Most listened to songs on spotify

Keiko

Thought I would google this. Just makes me feel old:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-streamed_songs_on_Spotify

hollywoodrox

Wow ,never seen so much crap in one list 

Keiko

Yep, I had a quick listen to 'post malone' on spotify after reading that list, to see just how awesome they must be. It doesn't even sound like music to me. Just a load of swearing over some synths, with no drum beat. I thought they were a rock band after seeing their nirvana tribute on youtube. I was wrong.

EricTheWeary

There are a couple of Rick Beato videos where he goes through the top ten. Quite interesting but I appreciate that I am not the target audience for any of these tracks ( maybe Bo Rap excepted) and what 13 year olds are listening to worldwide doesn't impact upon my day to day existence very much.  
The surprising thing for me is how few artists there are in the list, no singers from Korea or Argentina that are massive there but nowhere else popping up - it's ( iinasmuch as I know any of this music) from quite a narrow band of music and artistes.    

Hick81

Keiko said:

Yep, I had a quick listen to 'post malone' on spotify after reading that list, to see just how awesome they must be. It doesn't even sound like music to me. Just a load of swearing over some synths, with no drum beat. I thought they were a rock band after seeing their nirvana tribute on youtube. I was wrong.

'They' also aren't a band. Post Malone is a person

Hick81

Was it ever any different? 

Top selling UK singles in the 70s 

1. Mull of Kintrye - Wings
2. Rivers of Babalon/Brown girl in the ring - Boney M
3. You're the one that i want - John Travolta and Olivia Newton John
4. Mary's boy child - Boney M
5. Summer Nights - John Travolta and Olivia Newton John

axisus

Top 10, I only know Ed Sheeran. 

I don't buy into this argument of all big-selling popular music is crap. If people buy something then it has musical value. Whoever looks down their nose at this stuff, well someone else is looking down their nose at what you like as well. None of us have the right to top opinion.

Neill

axisus said:

Top 10, I only know Ed Sheeran. 

I don't buy into this argument of all big-selling popular music is crap. If people buy something then it has musical value. Whoever looks down their nose at this stuff, well someone else is looking down their nose at what you like as well. None of us have the right to top opinion.

I happened to see Lewis Capaldi on TV recently, I had no idea at the time who he was but now I see how he has an effect on todays teenage girls, it's David Cassidy all over again.

Pop music has a habit of becoming respectable after a couple of decades, possibly because by then the perpetrators have become old/fat/bald etc and you're just left with the music.  I mean, for example, some of the Bay City Rollers stuff is quite acceptable now and definitely compared with what passes for pop music these days.

So time will tell.  I heard the infant Sheeran on the radio a bit back saying he sleeps easy knowing that folk will still be listening to his stuff in 30 years...  I think he needs a lesson in humility from Paul Simon who once said he thought his best songs might last five years. 

Nitefly

I read this week that new acts can't make any money from streaming because of all the old acts taking the money - looks like this list rather debunks that?

EricTheWeary

Nitefly said:

I read this week that new acts can't make any money from streaming because of all the old acts taking the money - looks like this list rather debunks that?

Quick google suggests Ed Sheeran has earned about £13million off Spotify. 

breakstuff

Anyone watching the re-runs of Top Of The Pops from 1990 currently being shown every weekend on BBC4?

My god, that was a turd of a year as far as popular music was concerned. Bloody awful. 

Philly_Q

EricTheWeary said:

The surprising thing for me is how few artists there are in the list, no singers from Korea or Argentina that are massive there but nowhere else popping up - it's ( iinasmuch as I know any of this music) from quite a narrow band of music and artistes.    

That's exactly what struck me.  I know lots of these people as names - Post Malone, Dua Lipa, Drake, Lewis Capaldi, the Weeknd, Billie Eilish, Ed Sheeran of course - although in most cases I've heard very little of their music.

It seems from this chart that in fact those few "names" are essentially the only artists who are currently really popular. 

I've said it before, but pop music today seems a lot less significant than it was when we were kids.  The top 40 countdown was a big deal, we saved up to buy records (or cassettes or CDs), we were members of little cliques who only followed one type of music....  Nowadays it's just another of the many things you consume via your phone.  Music, films, TV, news, internet, social media... in a way they've all become the same.  And they're all equally inconsequential.

ewal

Nitefly said:

I read this week that new acts can't make any money from streaming because of all the old acts taking the money - looks like this list rather debunks that?

It doesn't - those established at the top of the roster (like Ed Sheeran) do very well. However most don't.

Alterlifeson

Philly_Q said:

EricTheWeary said:

The surprising thing for me is how few artists there are in the list, no singers from Korea or Argentina that are massive there but nowhere else popping up - it's ( iinasmuch as I know any of this music) from quite a narrow band of music and artistes.     

I've said it before, but pop music today seems a lot less significant than it was when we were kids.  The top 40 countdown was a big deal, we saved up to buy records (or cassettes or CDs), we were members of little cliques who only followed one type of music....  Nowadays it's just another of the many things you consume via your phone.  Music, films, TV, news, internet, social media... in a way they've all become the same.  And they're all equally inconsequential.

People's relationship with music has definitely changed. Music has never been so accessible and that has devalued it, not only monetarily but emotionally for many people. Friends who would have grown up in the 70s and 80s have much the same relationship to music as their children unless they are 'into' music. In which case they would still seek out new artists or eagerly await the release of an album. 

The latest trend is to 'drop' an album out of the blue with no pre-release marketing at all. This builds huge excitement for fans of the artists but can alienate listeners who aren't super mega fans. The hype and mystery around an album is part of what makes a release fun in my eyes.

The little cliques you mention are still there, and in some cases are what smaller acts rely on to make money at all. A small but loyal following on Spotify might not mean many play counts, but they are much more likely to buy a shirt or go to a gig.

zepp76

breakstuff said:

Anyone watching the re-runs of Top Of The Pops from 1990 currently being shown every weekend on BBC4?

My god, that was a turd of a year as far as popular music was concerned. Bloody awful. 

Haha this post reminds me of the pub scene in Human traffic where they are slagging off the pop groups of the time. Bloody classic film.

hollywoodrox

Philly_Q said:

EricTheWeary said:

The surprising thing for me is how few artists there are in the list, no singers from Korea or Argentina that are massive there but nowhere else popping up - it's ( iinasmuch as I know any of this music) from quite a narrow band of music and artistes.    

That's exactly what struck me.  I know lots of these people as names - Post Malone, Dua Lipa, Drake, Lewis Capaldi, the Weeknd, Billie Eilish, Ed Sheeran of course - although in most cases I've heard very little of their music.

It seems from this chart that in fact those few "names" are essentially the only artists who are currently really popular. 

I've said it before, but pop music today seems a lot less significant than it was when we were kids.  The top 40 countdown was a big deal, we saved up to buy records (or cassettes or CDs), we were members of little cliques who only followed one type of music....  Nowadays it's just another of the many things you consume via your phone.  Music, films, TV, news, internet, social media... in a way they've all become the same.  And they're all equally inconsequential.

Well said , my music defined me and still does ,it is/was a lifestyle,  you could recognise like minded people by their style and strike up instant friendships with kindred spirits ,record collections were important and any airing of your favourite stuff in the media was watched /listened to avidly  And the latest news on it was kept up to date in magazines like Kerrang ,RAW,Hit Parader,metal edge and metal hammer , and of course guitar world .  Fuckin love it with a passion 

Neill

breakstuff said:

Anyone watching the re-runs of Top Of The Pops from 1990 currently being shown every weekend on BBC4?

My god, that was a turd of a year as far as popular music was concerned. Bloody awful. 

It was wasn't it.  But let's be honest the rot had well and truly set in by 1990.

By way of a comparison I was looking at the archives from 20 years previously, the year 1970 produced such gems as:

Spirit in the Sky, Band of Gold, In the Summertime, All Right Now, Tears of a Clown, Yellow River, Cracklin' Rosie, Instant Karma, Paranoid, Black Night, - that's just scratching the surface and these are classic pop records every one.  

bluechargeboy

I just went through the top 100 and I've only heard one of those songs - Bohemian Rhapsody!

I need to get out more. Or maybe not.

Philly_Q

Neill said:

breakstuff said:

Anyone watching the re-runs of Top Of The Pops from 1990 currently being shown every weekend on BBC4?

My god, that was a turd of a year as far as popular music was concerned. Bloody awful. 

It was wasn't it.  But let's be honest the rot had well and truly set in by 1990.

1990 is around the time my pop music knowledge grinds to a halt, although I probably would recognise a few things if I went and looked at the chart.

Coming back to the thing about music's lack of significance nowadays:

A few months ago I took part in a big Nordoff-Robbins pop music quiz on Zoom (it was pretty heavy duty, our team came in the bottom 5 out of 50 but that's getting away from the point).  In our team we had me in my 50s, someone else in her 40s and some kids in their 20s.  I said I'm OK up to the 1980s, but I'm relying on you lot after that.

Well, the youngsters were fucking hopeless.  They knew nothing about modern pop music, even when they thought they knew the answers they turned out to be wrong.  I think I contributed nearly every answer we actually got right.

Cols

Nitefly said:

I read this week that new acts can't make any money from streaming because of all the old acts taking the money - looks like this list rather debunks that?

Yeah, thread below.  This list tears the arse out of my argument that the classic familiar artists like Queen and The Beatles are hoovering up all the streaming revenue.

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/198854/new-bands-can-t-compete-on-streaming#latest


Nearly all of the songs in the Spotify top 100 are from the last 10 years, which speaks well of the popularity of current music.

But still - the money’s not happening for the artists.  Considering how well-represented Ed Sheeran is in the list, £13 million is a pretty miserable haul for him.

Jonathangus

bluechargeboy said:

I just went through the top 100 and I've only heard one of those songs - Bohemian Rhapsody!

I need to get out more. Or maybe not.

Like you, I also have impeccable musical taste.