Sounds Like 2011—Last.Fm Charts the Music that Was Really Listened to Last Year
Last.fm Analyzes 2011 In Music – Identifying Both The Biggest Mainstream Artists And New Discoveries
Last.fm’s Best of 2011 is the only chart that represents the music people have actually been playing, tracking over 11 billion ‘scrobbles’ globally, representing 71,596 years, 345 days and 7 hours of music listening. It’s not based on sales data or radio airplay, it’s based purely on the number of times people have listened to the artist.
With new features added to Last.fm’s Best of 2011, the results have uncovered some interesting insights into what we are listening to both globally and closer to home.
Not surprisingly, Adele was the most listened to artist of 2011 globally and came in as the second most listened to artist in the country, while J. Cole topped the list in the U.S., according to the music discovery site, Last.fm. Adele has conquered the charts representing the music that fans around the world are really listening to. Joining J. Cole and Adele in the U.S. top ten are artists as diverse as long running chart topper Britney Spears, electric pop singer and actress, Natalia Kills and indie folk rockers, The Decemberists.
This year also sees the launch of Last.fm’s New Discoveries chart, revealing the top artists who have broken into the music industry in 2011. Topping the global New Discoveries chart is Indie band, Youth Lagoon, with their album The Year of Hibernation gaining critical acclaim. On a local level, viral sensation Rebecca Black, who showed off her penchant for a certain weekday, claimed the top spot, while artists and bands such as Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, showed his brother he can do just fine flying solo and country singer and American Idol winner Scotty McCreery proved he can outlast the hype. The New Discoveries chart shows the unpredictability of the music industry and the top 100 artists feature an eclectic mix of mash-ups, viral sensations, experimental music and beyond.
Last.fm’s Best of 2011 brings a greater focus on personalization. If you don’t want to know who the biggest mainstream artist is in your area, you can create a customized indie or rock chart to see who is currently up and coming. Now, every single chart can be tailored by genre and location.
Matt Sheret, Data Griot at Last.fm, reflected on the music of 2011, “With so much music available on different formats, the traditional charts no longer illustrate what people are actually listening to. Our charts show what people were really playing in 2011 and highlight the new music they discovered.”
Best of 2011 – The US Top 10*
- J. Cole
- Adele
- Natalia Kills
- Foster The People
- Diddy-Dirty Money
- Lady Gaga
- Britney Spears
- Christina Perri
- Jennifer Lopez
- The Decemberists
Best of 2011 – The Global Top 10*
- Adele
- Lady Gaga
- Foster the People
- Britney Spears
- Natalia Kills
- J. Cole
- The Strokes
- Foo Fighters
- Radiohead
- 10. Avril Lavigne
*The chart compiles all scrobbles between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011, for albums released in 2011.
Top Global New Discoveries in 2011*
- Youth Lagoon
- Rebecca Black
- Noel Gallaghers High Flying Brids
- Purity Ring
- Death Grips
- Work Drugs
- Aperture Science Psychoacoustics Laboratory
- Sol Romero Campbell
- Klaypex
- Ford & Lopatin
Top US New Discoveries in 2011*
- Rebecca Black
- Youth Lagoon
- Death Grips
- Purity Ring
- Work Drugs
- Klaypex
- Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
- Scotty McCreery
- Pistol Annies
- 2 Chainz
* The chart compiles artists with the most listeners who received their first scrobble between December 1, 2010 and December 31, 2011.
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About Last.fm
Founded in 2002, Last.fm is CBS Corporation’s (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) global music discovery service and is part of the CBS Interactive Music Group. Last.fm intelligently recommends users new music, personalized radio and concerts, connecting music lovers from around the globe. Last.fm’s unique ‘scrobbling’ technology lets users keep a record of what they listen to from over 600 music players. Last.fm harnesses 60 billion pieces of music taste information to recommend music to almost 40 million users across 12 languages in more than 200 countries. Learn more at: www.last.fm
About CBS Interactive Music Group
CBS Interactive Music Group is comprised of a diverse collection of leading consumer music brands including Radio.com, Last.fm, Metrolyrics.com and MP3.com. Broadcast, online and personalized products are readily accessible across a variety of digital and mobile platforms by a worldwide audience of more than 50 million unique monthly users. Music fans can interact with material from the biggest names in the industry, as well as discover new and breaking artists, create their own listening experience and share their personal taste in music with friends and other like-minded fans.
The division also has established content partnerships with VEVO, the Web’s leading premium music video and entertainment service, and Xbox Live, the popular gaming platform. For more information, please visit http://www.cbsimg.com.
