It is not the official winner who grows the most. Analysis of Spotify and Instagram data reveals who really multiplied their visibility during the Festival
Sanremo is won on stage, but it is also measured in numbers. If the final ranking awarded Sal Da Vinci ahead of Sayf and Ditonellapiaga, the photograph of the growth in popularity tells another story, quieter but equally significant, which concerns the digital impact and the ability to transform television exposure into ratings and followers.
According to the Pop Index developed by Maiora Solutions, the artist who recorded the highest percentage increase during the Festival is Maria Antonietta, with an increase of 1217%, followed by Colombre with 1056%, while Bambole di Pezza completes the podium with 877%. These are percentages that highlight a clear multiplier effect, especially for those who started from a less broad base and benefited more markedly from the media attention concentrated on the event.
How the Pop Index works
The Pop Index combines two fundamental indicators of the contemporary music ecosystem: listeners on Spotify and the number of followers on Instagram. The analysis compares the data recorded at the time of the announcement of the big names competing with those recorded at the final evening of the Festival, attributing a weight of 65% to the ratings on the streaming platform and 35% to the growth on social media.
The result does not reflect the absolute popularity of the artists, but the percentage variation over the Festival period. It is precisely this relative perspective that provides an interesting picture, because it measures Sanremo’s actual ability to impact the digital positioning of the competing singers.
The Festival effect on emerging names
Alongside Marie Antoinette and Colombre, Rag Dolls and Ditonellapiaga also grew significantly, recording an increase of 632%, while LDA stood at 482%, Leo Gassman at 435% and Aka 7even at 400%. These are percentages that confirm how the Festival still represents an extraordinary acceleration platform today, capable of amplifying in just a few days the visibility of artists who, although already well-known, did not occupy the highest positions in the digital charts.
The percentage increase therefore becomes an indicator of the driving force of the Sanremo context, which concentrates television audiences, media coverage and social conversations in a short but very high intensity time frame.
The big names consolidate, but grow less
At the other end of the table are Luchè with 14%, Fedez with 23%, Tommaso Paradiso with 27% and Raf with 29%. The data, however, should not be interpreted as a sign of weakness, but rather as the consequence of an already very high starting point.
Luchè and Fedez, in particular, are among the most listened to artists on Spotify among those competing, with millions of monthly listeners. In these cases, the Festival effect does not produce explosive growth in percentage terms because popularity was already consolidated before the start of the event. Sanremo, for the big names, tends to strengthen an existing position rather than revolutionize it.
The ranking and the economic value of visibility
After the podium led by Maria Antonietta, Colombre and Bambole di Pezza, followed by Ditonellapiaga, LDA, Leo Gassman and Aka 7even, while among the historical names Marco Masini recorded an increase of 137% and Malika Ayane of 125%. Sal Da Vinci, despite winning the Festival, stands at 105%, a sign that success on stage does not necessarily coincide with the highest percentage growth.
The most interesting data, however, remains of a structural nature. Sanremo is not just a musical competition, but an accelerator of digital traffic, listeners and followers, capable of directly impacting the market value of artists in the following months. In an industry in which streaming and engagement represent central assets, the percentage change in popularity becomes an economic as well as a media indicator.
The artistic victory remains the most visible symbol of the Festival. But digital growth, measured in numbers and percentages, tells of another form of success, less celebrated but often more decisive in the medium term.
