Benjamin Clementine’s Spotify plays soar by 500 per cent following Mercury Music Prize win

Former busker racks up 350,000 listeners on the streaming service

Mercury Music prize winner Benjamin Clementine’s popularity on Spotify has soared in the wake of his victory for his debut album ‘At Least For Now’ last Friday (November 20).

Streams of his music on Spotify have gone up 500 per cent and he now has 350,000 monthly users listed on the music service.

During the ceremony, Clementine performed his track ‘Cornerstone’. On winning the award, he invited the other nominees onstage and added, “I’d like to dedicate this to the people of Paris.” Clementine spent time busking in the French capital earlier in his career.

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Young Fathers won the award last year for their album ‘Dead’, while James Blake took the prize in 2013 for his album ‘Overgrown’. Jamie xx was the bookies’ favourite to win the prize this year.

READ: Gaz Coombes But No Grime – Five Biggest Talking Points From Mercury Prize 2015 Nominations

NMEPress

The shortlist – celebrating the best albums of the past 12 months released by a British or Irish artist – was chosen by an independent judging panel, which this year included former nominees Anna Calvi, Corinne Bailey Rae and Nick Mulvey among broadcasters, journalists and DJs.

Prior to the ceremony, NME readers voted for Jamie xx as their favourite to win the Mercury Prize this year.

The xx member was followed in the poll by Wolf Alice and Slaves, with Gaz Coombes, Florence and Aphex also among the nominees with the most votes.

Clementine posted a thank you message to his Facebook account following the win:

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Thank you, to the fine people who chose me as the winner for the Album of the Year Mercury Prize award. This accolade…

Posted by Benjamin Clementine on Friday, 20 November 2015

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