Top 10 Tracks Played on Spotify During 2011 Revealed

Anytime we enter a new year, it’s always fun to look back at the previous one to recap some of the events that occurred. As we usually do, we’ll likely link back to a couple of “best of” lists this week and next that we find notable or interesting. The first good look back I’ve seen isn’t about tech, but something we are all still subject to: music.

A duo of articles published at NME takes a look at the most played songs on Spotify during 2011, and also the most played songs of the last decade, based on airplay or covers. For those who tend to shy away from mainstream music (on purpose or not), the top ten Spotify tracks during 2011 might seem totally foreign:

• 1. Adele – ‘Rolling In The Deep’
• 2. Bruno Mars – ‘Grenade’
• 3. Rihanna – ‘S&M’
• 4. Jessie J feat. B.o.B – ‘Price Tag’
• 5. Jessie J – ‘Do It Like A Dude’
• 6. LMFAO – ‘Party Rock Anthem’
• 7. Adele – ‘Make You Feel My Love’
• 8. Rihanna feat. Drake – ‘What’s My Name?’
• 9. Rihanna – ‘Only Girl In The World’
• 10. Katy Perry – ‘Firework’

I didn’t realize how out-of-touch with mainstream pop I was until I saw this list, as I don’t know a single one of these. It doesn’t help that some artists, like Adele, Rihanna and Jessie J (a name I don’t even know) made the list on multiple occasions. I am a little surprised to see “Lazy Song” not making the list by Bruno Mars, however, as that is a song I managed to hear a lot.

For the most-played music over the past decade, I am a little surprised to see Canadian rockers NIckelback not make the list. Instead, Kylie Minogue took the first spot with “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”, while Britney Spears’ “Toxic” came in second. Coincidentally, both of these songs were penned by the same writer, Cathy Dennis. Pop lyrics as a general rule aren’t the most intelligent out there, but it’s hard to deny that what really matters is that they are catchy.

Oddly, Robbie Williams’ 1997 track ‘Angels’ made third place – odd because it was released outside of the last decade.

While we’re on the subject, do you guys have your own list of top songs from 2011? I’ll be penning up a list soon to be posted in the forums. This would be a great way to share music tastes!