This?” by Orla Gartland

2. “Want Me” by Baby Queen

3. “Colours of You” by Baby Queen

4. “Dover Beach” by Baby Queen

5. “Lovesick” by Peace

6. “Don’t Delete The Kisses” by Wolf Alice

7. “Sappho” by Frankie Cosmos

8. “girls” by girl in red

9. “My Own Person” by Smoothboi Ezra

10. “Dance with Me” by beabadoobee

If you also want to relive Charlie and Nick’s love story as we wait to see if a Season 2 is coming, or perhaps you just need a playlist to emote, stream the soundtrack now. Thank us later.