I'm fairly fascinated, these days, by streaming numbers. As has been said, it's the first time we've really known what music from all of history people are not just buying, but listening to, the most. (Spotify launched in 2008 and began to get big in the early 2010s, so we're talking about the last 15 years or so)
There is both an enormity and a mundanity to it.
I mainly look at the Spotify numbers, even though I myself don't use Spotify, as Spotify is by far the largest streaming platform, and provides a weekly update on figures. I remember, for what it's worth, that Apple released its most streamed songs, and though it was pretty similar to Spotify, there was definitely more hip-hop and r'n'b than there is in the Spotify numbers, for whatever reason. There was a lot more Drake, and the Spotify list already had plenty enough Drake for me ...
What's my headline fact, or deduction? I guess it's that the defining song in pop music history is Take On Me, by A-ha. Well, why not? It's a great song.
By which I mean, not only does Take On Me itself have 2.5+ billion streams, making it one of the most listened to songs first released in the 20th century, but two of the Top 6 of all time, both with over 4 billion streams, Blinding Lights by The Weeknd and As It Was by Harry Styles, are heavily indebted to it.
Take On Me turns out to be the sound. That's rather marvellous really. Could have told you that when I was 7.
What else can I tell you? Well, you know Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood? You know that one, that 2012 single by a US indie band? No? Not the fourth most streamed song of all time? You don't know it? What's wrong with you? Anyway, it's actually an ok song, if you like that kind of thing.
And what else can I tell you? People do actually still love sorry polite British (and Irish) balladeering men.
In the Top 100, there's multiple Sheeran, multiple Styles, Capaldi, Glass Animals, James Arthur (!), multiple Coldplay, Tom Odell, Hozier, Arctic Monkeys (bit different, to be fair), Passenger, not to mention Every Breath You Take, Wonderwall, and presumably to Thom Yorke's bittersweet angst, Creep.
Whither Blunt? de Mumford? Don't worry, they're doing fine, with songs around the million mark. The world still loves that stuff ... Chasing Cars and Somewhere Only We Know are around the two million mark...
And, yes, men, and that's slightly interesting. Despite the fact that you'd say most of the superstars of music in the last decade or so, the ones with a crossover enormity, have been women - Taylor Swift, Adele, Beyonce, Gaga, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Carpenter, Rodrigo etc, the Top 100 is dominated by male vocalists - 85 vs 15 by my reckoning. Swift is not as preeminent as one might think, but I think that is mainly explained by the fact she took herself off Spotify for a pretty long time ...
I think the main takeaway is that people still like, mainly, to listen to "nice", dare I say it, boring songs. There aren't lots of dangerous, thrilling, new, youthful styles out there the kids are into. Hip-hop and dance music do fine, but again, compared to Apple, and perhaps to what people might think, are a bit underrepresented.
There are some genuinely fascinating ones - how come The Night We Met by Lord Huron, a US folk group i remember listening to a little bit a decade or so ago, has over 3 billion (i think it's TV). Why is I Wanna Be Yours, an Arctic Monkeys track taken from a John Cooper Clarke poem, their most popular song? What is it with Iris and Mr Brightside?
Even further down, you get some odd surprises. Most of my core music - Wilco, Rilo Kiley, Waxahatchee, SFA etc - does ok but not great really. But then, for some reason, Fourth of July, Sufjan Stevens' most devastatingly sad song, has over 500 million streams. How did that happen?
And can we settle Oasis vs Blur for good? Well, sure, it's Oasis by a long way, though Song 2 is very much doing a good job for Blur, but, wouldn't you know it, Gorillaz beat Oasis on overall numbers comfortably. Albarn really has had the ultimate challenge. Gorillaz really do continue to be massively listened to group.
Another noticeable thing - the further back it is, the less listened to. This seems somewhat obvious, but perhaps isn't entirely, as it's all "old stuff". But the 2000s are more popular than the 90s which are popular than the 80s which are more popular than the 70s which are more popular than the 60s (Queen bigger than the Beatles) and as for the 50s and further back ... nothing i can see ...
Anyway, there it is - I'd say, overall, knowing what songs people listen to the most is strangely comforting. People are basically the same and basically boring. So be it.
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