I’m slightly sceptical about the accuracy of these stats from Apple but let’s go with them anyway.
According to Apple Music, in 2022 I listened to 3,108 songs. Here’s the top 10:
| Song | Artist | Plays | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palomino | First Aid Kit | 38 |
| 2 | Karma | Taylor Swift | 28 |
| 3= | Bittersweet Symphony | The Verve | 27 |
| 3= | Gmf (feat. Sinéad O’Connor) | John Grant | 27 |
| 5 | Chaise Longue | Wet Leg | 26 |
| 6 | Envy | Ash | 24 |
| 7= | Me & You Vs the World | Space | 23 |
| 7= | Anti-Hero | Taylor Swift | 23 |
| 7= | Wet Dream | Wet Leg | 23 |
| 10 | Snow on the Beach | Taylor Swift | 22 |
Considering Palomino (the album and the song) was released on 4 November, that’s a strong showing. Same goes for the three Taylor Swift entries here, given Midnights was released just a couple of weeks before Palomino.
I actually can’t believe I only listened to Palomino 32 times in 2022 but I do believe it’s the song I listened to the most. I love the chorus (‘Where you go my love goes, darling’) and the bright major key harmonies of the outro do something to my heart every single flipping time I hear it.
Gonna let the sun shine down,
this nowhere town,
The winds carry you home.Gonna let the sun shine down,
this nowhere town,
I’m heading out to roam.
GMF makes it to the list by being eminently singalongable as well as featuring on my Very sweary songs playlist. (That does make me question why Jarvis Cocker’s Running the World, which has both those things in common with GMF, isn’t on this list, mind you.) Two other oldies – Envy and Bittersweet Symphony – are somewhat surprising-to-me entries on the list. I love them, of course. I just didn’t realise I listened to them that much.
I listened to 915 artists, the top 10 of which (ranked by minutes played) were:
| Artist | Minutes played | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor Swift | 1,858 |
| 2 | First Aid Kit | 972 |
| 3 | Villagers | 932 |
| 4 | Elbow | 893 |
| 5 | Blur | 772 |
| 6 | Belle and Sebastian | 651 |
| 7 | Regina Spektor | 633 |
| 8 | Wet Leg | 568 |
| 9 | Katy J Pearson | 551 |
| 10 | Maya Hawke | 527 |
Taylor Swift being at the top here isn’t a huge surprise, although, again, kudos to her given she only released Midnights on 21 October. Her appearance at the top reflects the enduring appeal of Folklore, which was released in July 2020. (See the albums chart below for evidence.) That would explain the massive gap between Taylor Swift and the rest.
Of the old favourites, I’m not surprised to see Elbow, Blur, Villagers, and Belle and Sebastian represented here. Blur will have gained minutes by dint of the announcement of their Wembley show next July.
First Aid Kit and Regina Spektor released new albums in 2022 – and I guess I must have liked them enough to get them into the top 10. Wet Leg, Katy J Pearson and Maya Hawke were new artists to me in 2022. I’m pretty sure I only got into Maya Hawke because I fell in love with her single Sweet Tooth in December.
I played 118 albums. That doesn’t sound like many, although I guess that averages out at more than 2 albums per week. I don’t think that stat is very meaningful. Anyway, here’s the top 10:
| Album | Artist | Plays | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Midnights (3am edition) | Taylor Swift | 306 |
| 2 | Palomino | First Aid Kit | 186 |
| 3 | Wet Leg | Wet Leg | 168 |
| 4 | MOSS | Maya Hawke | 153 |
| 5 | Sound of the Morning | Katy J Pearson | 135 |
| 6 | Home, before and after | Regina Spektor | 91 |
| 7 | folklore (deluxe version) | Taylor Swift | 70 |
| 8 | Fever Dreams (deluxe edition) | Villagers | 66 |
| 9 | Fever Dreams | Villagers | 58 |
| 10 | Revolver (Super Deluxe) | The Beatles | 51 |
The sharp-eyed will notice Fever Dreams appearing twice, at numbers 8 and 9, with the plays split between the deluxe edition and the ‘normal’ release. Combining those plays would have given Fever Dreams 124 plays, taking it up to sixth place. Fever Dreams is an amazing album that manages to be a new musical direction yet sound completely natural and still recognisably Villagers.
Given the previous charts, Maya Hawke appearing here is a surprise. I do like the album and have listened to it several times. 140 times, though? Hmm. I’d like to know what counts as a play because the figures here feel spurious.
I listened to 24 playlists with my favourites playlist predictably getting the most minutes played followed by the ‘Chill mix’. ‘Get up!’ and my self-made workout playlist came third and fourth – I play those when I’m Zwifting.
Not very interesting, these, since I don’t really listen to stations on Apple Music apart from when I’m in the car and can’t think want to play if it’s not my favourites mix, in which case I’ll ask Siri to ‘play a radio station just for me’. Unsurprisingly, ‘Kenneth Yau’s station’ is by far the most listened-to station for me.