Review Fix chats with Kevin Stapleford @ Slacker.com/LiveXLive, who breaks down the brand’s new Top 100 Songs of the Decade compilation.
Determined by LiveXLive’s proprietary EQ (engagement quotient) ratings, “Uptown Funk†is ranked at #1 based on listening trends, including 67 billion total plays, “hearts,†skips and bans.
The five-and-a-half hour Top 100 Songs of the Decade special, which starts at song #100 and counts down to number one, is hosted by Raymond T, Parker, Jess Wright, Red and Jennifer While (who double as the curators of LiveXLive’s vaults of various genres of music). An installment of LiveXLive’s “Ranked†audio series, the Top 100 Songs of the Decade can be accessed on-demand alongside Ranked episodes such as The Top 100 Artists in Streaming History, the Most Important Hip-Hop Songs Ever, the 33 Greatest Rock Albums Ever, and the 44 Most Controversial Songs Ever, at www.livexlive.com/ranked.
Review Fix: What inspired this countdown?
Kevin Stapleford: We’ve compiled annual “end of the year†countdowns since 2015, so we thought it only made sense to do something big to celebrate the entire decade. The original concept was sparked by the fact that we have access to really interesting listener data that is exclusive to our platforms. Unlike other charts, our analytics are based on direct listening. We know when people choose to listen to a song, when they decide to skip a song before it ends, when they “heart†it so that it will be played more, etc.  We take all those data points and assign each song an “engagement quotient,†and that dictates where they land on the countdown. It’s science, but it’s fun.  Also, we go far beyond merely creating a chart, as we present them as fully hosted radio shows. This allows our listeners to not only hear what songs made the list, but we also tell the stories behind them.
Review Fix: Any fun moments putting it all together?
Stapleford: Since our countdown is dictated by pure data, I try to keep things as pure as possible. So, really, the most fun I have is watching all of our curators react to the results. We have very passionate music people here at LiveXLive, and they’re all very strong advocates for their respective genres. The rock guys, for example, weren’t loving the fact that some of their favorites didn’t make the cut—but, really, it all comes down to the listener data. Rock just isn’t as dominant as Pop, Hip Hop, and Country. Our users, meanwhile, will have fun hearing what all these musical knuckleheads talk about in regards to what did and did not make the list.
It was also cool to see the trivia points that the curators pulled out of the countdown. For example, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and Ed Sheehan tied for the most songs, with four. But Taylor wrote a fifth song for a different artist that made the list, so I suppose you could argue she’s the big winner. Joe Jonas appears on the list in two separate bands (Jonas Brothers and DNCE), and Bruno Mars made it as a solo act and as part of a collaboration with Mark Ronson—and then you have Rihanna who placed two of her own songs on the list, and also appeared on collaborations with Eminem and Calvin Harris.
Review Fix: Any songs surprisingly make or not make the list?
Stapleford: I was really surprised to see that Beyoncé didn’t make the cut. “Drunk in Love†came close, but no cigar. Jay Z doesn’t appear either. There are several country songs, but nothing from Carrie Underwood. Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance†came out in October of 2009, but it got enough spins in 2010 to make the countdown. On the other side of the spectrum “Señorita†by Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes was only released five months ago, but it powered its way in.
Review Fix: Where does this countdown stand in comparison to the other ones you’ve done?
Stapleford: Well, it’s bigger, for one thing. We generally limit our countdowns to 40 or 50 songs, so people can hear them in one or two sittings…but we went with a full 100 songs for the decade. Consider this, “Despacito†by Luis Fonzi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber was a very important song, but it still placed at #51. If we didn’t make this an extra large countdown, we’d be missing a lot of massive hits. The Top Songs of the Decade takes around five and a half hours to complete, but we think it’s well worth it.
Review Fix: What’s next for the brand?
Stapleford: In 2019, we started to create video companions for our biggest “radio†specials, and this was no exception. We will be looking to create a lot more content that embraces both platforms. Also, countdowns have always proven to be very popular with our audience, so expect tons more in 2020.
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