I look into the top 40 songs of 2022, how representative are the songs, how does Epix feel about them? What can cause these massive blow ups? Let’s find out!
With 159 billion music streams drowning out our troubles in 2022, it can be difficult discerning what was good and what was just as ear-piercing as the kids. On that note, it’s also difficult to properly evaluate music with only one opinion. So, I created a Spotify playlist with the top 40 songs of 2022, according to Billboard, with the Harry Styles hit ‘As It Was’ in first place. I shared it with the EPIX team and demanded answers to a questionnaire.
What do my EPIX colleagues think?
We’re a mixed bunch and each of us knew between 0 and 30 of the songs…but no-one knew them all. And, interestingly, none of us found our favourite songs included on the list. Of course, music tastes vary enormously between people and it is difficult to put together a playlist that satisfies all groups. However, in terms of representation it is interesting that nobody in the office felt that their music style was represented at all by the playlist. Now – while we may not agree with all of the songs in the top 40, we’ve managed to pick out some of our more enjoyed ones, namely: Peru, Bad Habits, Starlight and Heat Waves.
Overall, I would say that we enjoyed listening to the 40 songs, but they weren’t able to capture what we think are really the best songs of 2022.
How is it measured?
If none of us knew them very well, why are these songs in the top 40? What does it take to get classed as a ’top’ song? The top 40 songs are usually based on the number of streams and the profit made from each of them. Half of us thought that this was an acceptable way of measuring the songs but the other half reckoned that it should be altered slightly, whether this was measuring the streams from the first two weeks after release, or finding an average of the streams and individual people listening to it.
Gosh, how did they get so many?
Upon further listening, we came to the conclusion that the majority of these songs were popularised from the infamous social media app, TikTok. Although the music played on TikTok does not count towards the number of streams a song has, the app has become a strong tool for marketing, influencing record labels to encourage replayable songs instead of developed music. Other applications like Spotify and Apple Music can suggest playlists based on trending TikTok songs and these plays do count towards a song’s total streams.
As indicated by other songs on the playlist, there can be other influences on popularity such as seasonal holidays and tv shows, but if the current top 40 tell us anything, it’s that we at EPIX should do a TikTok dance to get more famous!
Fading out
However controversial the top 40 songs are, all of us were able to find at least one that we enjoyed listening to. If you are interested in hearing the top 40 songs of 2022, you can access the Top 40 Songs Of 2022 Spotify Playlist here and if you do think EPIX should bust out their dance moves on TikTok, you can drop me an email with a suggested dance song: madi@epixsystems.co.uk
Until next time, happy listening!
