uhsting

More graphical version of my chart can be found on Crownnote: http://crownnote.com/charts/uhsting/uhstin...top-50-songs-99

Chart commentary: This week is slightly inactive even though more songs were ranked this week, as we feature 10 new entries plus 1 re-entry. This week's highest entry is at no. 2 with this bop Future Funeral by Promis3. It sounds avant-garde and I like the hardstyle elements in this song. Elsewhere, we also have Äidinäidin raivolla making the top 50 after bubbling under top 50 for 3 weeks at an astonishing high position of 21. My childhood favourite Zayde Wølf is back with a rock banger Holy Water. Let It Ring is back after dropping out of top 50 briefly. Gaslighting is a haunting and thought-provoking song by composer Ginevra Nervi, which the lyrics depict the inconvenient gaslighting moment. Wrapping up the new entries is some known artists Imagine Dragons and Alice Merton with Follow You and Vertigo respectively.

Meanwhile, MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) just like in the video strip-poled their way down to no. 1 from no. 47, which I'm totally living for it, particularly the extended version. The top 5 is also very different this week, with only Tout l'univers staying in the top 5. Do It Again and Karma entered top 10 with bops. I Will Help You jumps the most by 15 places to a respectable 23rd position. The last anthemic part draws in a lot of attention and this is a great song by Ilse DeLange.

Lil Nas X – MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)

From no. 47 2 weeks ago to no. 1! Oh my what a turnaround and certainly I've never expected myself to chart a hip-hop song in my pop-heavy chart, let alone crown one! Amazing tune, relatable lyrics, and the extended version is better with that instrumental solo!

Chart history: 47-13-1

2. Promis3 – Future Funeral

WHAT?? This has a special vibe and the instrumentation is strong. The verse is catchy but oh my that drop is probably the most unexpected and sick drop I've ever heard so far! I'm very surprised about the quality of this song and if any, should challenge no. 1 next week! This song has a deep message sent everybody who struggles with mental health, noting that “drugs aren’t a substitute for the real support that people around can offer”.

Chart history: 2

3. Gjon’s Tears – Tout l’univers

Dropping 2 places we have Gjon's Tears with his power ballad Tout l'univers. The melody is still very beautiful and memorable so don't expect this to drop out of top 50 soon!

Chart history: 4-3-2-1-3

4. Kyns – I can never be

This is slowly growing in me and I really love the stripped back nature and the raw emotion in this. The production value is also high with the instrumentation. Although it lacks a third chorus, I don't think it will improve the song or give it a better package. The song itself is a great package already. About the message of this song, Kyns says, “This song is an intimate ballad confronting the idea of ‘feeling deserving’ of good things and how imposter syndrome can manifest itself in relationships, both romantic and with yourself.”

Chart history: 26-18-21-11-8-4

5. salem ilese – (L)only Child

Barely entered top 10 last week, (L)only Child continues to grow on every listen! That instrumental drop is iconic and is so memorable which bridges the flow really well. Could it reach even higher? Time will tell! This song took 2 years for salem ilese to produce as it talks about her own experience as the only child in the family and it taught her how to be her own bestie.

Chart history: 39-15-10-5

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6. Primo – Do It Again (27-32-20-11-6)

BJSC 133 participant Primo breaks into top 10 with a retro-inspired bop Do It Again. I really like the chord progression in the chorus, particularly that chromatic chord in between which gets me every time. The melody is also very strong too. Could it become one of the best discoveries since Lord & Master? I think it has!

7. Destiny - Je me casse (14-5-5-7)

Je Me Casse still remains in the top 10 after a strong bop. Time would tell if they will last in the top 50 until Eurovision!

8. Jamala - Like a Hero (2-1-4-3-8)

Like a Hero is still a very strong power ballad but her 4-week reign in the top 5 must come to end but still ends up at a respectable no. 8 this week!

9. Shalisa – Karma (30-12-9)

Karma rose to no. 9 this week with a short banger. Less than 2 minutes and a half, this song manages to pack the ABABCB structure into such a short period of time without sounding too rushed!

10. Noirêve ft. Giulia Foddai - Summer Don't Go (10-3-7-10)

Back to where it started! Summer Don't Go drops to no. 10, the same position where it started.

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11. Charles – He Knows (11-9-4-11)

12. Shamir – Ocean Eyes (17-20-14-5-7-9-12)

13. LANKS - The Silence (22-14-9-6-2-1-2-13)

14. Max Richter ft. Mari Samuelsen, Robert Ziegler – Follower (17-6-6-6-14)

15. Tayler Buono – IFHU (35-20-15)

16. Hana Oceans – Austers (19-15-12-18-16)

17. CÉLINE – Hotel (15-XX-42-29-22-17)

This song recuperated itself well. After dropping out of top 50 shockingly once debutted at no. 15, it slowly crawled its way back to where it started. I must say I have got used to it without a proper 3rd chorus because of the emotion, and you can feel it despite all being sung in German here.

18. Loney Dear – Mute / All things pass (23-18)

19. VICTORIA – growing up is getting old (13-4-2-1-12-17-26-19)

20. Daughtry – Heavy Is The Crown (25-20)

Daughtry is back with a decent rock song and the chorus has a good melody whilst being memorable as well!

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21. Nohanna – Äidinäidin raivolla (21)

After struggling to get into top 50 by being just outside of top 50 for 3 weeks, this jumps straight into the top 50 at no. 21! Very beautiful song and the instrumentation is strong as well.

22. Loi – I Follow (33-22)

23. Ilse DeLange – I Will Help You (31-38-23)

24. Caroline Culver – Walking On Glass (34-24)

25. Ninski, Sky M. – Hazy (24-25)

26. Andrea Di Giovanni – Crown (32-26)

27. VICTORIA – imaginary friend (11-2-1-7-8-8-14-27)

28. iRO – Yesterday’s News (40-16-14-15-28)

29. Nick Wilson – Lead Me to the Water (35-29)

30. KOKO, Nina Chuba, Dillistone – 22s (43-29-30)

31. Winning Team – Where I Belong (36-38-19-31)

32. Zayde Wølf – Holy Water (32)

33. pinkiscool – Plastic (33)

The chorus is catchy and the melody is strong too. It sounds like it will climb in the next few weeks!

34. LP – One Last Time (44-33-21-34)

35. Mimi Webb – Good Without (37-35)

36. BATHSHEBA – LALA (36-36)

37. Keir, Fenne Lily – leave a light on (37)

38. Motez ft. The Kite String Tangle – Give Me Space (37-30-38)

39. Kings Elliot – Bitter Tonic (44-39)

40. Mathieu Des Longchamps – Mademoiselle Tomovic (46-40)

41. RORI – The Same Way (49-41)

42. Reiley – Let It Ring (41-XX-42)

43. Mark Clennon, Rainer + Grimm – Stray (43-19-16-43)

44. Imagine Dragons – Follow You (44)

45. ROSIE – Retail Therapy (19-18-20-4-8-34-50-41-45)

46. Ginevra Nervi – Gaslighting (46)

This is a haunting piece but also thought-provoking as well. I would especially point out the lyrics as well which is the main highlight of the song. I also like the sound production as well.

47. George Glew – Satellites (45-48-31-47)

48. Søndag Søndag – Torsdag (48)

We are back with some contemporary classical music and this week we have Søndag Søndag with his Torsdag which means Thursday in Danish. This song is about 3 minutes, which is twice as long as in the video, but it is packed with emotions conveyed by the strings and piano. Søndag Søndag most recently had Sondag charted but this is another decent one from their upcoming self-titled album.

49. Luz – Counting Houses (49)

50. Alice Merton – Vertigo (50)

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51. Susan H – My Body

52. Senhit – Adrenalina

53. Taia – Cut My Bangs

54. Charlotte Cardin – Sad Girl

55. Becky CJ – I Think I’m In Love With My Best Friend

56. Hidden Citizens, Katie Herzig – I Follow

57. Yona – Solut heraa eloon

58. Dean Lewis – Falling Up

59. Shadowkey, Britt Lari – Next One

60. Weyes Blood – Titanic Risen

61. Emilie Adams – Play God

62. Stealth, Aslove – So So Young

63. Sofi Bonde – On Fire

64. Cmqmartina – se mi pieghi non mi spezzi

65. Guun Kvaale – Cold

66. MADOUX – Leave Me Blind

67. Black Veiled Brides – Fields of Bone

68. Natalia Gordienko – Sugar

69. Tessa Violet, lovelytheband – Games

70. Saint Nomad – Stay

71. Newfamiliar – Here For You

72. Isyana Sarasvati – IL SOGNO

73. Manchester Orchestra – Keel Timing

74. Rovere, Mameli – freddo cane

75. Benedict Cork – All My Famous Friends

76. Rachel Chinouriri – Through The Eye

77. Masha Ray – Drip Drop

78. Lola Young – Ruin My Make Up

79. Todd Carey, Emma Oliver – Ain’t Just You

80. Florian Kunstler – Halbe Liebe

81. Mural – Deep

82. Lucy Cloud – Crash and Learn

83. Becky Hill – Last Time

84. PARTICLES – Pleasure

85. Portair – Where The Sun Goes Down

86. Miss Montreal – Alles

87. Paul Elias – Sanat takas

88. Foxes – Dance

89. Oli Fox – Honey

90. Oh Land – Listen a Little Less

All listed songs are available in this playlist (updated weekly):

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Plain top 50:

1. Lil Nas X – MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)

2. Promis3 – Future Funeral

3. Gjon’s Tears – Tout l’univers

4. Kyns – I can never be

5. Salem ilese – (L)only Child

6. Primo – Do It Again

7. Destiny – Je me casse

8. Jamala – Like a Hero

9. Shalisa – Karma

10. Noireve, Giulia Foddai – Summer Don’t Go

11. Charles – He Knows

12. Shamir – Ocean Eyes

13. LANKS – The Silence

14. Max Richter, Mari Samuelsen, Robert Ziegler – Follower

15. Tayler Buono – IFHU

16. Hana Oceans – Austers

17. CELINE – Hotel

18. Loney Dear – Mute / All things pass

19. VICTORIA – growing up is getting old

20. Daughtry – Heavy Is The Crown

21. Nohanna – Aidinaidin raivolla

22. Loi – I Follow

23. Ilse DeLange – I Will Help You

24. Caroline Culver – Walking On Glass

25. Ninski, Sky M. – Hazy

26. Andrea Di Giovanni – Crown

27. VICTORIA – imaginary friend

28. iRO – Yesterday’s News

29. Nick Wilson – Lead Me to the Water

30. KOKO, Nina Chuba, Dillistone – 22s

31. Winning Team – Where I Belong

32. Zayde Wolf – Holy Water

33. Pinkiscool – Plastic

34. LP – One Last Time

35. Mimi Webb – Good Without

36. BATHSHEBA – LALA

37. Keir, Fenne Lily – leave a light on

38. Motez ft. The Kite String Tangle – Give Me Space

39. Kings Elliot – Bitter Tonic

40. Mathieu Des Longchamps – Mademoiselle Tomovic

41. RORI – The Same Way

42. Reiley – Let It Ring

43. Mark Clennon, Rainer + Grimm – Stray

44. Imagine Dragons – Follow You

45. ROSIE – Retail Therapy

46. Ginevra Nervi – Gaslighting

47. George Glew – Satellites

48. Sondag Sondag – Torsdag

49. Luz – Counting Houses

50. Alice Merton – Vertigo

SF1:

01 FSR RONTVIA: ishi vu ‒ "This Is Your Life"

02 SKALL: Niki & The Dove ‒ "So Much It Hurts"

03 DANÆVIIA: ATTLAS & Colleen D'Agostino ‒ "Feels Like"

04 SOVARASMA: Andreas Moss ‒ "Real Love"

05 WHOLUNE: Lynks & Charlie Steen ‒ "This Is The Hit"

06 THELONIA: The Prototypes ‒ "Reason (feat. LOWES)"

07 ULTRAVIOLENCELAND: Iselin ‒ "Santa's Summer"

08 LAND OF DW: Christina Novelli ‒ "Numb"

09 DOBAGO: Kodomo ‒ "Holographic"

10 ST. BURBIA: Nasty Cherry ‒ "Her Body"

11 NICELAND: Schiller & Alphaville ‒ "Summer In Berlin"

12 LOOKYLION: ASHWARYA ‒ "COMIN@ME"

13 ZANMATONY: ABDA ‒ "Gold"

14 HOLLAND-OATS: The Knocks ‒ "R U HIGH (feat. Mallrat)"

15 ROLLOLAND: Kid Francescoli ‒ "Moon (And It Went Like)"

16 OJNOJ: Tinashe ‒ "Ghetto Boy"

17 POPHUB: Hedda Mae ‒ "Take It Or Leave It"

18 ALTYR MUUNILINST: Erika Vikman ‒ "Häpeä"

19 AELANDOR: Lights ‒ "Same Sea"

20 COR LUPUS: Olga Seryabkina ‒ "Что Же Ты Наделал"

21 FARC: Ane Brun ‒ "Take Hold Of Me"

22 MOSQUETANIA: Drew Sycamore ‒ "45 Fahrenheit Girl"

23 CUMULONIMBIA: EXUM ‒ "Dark Kept Secret"

24 BUZZJACK MOUNTAIN: Hamlin Dead ‒ "You Make Me Shine (feat. Joanna)"

25 #00274E: Bklava ‒ "Fired Up (ABSOLUTE. Edit)"

26 FLYNNONDA: Fryars ‒ "Orange Juice"

27 THE ACTUAL REPUBLIC OF BELLAMIA: Robin Packalen ‒ "Hard To Love (feat. Alex Mattson)"

28 ELËDAN: TeZATalks ‒ "Panic Attack"

29 JUPITERDONIA: Lissie ‒ "Don't You Give Up On Me"

30 CAERFYRDDIA: Ochman ‒ "Wielkie Tytuły"

31 CHESTORIA: Ylona Garcia ‒ "All That"

32 KATHALDAZIA: TDJ ‒ "Open Air (feat. fknsyd)"

33 PERSEPHONIA: Quadeca ‒ "Sisyphus"

34 SINGERPUREAR: Benny Goodman And His Orchestra ‒ "Sing, Sing, Sing"

Borderline out: Singerpurear, Flynnonda, Aelandor, Holland-Oats, St. Burbia, Sovarasma

ALBANIA: Fall from the Sky (Arilena Ara) vs. Karma (Anxhela Peristeri)

AUSTRALIA: Don't Break Me (Montaigne) vs. Technicolour (Montaigne)

AUSTRIA: Alive (Vincent Bueno) vs. Amen (Vincent Bueno)

AZERBAIJAN: Cleopatra (Efendi) vs. Mata Hari (Efendi)

BELGIUM: Release Me (Hooverphonic) vs. The Wrong Place (Hooverphonic)

BULGARIA: Tears Getting Sober (Victoria) vs. Growing Up Is Getting Old (Victoria)

CROATIA: Divlji vjetre (Damir Kedžo) vs. Tick-Tock (Albina)

CYPRUS: Running (Sandro) vs. El Diablo (Elena Tsagrinou)

CZECH REPUBLIC: Kemama (Benny Cristo) vs. Omaga (Benny Cristo)

DENMARK: Yes (Ben & Tan) vs. Øve os på hinanden (Fyr & Flamme)

ESTONIA: What Love Is (Uku Suviste) vs. The Lucky One (Uku Suviste)

FINLAND: Looking Back (Aksel) vs. Dark Side (Blind Channel)

FRANCE: Mon alliée (The Best in Me) (Tom Leeb) vs. Voilà (Barbara Pravi)

GEORGIA: Take Me as I Am (Tornike Kipiani) vs. You (Tornike Kipiani)

GERMANY: Violent Thing (Ben Dolic) vs. I Don't Feel Hate (Jendrik)

GREECE: Supergirl (Stefania) vs. Last Dance (Stefania)

ICELAND: Think About Things (Daði og Gagnamagnið) vs. 10 Years (Daði og Gagnamagnið)

IRELAND: Story of My Life (Lesley Roy) vs. Maps (Lesley Roy)

ISRAEL: Feker libi (Eden Alene) vs. Set Me Free (Eden Alene)

ITALY: Fai rumore (Diodato) vs. Zitti e Buoni (Måneskin)

LATVIA: Still Breathing (Samanta Tīna) vs. The Moon Is Rising (Samanta Tīna)

LITHUANIA: On Fire (The Roop) vs. Discoteque (The Roop)

MALTA: All of My Love (Destiny) vs. Je Me Casse (Destiny)

MOLDOVA: Prison (Natalia Gordienko) vs. Sugar (Natalia Gordienko)

NETHERLANDS: Grow (Jeangu Macrooy) vs. Birth of a New Age (Jeangu Macrooy)

NORTH MACEDONIA: You (Vasil) vs. Here I Stand (Vasil)

NORWAY: Attention (Ulrikke) vs. Fallen Angel (Tix)

POLAND: Empires (Alicja) vs. The Ride (Rafał)

PORTUGAL: Medo de sentir (Elisa) vs. Love Is on My Side (The Black Mamba)

ROMANIA: Alcohol You (Roxen) vs. Amnesia (Roxen)

RUSSIA: Uno (Little Big) vs. Russian Woman (Manizha)

SAN MARINO: Freaky! (Senhit) vs. Adrenalina (Senhit ft. Flo Rida)

SERBIA: Hasta La Vista (Hurricane) vs. Loco Loco (Hurricane)

SLOVENIA: Voda (Ana Soklič) vs. Amen (Ana Soklič)

SPAIN: Universo (Blas Cantó) vs. Voy a Quedarme (Blas Cantó)

SWEDEN: Move (The Mamas) vs. Voices (Tusse)

SWITZERLAND: Répondez-moi (Gjon's Tears) vs. Tout l'Univers (Gjon's Tears)

UKRAINE: Solovey (Go_A) vs. Shum (Go_A)

UNITED KINGDOM: My Last Breath (James Newman) vs. Embers (James Newman)

2020: 17

2021: 22

Surprisingly quite a lot of songs from 2020 I like more than 2021, but overall 2021 is a lot stronger because there were 5 top 10 songs this year compared to 0 last year.

Hi, uhsting!

 

Nice to see Isyana Sarasvati is still on Top 20! Although, IL SOGNO isn't really my cup of tea

I see Winning Team there. I also like some bigroom-ish EDM songs. I used to put their Settle For None last year. Hope that I could see more songs like this on your chart!

 

Overall, great chart!

Hi Ken! IL SOGNO is such a mind-blowing song that it does get on with me for a while but it does sound very out-of-the-box. Winning Team has some great songs lately and Where I Belong is a fabulous track by them so hope to see them in your chart soon! Thanks for the reply!

Hi Uhsting :)

 

Well that puts me in the mood for Eurovision, looking forward to it now! So far only heard the UK entry.

 

Good to see LP doing as well as usual in your charts, it's great. Imagine Dragons is a goodie too.

 

The rest I don't know! :o I hope to start hitting your youtube videos around Eurovision though - I like to hear them all new at the same time so none of them have an advantage when I hear them for the first time and I'm guessing what'll do well :D

 

cheers!

 

John

Hi John! This year's Eurovision is the strongest in years and I'm quite surprised loads of entries have made their way to my top 10 already :o One Last Time gets catchier in every listen so it could get even higher but we will see ;) Follow You is a decent track by them that has Imagine Dragons written all over it. I hope it does get more popular in the charts soon. I stopped making YouTube videos about charts because they usually take a long time and a lot of effort to input all the chart data in. However, it might be a good idea to do recap videos on new chart entries since most of the entries are not well-known! Thanks for the comment!

Sovarasma has decided to send Andreas Moss!

Thanks Wardy for the feedback once again! After very careful consideration and lots of self-doubts on tons of potentials that I have in mind, Real Love is the entry as I think this song has combined pop and ballad well, and the vocals are amazing too.

About Andreas Moss

Andreas Moss was born in a Christian family and was struggling with his queerness when he was growing up. He was often bullied in church and hated himself even during his time as a Christian artist under the name of Jonathan Thulin. He then quitted making Christian music and dove into the pop music scene, embracing his identity and toured with notable artists such as Andy Grammar. His music was also inspired by Black musicians like Beyoncé, which means he makes a wide variety of genre of music.

About Real Love

Real Love was composed during the time when Andreas felt completely lost and in pursuit of the meaning of true love. Co-written with Sam Tinnesz and Joseph Williams, the song focuses on his vocal work, especially towards the end. The song is a mix of several different genres, with "the beat-heavy bounce of R&B, the digital sweep of EDM, and the sparkling sonics of contemporary pop music". I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do!

January - March:

USA: 35 | Daisy Gray, sød ven (?), Olivia Holt, Marlhy, Abigail Barlow, SYML, Olivia Rodrigo, Brandon Colbein, Unlike Pluto, Joanna Jones (?), KSHMR, Karra, Echos, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Jeremy Zucker, Chelsea Cutler, benny blanco, Marshmello, ROSIE, Lilith Czar, salem ilese, Apollo LTD, Shamir, FLAVIA, Royal & The Serpent, Confetti, Silent Child, Kyns, Boy Untitled, Primo, iRO, Katie Herzig, LP, Britt Lari

UK: 34 | SHELLS, Carla Fernandes, Everyone You Know, JC Stewart, Tom Grennan, Leon Stanford, Cathy Thompson (?), aron, Architects, The Staves, YONAKA, Birdy, Aleks Grey, Mimi Webb, Rachel Chinouriri, RHODES, Jamie Miller, dodie, Sophie and the Giants, Twinnie, Black Honey, George Gleeson, Issey Cross, The Horrors, Tailor, Alicia Hemmer, Max Richter, Robert Ziegler, Cassyette, James Newman, BANNERS, VEN, George Glew, Shadowkey

Sweden: 23 | Robin Stjernberg, Hanna Enlöf, Alexandra Viktor, ENV¥¥OU, Jubël, MARC, KIDDO, Ida Redig, AronChupa, Little Sis Nora, Normandie, Bonander, Ellen Bergelin, Nathalie Brydolf, Charlotte Perrelli, lovad, Dotter, Paul Rey, Kadiatou, Nicole Sabouné, Elias, Andreas Moss, Hana Oceans

Norway: 14 | Wolfgang Wee, Emelie Hollow, Stina Talling, Eva Weel Skram, KEiiNO, Agnete, Rat City, Dagny, Seeb, KIIM, IMERIKA, Alan Walker, Celine Madelen, Mari Samuelsen

Italy: 11 | Michele Bravi, Federica Carta, La rappresentante di lista, Irama, Senhit, Måneskin, Noirêve, Giulia Foddai (?), cmqmartina, Alessia Labate, R I V I E R A

Canada: 9 | One Hope, Fionn, Soul Push, Vanic, Aspen King, Charlotte Cardin, Jayde, Mark Clennon, Rainer + Grimm

Australia: 8 | Odette, Jaguar Jonze, Cat & Calmell, Vance Joy, The Million, LANKS, Dean Lewis, SLUMBERJACK

Denmark: 8 | Eik Octobre, Axel Johansson, Dopha, IVA, HEDEGAARD, CANCUN? (?), Ida Corr, june

The Netherlands: 8 | HAEVN, REINDIER, Deepend, Jules, Vicetone, LVNDSCAPE, Redondo, Voost

Finland: 5 | Ilta, Samlight, pins.ku, ABREU, Winning Team

France: 5 | Barbara Pravi, Delta, Airmow, Rone, Yael Naim

Belgium: 4 | Archie X, MATTN, Rutger Hoedemaekers, Charles

Germany: 4 | Felix Rösch, Ryk, YOUNOTUS, CÉLINE

Iceland: 3 | Gísli Gunnarsson, Sigurboði, Jónsi

Switzerland: 3 | DAENS, Kadebostany, Gjon's Tears

Moldova: 2 | Valeria Stoica, Natalia Gordienko

Poland: 2 | Pola Rise, Andy Ward

Spain: 2 | ROSALÍA, Rigoberta Bandini

Albania: 1 | Anxhela Peristeri

Austria: 1 | AVEC

Brazil: 1 | Dubdogz

Bulgaria: 1 | VICTORIA

Colombia: 1 | Ariza

Greece: 1 | Elena Tsagrinou

Indonesia: 1 | Isyana Sarasvati

Ireland: 1 | Róisín O

Lithuania: 1 | The Roop

Malta: 1 | Destiny

New Zealand: 1 | Thomston

Portugal: 1 | Neev

Romania: 1 | SHOEBA

Russia: 1 | Manizha

Slovenia: 1 | AMAYA

Ukraine: 1 | Jamala

Hello everyone, where do you usually discover new (or not so new) music? Every week I spend a tremendous amount of time listening to a lot of songs for my chart which go through a lot of filtering and couple of listens. Here I share some of the sources that I use for finding new songs. In general, there are 4 main sources:

Spotify

YouTube

Magazines/record label websites

Song contests

Personal charts

Spotify occupies a big proportion of the new entries I discover, but also the most time I take to go through all the songs saved. New Music Friday playlists and genre-specific new releases playlists are my go-to choices. However, New Music Friday (NMF) playlists update every Friday and leave no archived data. That means you must get into the habit of saving the playlist every week or else you cannot recover the NMF playlist of the previous weeks. Currently, I save the playlists from the UK, AU & NZ, Canada, US (which weirdly does not label its region and has surprisingly few non-mainstream pop songs from that region), France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland, Singapore, Poland, Belgium and Iceland. I'm currently trialling Ukraine's and Russia's NMF playlists too. Personally, I used to have Japan, Portugal, Turkey, Mexico, Latin, some Middle-East countries, and some Southeast Asian countries before but they are not to my taste and could clutter up too much that I have no time to go through them all.

As for genre-specific new releases playlist, All New Indie, All New Rock, and Classical New Releases are good playlists for my taste. Friday Cratediggers is a long playlist for dance and EDM songs but they cover a broad range of genres within the dance and EDM general genre, so it could come across as cluttering if only liking a certain part of dance/EDM genre. Recently, New Queer Friday is a playlist not by Spotify that is updated with a lot of great songs by LGBTQIA+ artists (much broader than Out Now playlist), and I highly recommend checking out this playlist too. Finally, you may have heard of Fresh Finds playlists and Fresh Finds: Pop playlist usually has some hidden gems there, while other genres are not quite to my taste sadly.

YouTube occupies a small portion of the new entries. Apart from the popular record labels (Spinnin Records, Ultra Music etc.) and music recommendation channels (MrSuicideSheep etc.), I recommend Cloudkid and Pop Notch for pop music lovers.

Magazines/record label websites have some good songs not included in those NMF playlists. I usually manually save songs recommended by Clash Magazine and Nettwerk Music.

Song contests have a lot of great discoveries too. Buzzjack has a couple of contests which are really good to find hidden gems as well and they sometimes reach a high position in my chart. Elsewhere PopJustice Music Contest (which there are overlapping users), a number of contests in The Song Contest Forums (North Vision Song Contest, NowNewMusic Contest etc.) are also great sources of great discoveries, though it may take time to add all the songs to your playlist individually.

Personal charts have a few good finds as well. Buzzjack has a couple of great personal charts so you should check them one by one! Crownnote is another good site for chart lovers and there are some great charts in the site too that introduce less popular music. YouTube once had a couple of great charts that introduce less popular music too but it has increasingly become less popular because of the copyright issues with music video and audio, hence I stopped uploading there now and focus more on writing up here and archiving my charts through Crownnote.

I hope this post will help you find other great songs in the vicinity and also explain why I know some of the songs in my chart. ;) I'm always open for more sources for new music though I have to be clever with the way since there is finite time in listening to all the songs (and sadly some of them have to be skipped very quickly)!

What about you? How do you usually find new music?

Looks like we'll probably have 70 entries again (assuming Lee actually confirms something which I am told he will xx). Didn't think that would happen considering the 5 banned nations this month but we have had a couple of returning countries who have been away for a while - Varakë as we already saw but also Sandebörg quietly making a comeback after over 3 years! :hi:

I must say that the host has a big part to play for this probable achievement as well! Very well done to keep us hyped about the upcoming contest and I can't wait for the postcards, thanks Jafet!