In the first of an occasional series, I’ve been crunching the numbers of the great and good to see how they fare in the streaming age.
All figures are courtesy of the repository of streaming statistics that is Chartmetric.
Beginning with three of the biggest acts of the rock and pop era:
- The respective Kings of Rock n’ Roll and Pop…
- And The Fab Four.
Each offer surprises amongst the usual suspects and underline the importance of a festive recording.
Starting with The Beatles:
The Top 20 – including their collective and post Beatle careers:
1. Here Comes The Sun 1.5b
2. FourFiveSeconds 1.2b (Rihanna / Kanye / Paul)
3. Come Together 795.2m
4. Let It Be 754.9m
5. Yesterday 719.3m
6. Imagine 715.4m (John)
7. Hey Jude 629.2m
8. Happy Xmas War Is Over 621.4m (John & Yoko)
9. My Sweet Lord 562.1m (George)
10. Twist And Shout 559.3m
11. Wonderful Christmastime 543.2m (Paul)
12. Blackbird 527.4m
13. In My Life 467.8m
14. I Want To Hold Your Hand 456.6m
15. Something 363.9m
16. Help 346.7m
17. Got My Mind Set On You 331m (George)
18. Woman 324.8m (John)
19. Eleanor Rigby 304.5m
20. Band On The Run 304.3m (Paul / Wings)
I already knew their biggest streaming hit is “Here Comes The Sun.”
Even so, it’s still bewildering. How did this album track emerge from the congested pack to obliterate its more famed rivals? “Obliterate” is the right word: as its been streamed almost double the amount of its nearest challenger. Nearest challenger as a group. (We’ll get to the interloper at #2.)
It’s a simple song bringing a positive message so perhaps that allows it to transcend eras and offer a universal experience.
It’s accelerating as well. It hit 1b in 2023. At that point “Come Together” was approximately 390,000 behind.
Since then, “Here Comes The Sun” has racked up another 450k+ streams, while “Come Together” has added around 195,000.
There are two rival schools of thought on its ascendancy:
- One is that Spotify has gamed the results, it’s numbers a result of its prominence in playlists that reach far beyond The Beatles core fanbase.
Along with claims that if you ask “Alexa, play The Beatles.” this is the song that comes first. If you select Spotify’s This Is The Beatles playlist it’s currently the second track. With “Let It Be” first.
- The other point of view is that its playlist prominence reflects its popularity.
I found a discussion thread from 2019 as to how “Here Comes The Sun” became so popular so, its not a new thing. The counter claims maintain that before streaming took over “Here Comes The Sun” already ranked in the top Five Beatles downloads on Apple Music.
I’m inclined to sit on the fence and find that there’s truth on both sides. “Here Comes The Sun” has risen in popularity with a younger generation in a way that older Beatles fans haven’t expected which in turn has elevated its position and led to Spotify pushing it even further.
The number two and three songs are arguably surprises as well.
Paul is largely incidental to “FourFiveSeconds,” with it’s success down to his collaborators. But its got his name on it and outdoes any of his post Beatle work.
“Come Together” is classic Beatles. But my personal feel is that it isn’t the go to song that most people would name. “Let It Be,” “Hey Jude”or “Yesterday” would be more likely to fill that criteria and they are all there in the top 10.
Despite the Beatlemania inducing simplicity of the earlier songs, it’s the later material that streaming skews towards. There’s only “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, “Twist And Shout” and “Help” representing the pre-Rubber Soul early burst of besuited moptop fervour. “Love Me Do” and “And I Love Her” sit just outside the top 20.
“And I Love Her” is another big surprise to me. I’d guess like “Here Comes The Sun” it rates highly for its simplicity and universal message.
Unsurprisingly, their work as a group beats their solo efforts. But there are still eight post Beatle contributions here.
The presence of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” and “Wonderful Christmastime” prove the benefit of a festive favourite.
In Paul’s case, his outperformed its position in the charts. It’s not as iconic as John and Yoko’s offering and only reached #6 in the UK and #26 in the US. But its position on those Christmas playlists guarantees it an annual boost.
Evidenced by the fact that at the time of writing it’s 9 days until Christmas. Since the beginning of December they’ve both added around 30m compared to 3m to 5m for the others.
Meaning “Wonderful Christmastime” has surpassed “Blackbird.” And by the end of the festive season, John’s effort may well have overtaken “Hey Jude.” Expect those positions to reverse over the next year as the Christmas hits go into an 11 month hibernation.
What isn’t a surprise is that Ringo misses out.
His top rating track as vocalist is “Yellow Submarine” with 153.3m streams, which puts him well outside the top 40.
His biggest solo offering; “Photograph,” sits at 47.6m with “It “Don’t Come Easy” and “You’re Sixteen,” his only other tracks to have breached 10m.
Having only been available for a year “Now And Then” is well down the list.
But it is already beating several of their earlier chart toppers at 81.5m. Comfortably ahead of their worst performing #1.
Any guesses as to its identity?
That would be: “The Ballad Of John And Yoko” at 54.6m. Self indulgence be damned.
One last Beatles stat:
“Revolution #9” may lack a catchy chorus, but it isn’t quite bottom of the pile – having been streamed 13.6m times. Which is more than all but three of Ringo’s solo tracks.
Elvis Top 20
1. Can’t Help Falling In Love 1b
2. Jailhouse Rock 567.2m
3. Suspicious Minds 516.2m
4. Blue Christmas 415.1m
5. Burning Love 401.3m
6. Hound Dog 274.7m
7. A Little Less Conversation JXL Remix 227.5m
8. Always On My Mind 206.3m
9. In The Ghetto 195.1m
10. Here Comes Santa Claus 181m
11. Don’t Be Cruel 174.9m
12. (You’re The) Devil In Disguise 168.3m
13. Heartbreak Hotel 156.9m
14. Blue Suede Shoes 151.1m
15. All Shook Up 139.9m
16. If I Can Dream 108.3m
17. Return To Sender 105.7m
18. Love Me Tender 99.1m
18. Good Rockin’ Tonight 99.1m
20. It’s Now Or Never 94.3m
The King also has one track that is way ahead of the rest.
“Can’t Help Falling In Love” has passed the 1b barrier with nearly double the plays of anything else.
The only unexpected element about it’s success is that it wasn’t a Billboard #1.
Although the top spot is taken by a song from the 60s, it’s early Elvis that keeps listeners coming back: Eleven of his top 20 date from the 50s and seven from the 60s.
“Burning Love” and “Always On My Mind” represent the 70s. One of those 60s songs comes with an asterisk, as “A Little Less Conversation” is here in its JXL remixed guise.
As someone who isn’t an Elvis fan, there’s no big surprises. I’d have expected “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Blue Suede Shoes” to be in the top 10, but the only one I’m not familiar with is “If I Can Dream.”
The power of Christmas is once again apparent with two entries from Elvis’ Christmas Album. “Blue Christmas” taking the honours at 4 with “Here Comes Santa Claus” at 10.
Jackson Family Top 20
1. Billie Jean 2b
2. Beat It 1.3b
3. I Want You Back 986.3m (Jackson 5)
4. Smooth Criminal 799.6m
5. Thriller 674.5m
6. Rock With You 607.9m
7. Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough 537.5m
8. The Way You Make Me Feel 506.1m
9. Man In The Mirror 492.7m
10. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) 447.9m
11. ABC 412.5m (Jackson 5)
12. They Don’t Care About Us 389.2m
13. Bad 377.9m
14. Love Never Felt So Good 368.8m (with Justin Timberlake)
15. Remember The Time 354.3m
16. Blame It On The Boogie 338.9m (The Jacksons)
17. Chicago 332.9m
18. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 320.3m (Jackson 5)
19. Dirty Diana 257.8m
20. Black Or White 251.6m
This collection is not what I expected. Or rather, there’s someone missing that I didn’t bargain for when I compiled the biggest songs of the Jackson collective.
Sure, I anticipated Michael dominating and I thought a few of the Jackson 5 / Jackson’s efforts would make it. Two big ticks there.
But it’s a big fat cross for my blithe assumption that Janet would outdo the Jackson 5 / Jacksons iterations.
It’s not even close. Despite all of her chart conquering feats in the 80s and 90s she’s 90m streams short. “Together Again” is at 160.3m.
Was the fallout of nipplegate so extreme that it’s still impacting her legacy or is she so of her time that her music doesn’t have the same longevity as others?
160m streams is still a big number – but doesn’t reflect a star of her stature.
Whereas: Despite the allegations and negative publicity it seems Michael is too big to be cancelled. Chartmetrics suggest his Primary market is Brazil followed by the US and his core demographic being males between 18 and 24. Is it possible the age of these listeners means they missed the controversy? Is it that the controversy hasn’t had the same impact elsewhere in the world.
Unfortunately, TNOCS lacks an 18 to 24 year old Brazilian correspondent to get their take.
His 80s output stands out with Thriller and Bad represented by four tracks each. Whereas the 90s downturn only supplies three. The biggest of them, “They Don’t Care About Us” is another to outperform it’s chart position, only #30 on the Hot 100.
Two interlopers come from 2014s posthumous Xscape album.
Got to admit: I hadn’t head of either “Love Never Felt So Good” or “Chicago.” The first of those did top charts around the world and features Justin Timberlake… who isn’t the pull that he was in 2014.
But he may have contributed to its lofty position earlier in its run. Again, it may be younger listeners without the same baggage around Michael that are pushing these.
If things are looking bad for Janet’s legacy, Jermaine fans may wish to look away now.
He’s doing better than Ringo. But his best effort, “When The Rain Begins To Fall” is lagging at 83.9m.
Next time out:
The focus shifts to a battle royale to decide which is best: Originals vs Covers.
… to be continued…
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I find streaming numbers both fascinating and sometimes difficult to explain. Many songs get a boost in numbers and enter or re-enter the public consciousness from appearing in a TV show, a movie, a viral post, YouTube video, or random tik tok video. Unless you are really up on all of these things, which I am not, you won’t be able to explain it and even then the source can get murky . My teen daughter is obsessed with Chicago, by Michael Jackson. Like you, I hadn’t heard it, but somehow it ended up on her radar and apparently a lot others’. I’m sure there is an explanation, but I haven’t dug into it. She also really got into a Nirvana deep cut off of Nevermind, “Something in the Way” a couple of years ago, but nothing else by them. No idea how this happened. I can’t check the numbers right now, but I’ll bet they’re higher than expected.
I do remember Here Comes the Sun having a popular culture moment about 10 years ago when my daughter was little. With the Beatles, streaming numbers may be effected by the fact that their music wasn’t on streaming services like Spotify until long after most others. Once they landed there, whatever users decided they wanted to hear at that time gave certain songs an immediate push. I also have to wonder how many of the lads’ original fans use Spotify, as compared to younger generations.
As we get further and further away from a song or band’s peak on the charts, where things charted at the time could more and more be disassociated from its popularity in the present, being that there are so many other ways a song or band can get exposed.
An interesting topic to discuss.
I’ve had a look at Nirvana and Something In The Way is in their top 5:
Smells Like Teen Spirit 2.2b
Come As You Are 1.5b
Heart Shaped Box 830m
Lithium 675.5m
Something In The Way 510.7m
From what I can see it’s popularity is from appearing in Batman. It got an initial boost from being in the trailer in 2020 and when the film came out in 2022 the daily streams increased by 1,200%.
An update on the stats now that the festive period is over.
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) has overtaken Hey Jude. Since 16th December when I took the original stats it’s added another 43.2m streams.
Which is impressive but not as impressive as Wonderful Christmastime which has added 52.8m in that time and overtaken My Sweet Lord and Twist And Shout.
Whereas The Jacksons; Santa Claus Is Coming To Town added 14.6m. For Elvis Blue Christmas increased by 35m and Here Comes Santa Claus by 17.1m.
It’ll he interesting to look at them in another 6 months and see how much they’ve moved. I’m sure there will be a dedicated minority who wish it could he Christmas every day and keep playing them.
I am guessing there won’t be much movement on those until next Christmas. Not the same thing by any means, but 4 of my Christmas playlists have gotten fairly large bumps in saves (large in my world, anyway) from who knows where the last couple of Christmasses, and then almost nothing from Dec 26 until the next holiday season. The Polish one still gets some love after Christmas, because Polish people traditionally celebrate Christmas, not before, but after, til Feb 2. In between holidays, people just aren’t listening to Christmas music.
My 2nd daughter also discovered and loved “Here Comes the Sun” independent of me about 12 years ago. I love that it’s the #1 Beatles hit. Such a great and positive song. By far my favorite George song with the Beatles. As a kid, with zero Beatles records, it was quite a while before I realized that HCTS was even by the Beatles. I was surprised.
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I am an Elvis fan and have been since I was a toddler. I am not surprised that “I Can’t Help Falling in Love” is #1. I am not surprised that “Jailhouse Rock” is #2. I am happy about both. I’m a little surprised that “A Little Less Conversation” isn’t top 5. The only inclusion that surprises me is “Good Rockin’ Tonight”, which is the only song from Elvis’ pre-RCA Sun Records days. Why that one, I wonder? Maybe “Always On My Mind” surprises me a bit, but I guess the song has become somewhat of a standard since it was also popular by Willie Nelson and Pet Shop Boys.
“If I Can Dream” was the dramatic final song of Elvis’ 1968 comeback special in front of that iconic, red ELVIS sign, and is a really great song. It also played a big role in the 2004 Broadway show All Shook Up, so maybe that has boosted its popularity?
I LOVE these streaming lists. Like it or not, they tell the truth about which songs have lingered in the public’s consciousness all these decades later. I’ve done these myself for Chicago, Steely Dan and Genesis, too.
Here’s “If I Can Dream”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-pP_dCenJA
Good to have an Elvis fan to give some extra context. I saw the ’68 Comeback Special on TV a few year ago, guessing it would have been in 2018 to mark 50 years. I remember If I Can Dream now and makes sense with it’s position on that and the drama of the song that it ranks highly.
I’d guess that the JXL remix of A Little Less Conversation not being as big as you’d expect is because of the time between Ocean’s 11 and the advent of streaming. It’s had time to wear out it’s welcome a little – not that I’m saying it’s a bad song/remix but it’s lost the novelty value of being something new that people want to listen to over and over again.
One of the things I liked best about “Here Comes The Sun” was the idea that it was being performed by a band. Four long-time collaborators, each working together, delivering their proper parts, and hitting a solid groove on an inventive composition.
For whatever reason, I would get the chills at about the 0.56 mark, when the fabs were executing the turnaround, and Ringo did his delightful ‘Ringo fill’ on the drums. It’s in strong contention as my favorite part of the song.
Years later, I was disappointed when I learned that John was nowhere to be found on the recording. It was a Fab Three thing with George Martin’s touch, all along.
Nonetheless, it’s a pretty great record, and I can kind of see why it’s Number One Streaming. And as with just about all things Beatle-esque, this curated video from 2019 properly honors it all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQetemT1sWc
Huh…I didn’t know that about John not being on the song. That is slightly disappointing, but doesn’t take away from it being a great song.
Would “Revolution #9” have as many streams if it wasn’t on the White Album? I suspect people listen to the album as a whole, but that’s totally a guess and it begs the question, does it count as a stream if the listener hits the Skip button 30 seconds in?
We might be able to support this idea by looking at the streams for “Cry Baby Cry” and “Goodnight.” With “Revolution #9” sandwiched between them, they’re the last three tracks on the White Album. So if “Cry Baby Cry” has numbers similar to “Revolution #9” but “Goodnight” is much lower, maybe people listen to the album, get a bit into “Revolution #9,” and switch to a different album or artist.
And, yes, I’m overthinking this. 🙂
I’ll admit it, I’m a nibbler. I treat most albums like salad bars…listening to songs 3, 4, 8, and 10 rather than a whole album. Unless I REALLY like the album. The white album is one that I do tend to listen to all the way through (still often skipping “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. I can only stand so much.) So I happily listen to “side 4” all the way through. “Revolution #9” is just part of the experience.
I’ve looked into the White Album and it may be a case of album fatigue with listeners switching off before they get to the end. Whether that’s cos streaming makes it easier to dip out early as people have other things to do or get bored is another question.
Side 4 of The White Album goes;
Revolution 1 = 25.4m
Honey Pie = 20m
Savoy Truffle = 16m
Cry Baby Cry = 19.3m
Revolution 9 = 13.6m
Good Night = 16.5m
Looking at some of the songs that come earlier in the track listing and there’s;
Glass Onion 39.8m
Happiness Is A Warm Gun 59.4m
I’m So Tired 42.7m
Martha My Dear 38m
They’re not songs that I would say are any better than Revolution 1 or Cry Baby Cry which suggests to me people putting the album on but not getting all the way through. The variations from track to track do also suggest some use of the skip.
Then there’s the end of side 3 which goes from Helter Skelter 87.8m into Long, Long Long 20.5m. Which suggests that Helter Skelter has broken out of the pattern of just being played as part of the album and is actively being selected for listening and put on playlists.
Streaming can be absolutely fantastic for exploring new music, but I’m not sure how much exploration really goes on among most listeners.
It’s nice when a soundtrack selection can shed new attention on a classic or obscure gem, but while some curious listeners are turned onto the artists’ larger discographies, the trend mostly reflects an interest in that one viral song and nothing else. So the exploration going on is often rather superficial, and almost entirely reactive to external commercial forces.
And charts based on streaming are enigmas wrapped in riddles thrown into a hurricane. As Bill mentioned, it’s hard to tell if people are actually listening to or even finishing the tracks being played. Sadly, I can’t say that I contributed to “Revolution 9″‘s streams, but only because I already own the album and don’t bother to stream it. But there are likely dozens of us who listen to the whole track.
Still, as much of an old man as I can be in this era, I do really take advantage of streaming myself. My knowledge of new music, and tons of classical music, would be completely impoverished if not for streaming services allowing me to sneak onto terra incognita and scope around. So while it’s too often mediocre, it can be downright miraculous.
I think for the kind of people that comment here (music fans / nerds) streaming is likely used to broaden our horizons and take advantage of like you say. Then there’ll be a lot of listeners that use it for the usual reliable go to selections.
Which is probably what would happen even if just relying on Vinyl / CDs in the pre digital era, except back then you only needed to buy the album once (ok so several times progresing from vinyl to
cassette to CD) whereas streaming stats keep adding up everytime you listen.
And then there’s the passive listening people will do of just selecting a ready made playlist or leaving Spotify to do it’s thing when the album you’re listening to ends and it keeps feeding you more songs it thinks you’ll like.
That’s the aspect of Spotify that infuriates me the most that the algorithm will decide for weeks at a time that I really want to hear a particular song and keeps playing it. According to my 2024 Wrapped my most listened to song was Peace Sign by Ride. I love Ride, I listened to that album plenty but Peace Sign was my least favourite track. As it was the lead off single Spotify kept pushing it whenever I got to the end of whatever i was listening to and wasn’t quick enough to stoo it switching to automatic.
I can name every musical act from Greenland.
I’ve never heard Michael Jackson’s “Chicago,” but now I have to. Thanks!
Re: “Blackbird,” I wonder to what degree Beyonce’s remake in 2024 had an impact on those streams.
That’s the power of TNOCS; a spike of one extra listen for Chicago.
I’m sure that whenever any big name covers a song it will create interest in the original. Though how much interest may depend on the quality of the cover.
Digging this new series!! Fun stats to nom-nom on.
I think part of the ongoing popularity for “Here Comes the Sun” in the United States at least comes from several health organizations that play the song for people who have survived long-term treatment for cancer or a few years ago COVID and so on. I can remember seeing reports of the song being used as an affirmation of survival, and while that can’t account for all of the song’s streaming popularity, I imagine it certainly can’t hurt it either.
That Janet’s streaming figures aren’t higher will continue to be a source of anguish for me. But it makes sense.
Michael was a global superstar, with Number Ones all over the place.
Janet’s chart feats were almost exclusively US-based.
A song like “Miss You Much” or “Escapade” that went to Number One in the US would only get about half way up the chart across the UK and Europe. The same could be said for a lot of American R&B stars of the era. If a European wanted to buy a dance record, they went with “Pump Up The Jam” instead. Janet wouldn’t have a huge hit in Europe until she made a house record (“Together Again”)