Let Me Tell You about Last.fm

In my "Best of 2018: Movies, Music & TV" post, I briefly mentioned that I could be kind of a geek when it came to my music listening habits. And what does that mean exactly? Well, I like to track what I listen to so I can easily see my most played songs from the past week, month, or even year. Spotify only tells you at the end of the year what you listened to the most (and it's not entirely accurate) but I personally like seeing this information all year round. This is where Last.fm, a not-so-well-known (anymore) site, comes in. I've been using it since 2007 (!) and to this day, it's what I use to figure out which songs to include in my monthly playlists and end of the year wrap-ups. (Note: On Spotify, you can add your Last.fm username so it automatically syncs or if you use Apple Music, download Last.fm's app to track.)

A couple weeks ago, I noticed that I could see my top songs, artists and albums of all time and by all time they mean from when I joined in 2007 until the present. It was such a trip to see who ended up making the cut and to reminisce about what I used to listen to or in some cases, still do. Certain songs just bring me back to specific periods of my life. I couldn't help getting nostalgic and I realized I wanted to share that on the blog! 

Ready to be surprised? (I certainly was.) 

Top Artists

Screenshot taken from my Last.fm page

My reaction:

• I totally forgot how much of a Paramore fangirl I was. I still love them but it was a whole other level back in the day. I've seen them live 4 times, before they hit mainstream and after. Even though I like how their sound evolved, I'll always have a soft spot for All We Know is Falling. 
• Sara Bareilles! I've also seen her live like 5 times I think. Her lyrics just spoke to me ("Gravity" forever) and I still think she has an incredible voice. I'm not really into her new music though. #oldschoolfan
• I was not expecting to see Kings of Leon here. (I expected Incubus!) That said, when they first got popular, I could not stop listening to Only by the Night and proceeded to look up all their previous albums to listen to over and over again.  
• I became an Ariana Grande fan when My Everything came out and haven't looked back since. 
• Florence Welch is a queen and I would've been disappointed in myself if she wasn't in my top artists. 

Top Albums

Screenshot taken from my Last.fm page

My reaction:

• Kaleidoscope Heart was the peak of my love for Sara Bareilles and I am fully aware of how often I listened to it. 
• Seeing Hero by Maren Morris is slightly surprising only because I became a fan last year but again, I listened to it so much and it's still my fallback album especially when I'm in a mood.
• I expected at least one Paramore album to be on here! I thought it would be their debut but I was pretty obsessed with Brand New Eyes too. 
• Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars was the biggest surprise! I'm a fan and I knew I had listened to their songs quite a bit, but I didn't think it was enough for their album to be on the list. 
• The fact that thank u, next just dropped a month ago and it's already on here made me laugh.

Top Songs

Here are my 20 most played songs since 2007 and these were the stats that shocked me the most! FYI, the playlist is in order starting from most listened to.

My reaction:

• I knew "King of Anything" would be #1 (with 272 listens)! 
• Unsurprised that it's closely followed by STRFKR's cover of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" because it's on so many of my playlists. 
• I was pretty obsessed with "Ignorance" by Paramore but I didn't realize I had listened to "Hard Times" a lot too.
• Who am I and why are there 3 Drake songs in my top 20? I don't even consider myself a big fan! But.. when I get hooked on a song of his, I really do get hooked. I listened to "Madiba Riddim" 207 times!
• Of course songs by Maggie Rogers, Maren Morris, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande are on here.
• I fell in love with "Long Distance Call" by Phoenix at first listen and it's still my fave song of theirs.
• Aw "Thunder Clatter" -- Wild Cub's only hit but man was it a good one. 
• I adore songs that have the ukulele and "5 Years Time" by Noah and the Whale and "Simple Love Song" by Anuhea are two I still play often. 
• "Touch" really is my favorite song by Nick Jonas.
• I've always been a bigger fan of Shakira's Spanish songs and "Chantaje" makes me feel like dancing every time. 
• "Shake It Out" was the song that turned me from fan to utter fangirl over Florence + the Machine so I knew it'd be here but I did think it would be higher on the list! 
• I was so happy to see a James Bay song make the cut but I thought it would be "Let It Go" and instead it's his cover of "The Best." I really do love his covers though and this one really is the best (pun not intended). 

***

Listening to music is an essential part of my day so it's really fun for me to look back on what I've listened to. I hope you all enjoyed taking this trip down music lane with me! If you decide to join Last.fm, my username is @raylet. But in the meantime ... 

Which of these songs artists, albums and songs do YOU love?