Anyone trying to drag Bey's ST video views need to have a seat. The videos came with the album and were subsequently released to Vevo almost a year later.
Anyway, I don't think it's fair to compare video views from artists that released their videos before YT or Vevo was even a thing really. Of course artists like Brit, Xtina, JT, and Bey will have lower views for some of their oldest songs. They peaked long before YT and Vevo became a viable source.
No lie, the first time I watched this video it only had 90 views. It was in the evening and the video had been uploaded the morning of. Now after three weeks it has 28k views.... That's abysmal for an artist who had a huge dance hit that is still played on dance radio and clubs today
Pause. XO was swallowed by Drunk in Love, not promoted with the exception of the Brit awards and subsequently bombed; how is it surprising that it's not certified?
The ST videos were unceremoniously thrown on YouTube a year after the album was released; plus most of the demographic that would be driving recurring clicks already owned the album which automatically came with all the videos already. Pretty bad example.
All in all, Bey is a much stronger and consistent streaming artist than most of her pre-digital era debuting peers. Bey's Vevo is currently #9 overall with 4.13 billion cumulative views, 13 certified videos (would be 14 if her team weren't flops and put the first upload of 7/11 on her Vevo and not her personal) with another handful between 85-99 million so she will be closer to 20 certified within a few months.
The only major pop girls with bigger overall video views are Rihanna, Taylor, Katy and Shakira (who has the huge Latin American driven views like Enrique Iglesias). The vast majority of Bey's peers from her era -- Britney, Alicia, Justin, Usher, Christina, Pink aren't anywhere close to her views. The only one stronger is Eminem.
Even comparing to some artists that blew up at the height of the digital era, Bey is stronger -- like Gaga for instance. Comparing 4 era to BTW era videos (Bey's "flop" era vs. a successful Gaga era and all of the videos were uploaded within the same time period 2/3rd quarter 2011), Run The World, Love on Top and Best Thing I Never Had all have more views than Born This Way -- a massively promoted #1 hit.
