Posted May 2, 20187 yr OCC 01 May 2018 The UK's most streamed songs in 2017 by year of release With streaming now firmly established in music – accounting for over half of music consumption in the UK – it’s not just new songs that are racking up millions of plays, many classics are now finding a sizeable audience. Tracks released before 2016 (what can loosely be defined as ‘catalogue’ songs) made up 55% of music streaming in 2017, despite the Top 10 most played tracks of the year all being released in 2017. The seasonal appeal of Christmas classics are the obvious choice for popular catalogue songs on streaming, and last year saw Wham’s Last Christmas become the most popular song on streaming released in the 1980s with 24 million plays in 2017, closely followed by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s Fairytale Of New York on 20.5m. Behind the festive favourites, not completely unsurprisingly, is Toto’s Africa, which notched up just under 18m plays in the UK last year. The soft rock classic, released in 1982, has found a new audience in the streaming era thanks in part to nostalgic Millennials revisiting the song as well as countless memes and essays about the song online. The same goes for Earth Wind & Fire's September, which also featured in the hit film Trolls and was the most popular single of the 1970s last year with 17.5m streams. More surprising is Train’s Hey Soul Sister, which was the most streamed track of 2017 released in 2009, with 11.7 million plays. The folk-pop number was a huge radio hit but only a moderate UK chart success at the time, peaking at Number 18 on the Official Singles Chart in 2010 and finishing as the 84th best-seller of that year. Meanwhile, the most streamed track of the 1990s last year was Oasis’ 1995 hit Wonderwall with just over 27m plays, narrowly beating Mariah Carey’s 1994 yuletide favourite All I Want For Christmas Is You with 26m streams. Elsewhere, the enduring appeal of The Killers’ Mr Brightside makes 2003 the golden song of the Noughties, acquiring 42m plays in 2017 alone, while The Jackson 5’s 1969 single I Want You Back was the most popular track of the 1960s last year. Take a look at the complete list of the most streamed songs of 2017 by year of release below, compiled by the BPI using Official Charts Company data: YEAR TITLE ARTIST 2017 SHAPE OF YOU - ED SHEERAN 2016 YOU DON'T KNOW ME - JAX JONES FT RAYE 2015 BE THE ONE - DUA LIPA 2014 ONE LAST TIME - ARIANA GRANDE 2013 POMPEII - BASTILLE 2012 RADIOACTIVE - IMAGINE DRAGONS 2011 THE A TEAM - ED SHEERAN 2010 WHAT YOU KNOW - TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB 2009 HEY SOUL SISTER - TRAIN 2008 VIVA LA VIDA - COLDPLAY 2007 FLOURESCENT ADOLESCENT - ARCTIC MONKEYS 2006 NAÏVE - THE KOOKS 2005 GOLD DIGGER - KANYE WEST FT JAMIE FOXX 2004 NUMB/ENCORE - JAY-Z & LINKIN PARK 2003 MR BRIGHTSIDE - THE KILLERS 2002 IGNITION REMIX - R KELLY 2001 LAST NITE - STROKES 2000 IN THE END - LINKIN PARK 1999 NO SCRUBS - TLC 1998 IRIS - GOO GOO DOLLS 1997 BITTER SWEET SYMPHONY - VERVE 1996 NO DIGGITY - BLACKSTREET FT DR DRE 1995 WONDERWALL - OASIS 1994 ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU - MARIAH CAREY 1993 LAID - JAMES 1992 CREEP - RADIOHEAD 1991 SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT - NIRVANA 1990 THUNDERSTRICK - AC/DC 1989 I WANNA BE ADORED - STONE ROSES 1988 FAST CAR - TRACY CHAPMAN 1987 FAIRTYALE OF NEW YORK - THE POGUES FT KIRSTY MACCOLL 1986 YOU CAN CALL ME AL - PAUL SIMON 1985 MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE - SHAKIN' STEVENS 1984 LAST CHRISTMAS - WHAM! 1983 SWEET DREAMS (ARE MADE OF THIS) - EURYTHMICS 1982 AFRICA - TOTO 1981 DON'T STOP BELIVIN' - JOURNEY 1980 MY MAKE MY DREAMS - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES 1979 HIGHWAY TO HELL - AC/DC 1978 SEPTEMBER - EARTH WIND & FIRE 1977 MR BLUE SKY - ELO 1976 GO YOU OWN WAY - FLEETWOOD MAC 1975 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY - QUEEN 1974 SWEET HOME ALABAMA - LYNYRD SKYNYRD 1973 STEP INTO CHRISTMAS - ELTON JOHN 1972 SUPERSTITION - STEVIE WONDER 1971 TINY DANCER - ELTON JOHN 1970 SIGNED SEALED DELIVERED (I'M YOURS) - STEVIE WONDER 1969 I WANT YOU BACK - JACKSON 5 1968 ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER - JIMI HENDRIX 1967 AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH - MARVIN GAYE & TAMMI TERRELL 1966 PAINT IT BLACK - ROLLING STONES 1965 I CAN'T HELP MYSELF - FOUR TOPS 1964 MY GIRL - THE TEMPTATIONS 1963 IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR - ANDY WILLIAMS 1962 BRING IT ON HOME TO ME - SAM COOKE 1961 STAND BY ME - BEN E KING 1960 AT LAST - ETTA JAMES ©2018 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved. Why was the BPI involved?
May 2, 20187 yr Some unexpected entries there with several songs that have never been big hits. Good to see Two Door Cinema Club getting belated recognition.
May 2, 20187 yr Laid by James is a big surprise on that list. It wasn't a massive hit at the time, and I haven't really seen it become a massive popular culture song, featuring in American Pie aside. Not complaining, of course. Obviously delighted that "Africa" by Toto is on the list, and quite surprising that no Beatles song made the cut in the 60s.
May 2, 20187 yr Surprised to see Fluorescent Adolescent there! I’ve always thought it wasn’t that well remembered.
May 2, 20187 yr Really surprised at Two Door Cinema Club there! There are also some incorrectly dated tracks there - in terms of them coming out in the UK, Linkin Park's "In The End" was 2001; R. Kelly's "Ignition Remix" was 2003; The Killers "Mr Brightside" was 2004 and so on. But still very interesting nonetheless.
May 2, 20187 yr What the hell? I’ve never heard the songs from 2001, 2006, 2007 or 2010 2010 wasn't really a hit at the time but 2001, 2006 and 2007 are all songs that were definitely massive when released.
May 2, 20187 yr 'What You Know' is a pretty bizarre one, is there really no bigger enduring hit from 2010? I can kind of understand some of the strange 'choices' from older years as it just comes down to what is on the most playlists for the most part I guess but I would have thought a year as recent as 2010 would be represented by something a little more mainstream. It's cool to see Two Door Cinema Club on here I guess but 'What You Know' is one of their weaker singles imo! Also why 'Fluorescent Adolescent' over 'Brianstorm'?? A bigger hit, a better song and one I've heard far more over the years. Strange ~ (ultimately I guess it's still the power of playlists even for these more recent years). Yasss for 'Africa' apparently being the most streamed 80s song apart from Christmas songs. :wub:
May 2, 20187 yr 'Fluorescent Adolescent' I'd say was second only to 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor' in terms of most popular Arctic Monkeys songs. Agreed about the surprise of 'What You Know' being most streamed of the year 2010. It is hugely popular on streaming playlists but I'd have thought something like 'Love the Way You Lie', 'Only Girl' or 'Pass Out' would be more streamed.
May 2, 20187 yr Its high position on certain playlists is definitely why 'What You Know' is the most streamed of 2010, though it does seem to have become a big sleeper hit. It makes the Spotify top 200 fairly regularly because of playlists. Same with 'Africa', 'Fluorescent Adolescent', 'Mr. Brightside', 'No Scrubs', 'Naive'.
May 2, 20187 yr SO interesting ! Funny to see what songs people listen to/remember the most from previous years ! Nice surprises for Arctic Monkeys and The Kooks, both classics :wub: I'd love to see the whole lists though !
May 2, 20187 yr What the hell? I’ve never heard the songs from 2001, 2006, 2007 or 2010 I suspect you'd recognise some of them if you gave them a listen.
May 2, 20187 yr What the hell? I’ve never heard the songs from 2001, 2006, 2007 or 2010 Landfill indie is the best, you should give them a listen~ B-) Very interesting list! Bizarre to see Two Door Cinema Club for 2010 (although Hey Soul Sister didn't chart in the UK until 2010 so I'd put that as an incorrect listing), I suppose that really speaks for how few modern classics came from that year. The Kooks are quite surprising too, especially with a year like 2006 which had huge hits from many genres, it's a great song but I didn't think it was still holding up as well as that.
May 2, 20187 yr 'What You Know' is a pretty bizarre one, is there really no bigger enduring hit from 2010? I can kind of understand some of the strange 'choices' from older years as it just comes down to what is on the most playlists for the most part I guess but I would have thought a year as recent as 2010 would be represented by something a little more mainstream. It's cool to see Two Door Cinema Club on here I guess but 'What You Know' is one of their weaker singles imo! Also why 'Fluorescent Adolescent' over 'Brianstorm'?? A bigger hit, a better song and one I've heard far more over the years. Strange ~ (ultimately I guess it's still the power of playlists even for these more recent years). Yasss for 'Africa' apparently being the most streamed 80s song apart from Christmas songs. :wub: Fluorescent Adolescent wasn’t as big as Brianstorm in the charts in 2007 but it was regarded as the best song on the album. It was a post album single which meant it didn’t chart as highly but it was the track everyone was talking about. Brianstorm peaked high but was pretty forgotten outside the fandom.
May 2, 20187 yr Yeah, exactly. I never hear 'Brianstorm' anywhere anymore, yet hear 'Fluorescent Adolescent' regularly.
May 2, 20187 yr The Killers "Mr Brightside" was 2004 and so on. Actually it was first released in 2003. https://www.discogs.com/The-Killers-Mr-Brig...release/1384958
May 2, 20187 yr I imagine You Don't Know me was lucky being last years most streamed 2016 track by being released at the tail end of 2016. I imagine One Dance would still comfortably be most streamed otherwise. Same goes for 2015 with Be the One over Sorry.
May 2, 20187 yr Would be interesting to see a list like this done annually. Certain tracks are more influenced by things they have been linked to in the last year, most obvious being One Last Time. As far as a long term gauge of popularity, this list alone isn’t sufficient 2010’s one is definitely the strangest one to me. Seems to have built up a following in the streaming age that wasn’t there on official release.
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