Wow.
Wow is all I can say about my music consumption for 2020. In March, I took a job where I was able to play music at work, as opposed to listening to whatever crappy muzak was playing over the speakers. I was also spending more time listening to music as home as well. I was talking to some friends about music and how we listen during 2020 and the pandemic, and one of them made an interesting point that music is something that we can find solace in during troubled times. He said he was listening to more music that always made us happy or comfortable in the past rather than trying to seek out new music. This was something that I had also been doing, and a lot of people I spoke with said they found themselves leaning on nostalgic hits rather than whatever new crop the world has served up. It's also worth noting that new pop music is fairly awful compared to what it used to be, but I digress.
In 2020, I had 36,620 scrobbles, an average of just over 100 per day. Those scrobbles came from 14,838 individual songs, making the per song average 2.468 this year. For reference, that is 55% more scrobbles than last years total of 23,725. Exactly 5600 of those songs had at least 2 hits, meaning there were nine thousand, two hundred and thirty eight songs that were scrobbled just once. Pretty wild stuff.
So let's just into the Top 30 Most Played! Same format at last year - here's the key:
#TY. Artist - Song (Last year's ranking)
30. Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues (NR)
Nostalgia, right? I love Eddie Cochran's jangly guitar sound, love how fun this song is, and just love the old-timey groove of it all. It's simple, it's catchy, and I played it a lot in 2020. And why not? My residents all remember this song, and it's a great one to dance with.
29. TRVSS - All The Bugs - Live (new)
TRVSS took the #6 spot in the Top 20 Countdown this year, despite only grabbing the 29th spot in most played songs. That's really all you need to know about nostalgic throwbacks vs new tracks, I think. I have a feeling that once they decide to release a full length record, they'll have song with more streams.
28. The Broken Relics - Where The Creatures Roam (3)
Where last year, I obsessively listened to this track, in 2020 I spent more time listening to the entirety of this EP. The Relics should still feature in my Top 25 artists, and you better believe their new record has a good chance to blow the doors off the 2021 lists. Almost every song I've heard from it so far is a jam.
27. Smokey Robinson and The Miracles - The Tracks of My Tears (NR)
When I think of the greatest lyrical songs of all time, this one is always in the discussion. Smokey has a couple of songs he wrote that are so overly personal yet cerebral, and of course who can deny his singing prowess? What I wouldn't give to be able to sing and write like that.
26. Forever Unknown - Bury Me (new)
The most interesting thing about Forever Unknown for me is that I had listened to this EP so much at the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020 that I had to step away from it for a few months. Even with that, this song landed at 26 and was #4 on the Top 20.
25. Wilson Phillips - Hold On (NR)
I mean, didn't everyone need a little bit of this song in 2020? In a year where perseverance was key, songs about holding on had a huge impact on me. Also, the harmonies on this song are out of this world. There's a reason why this group was on top of the world in the early 90s.
24. When In Rome - The Promise (NR)
I'm slightly surprised that this song is so high up on the list. It's one of those songs that I just listen to a lot without even thinking about it, I guess. It's a song I enjoy singing at karaoke too, so I probably listened to it to honor the times that I couldn't go out.
23. Assemblage 23 - Endure (NR)
I honestly, truthfully cannot think of a time where an instrumental track would've made a most played list in my life. I just don't listen to a ton of instrumental music, other than occasional classical and smooth jazz playlists. I just love lyrics and voices far too much to spend that much time with one. But, there was a day at work where this song came on during my opening routine, and it kind of became the anthem of 2020. Endure.
22. The Wild Wild - Alright (24)
It's hard to escape this one. There are too many days in my life where I need to hear the words "Everything's gonna be alright". Even in an unusually positive year for me, I still needed to be reminded, and The Wild Wild was there to remind me.
21. Sixpence None The Richer - Sister, Mother (NR)
I honestly had to do a double take when I saw this song all the way up at #21. But there was in a point in the spring where I listened to this record, because it's always been a comfort album for me. It's a shame that most people only know "Kiss Me", because Leigh Nash has such a beautiful voice, and Matt Slocum is as underrated as a guitarist as there is in pop music. I can't imagine there'll be a higher surprise song on the chart, though.
20. Roxette - Silver Blue (NR)
When Marie Fredriksson passed last December, I went on a Roxette kick, and Silver Blue is the song that got the most love out of that blitz. The thing is, it was never a single, isn't on any of their compilations and doesn't really have a ton of recognition anywhere. It's just another great ballad from the Swedes.
19. Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy (NR)
This song routinely is routinely in the top 100 most played songs, and is probably my best karaoke track as well. I saw the Gin Blossoms live a few years back and they absolutely still have it and know how to put on a tremendous show as well. Most of those '90s bands are just touring for nostalgia money, but I'd probably go see them again.
18. Ghost - Dance Macabre (NR)
It's pretty wild to see a song that made the Top 20 two years ago have a resurgence, but something in that opening guitar riff and later solo kept me coming back to Ghost this year. For all the crap that they get for their theatrics and enigmatic behavior, they're a refreshing band in a world of copycat metal artists.
17. VNV Nation - The Farthest Star (9)
This song was, is, and always will be a top song for me. I just cannot fathom it slipping. It was #9 last year and #7 the year before, and VNV continues to push themselves deeper into my life with each passing year.
16. VNV Nation - Carry You (NR)
Speaking of which, the penultimate track of Judgement was actually able to leap over "The Farthest Star" this time around. Even though I listened to a lot less EDM in 2020, it will always be there for me in my darker times.
15. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Learning To Fly (NR)
"Learning To Fly" is a song that has been in my regular "Rockman" playlist since I first created it on Spotify in 2017, and it finally broke through in 2020. Something about surviving unemployment and climbing back on top of the horse resonated with me this year, and this song is all about that.
14. Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World (23)
I mean, come on. Sam Cooke. Any all-time list should have this song near the top. If you aren't happy after listening to this song all the way through, I don't know what to tell you.
13. Empathy Test - Monsters (new)
The #5 song on the 2020 Countdown, "Monsters" was a consistent song from the moment the album dropped until the end of the year. It might even be one of the carry-overs next year. Only time will tell. At the end of this article we'll revisit the songs that fell out from last year.
12. Crowded House - Something So Strong (NR)
Another of the songs that had remained on my daily playlist on Spotify (there are currently 13 of them that have lasted without being removed), Crowded House were in the Top 50 in '17 and '18 before sliding back next year. This year, I've been singin' that song in the car, at work and everywhere else I've gone. The chorus is far too simple, but for some reason "Something so strong could carry us away" is something that has just resonated with me for years.
11. White Reaper - Real Long Time (new)
I needed upbeat music more than I needed sad music in 2020, and White Reaper was happy to provide the #3 song on the Top 20 Countdown. Songs that have ultra-catchy openings always tend to last longer and get more plays than others, and this one almost slipped into the top 10 most streamed songs of the year.
10. King Princess - Ohio (new)
King Princess was all over the place on the Top 20 Countdown this year before finally stopping at #7. But the song was streamed heavily at the beginning of the year and features easily my favourite breakdown of any song released this year right around the 2 minute mark, when the distortion flares up and the song goes berserk.
9. VNV Nation - Only Satellites (1)
Well, even with lapping the field in 2019, this song still had enough momentum to continue pummeling in 2020. It certainly isn't anything wild to find VNV Nation in the top 10. Even if Ronan Harris never released another record, there'd be enough material that I love to keep me going for a long, long time.
8. Mesh - The Last One Standing (6)
Since I began tracking streams via Last.FM, "The Last One Standing" has been the most streamed song by a decent amount. #6 last year and the year before, it has always carried its own weight against the rest of the world.
7. Alvvays - In Undertow (5)
For as much as I listen to this song these days, it's wild to think that I didn't pay it any notion when it first came out, and in fact that it was kind of annoying the first few times I actually heard it. Feels like a lifetime ago.
6. Depeche Mode - Precious (NR)
There's never a shortage of Depeche Mode songs bouncing around in my head. Violator is an all-time album for me, but it's "Precious" that carried me through the bad times at the end of 2019 and on into the next year. Along with The Cure and The Smiths, I can always count on Depeche Mode to take me to that wonderfully mellow '80s mood.
5. Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes (NR)
Apologies to my wife, who hates that I've listened to this song all the time as long as we've been together. I can hear those synths in my dreams, and Kim Carnes' voice is a place of solitude for me in rough waves. To leap all the way up to #5 is tremendous.
4. Evanescence - Anywhere (NR)
I'm not really sure why, but at the beginning of 2020 I really wanted to listen to Evanescence's Origin album. It has always been my favourite offering from the band, even with the commercial success of Fallen, I've always found comfort in Amy, Ben and David's first real record together. The band isn't anything like this anymore, and honestly the lyrics are slightly juvenile, but "Anywhere" was the song that brought me back to reality when I needed it the most.
3. Purity Ring - Stardew (new)
2. Lilieae - Level (new)
The top 2 songs of The Top 20 Countdown making it here at 3 and 2. Most of Purity Ring's scrobbles came early in the year, including a single day high of 11 the day it was released and 21 the first month, also a high for any song. Lilieae were more consistent throughout the year, making a strong push at the end to land at #2 for the year. Just two streams separated these two when it was all said and done.
1. Tom Petty - I Won't Back Down (NR)
Outta nowhere, right? This has always been a song I liked, but never one I really obsessed about. It's as close to a perfectly written song as there can be, with a driving beat, fantastic guitar solo, positive lyrics, tremendous harmonies and perfect tone. Plus an unmistakable opening to boot. Early in the spring something clicked for me and this became the absolute anthem of 2020. While it wasn't as big as "Only Satellites" was last year, but it still finished with a whopping 26 more scrobbles than "Level". Truly a fantastic domination on the year.
With only 7 returning songs from last year, that means there were 23 that slid out. That list is as follows, and contains some shocking results.
Key: LY. Artist - Title (TY)
30. A Flock Of Seagulls - Space Age Love Song (T241)
29. Demon Hunter - The Negative (T98)
28. Cold - Shine (T1857)
27. Assemblage 23 - Damaged (T180)
26. The Birthday Massacre - All of Nothing (T125)
25. Rammstein - Radio (T5601)
22. Wolfsheim - Blind (T69)
21. Within Temptation - In Vain (T5601)
20. VNV Nation - Arena (T59)
19. Necessary Response - Forever (T140)
18. The Cure - Pictures of You (T98)
17. Billie Eilish - You Should See Me In A Crown (NR)
16. Ashbury Heights - Spiders (T212)
15. Ashley Cleveland - Where Do I Go (feat. Gary Chapman) (T757)
14. Assemblage 23 - The Other Side of the Wall (T241)
13. Toto - Stop Loving You (T86)
12. Solitary Experiments - Epiphany (47)
11. Mesh - The Fixer (T59)
10. VNV Nation - Armour (T180)
8. Truslow - Hurricane (T53)
7. The Benjamin Gate - How Long (T125)
4. Smith & Thell - Forgive Me Friend (T409)
2. VHS Collection - Sign (T114)
That Billie Eilish song was streamed zero times. Within Temptation and Rammstein got 1. The rest, with the exception of Cold and Ashley Cleveland at least hit double digits, but it goes to show that the end of year burnout is definitely real. That coupled with the madness of 2020, gosh, zero streams? And even though I listened to plenty of R+, "Radio" still only grabbed 1. It's so interesting how the years ebb and flow. Wolfsheim was a two year repeat, along with Solitary Experiments, Necessary Response and Mesh, which just goes to show the lack of EDM I listened to last year, compared to oldies.
I'll do the Top 25 Artists tomorrow. Thanks to Last.FM for all of the stats. And extra special thanks to The Universal Scrobbler for helping me capture things that had previously not been snagged.
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