You’ve heard the chart-topping songs from our top 10 EDM artistes streamed on Spotify Malaysia feature, now get a load of the top 10 pop songs streamed on Spotify Malaysia! Before we get into that, believe it or not, Taylor Swift isn’t on the list. But that could be due to the fact that she recently pulled her music from the music streaming service. Neither Ariana Grande nor Zedd (who is highly popular for his pop-ish radio-worthy EDM tracks) are on it either.
We know, right? World’s greatest mystery to us too considering the fact that they were ranked some of the most influential artistes under the age of 25, a ranking of the “most influential” young musicians. What more, the ranking takes into account “worldwide No. 1 hits, volume and growth of streams and shares, and viral chart success from the last year”.
But we digress!
Thanks to our friends from Spotify Malaysia, we’ve scored a list of top 10 most streamed pop songs by, well, who else? Malaysians like you and us, of course. See if any of these are your guilty listening pleasures because you definitely contributed to this list 😉
10. OneRepublic – “Counting Stars”
“Counting Stars” is a song by American pop rock band OneRepublic from their third studio album, “Native” (2013). The song was written by lead singer Ryan Tedder, and produced by Tedder and Noel Zancanella. Musically, it is a pop song with strong elements of folk music. It was released as the album’s third single on 14th June 2014 in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. The song has been one of the band’s most successful singles, reaching #1 in many countries including Canada and UK, #2 in US, and top 10 in 20 countries.
Ryan Tedder started writing this song while waiting for Beyoncé to turn up to a studio session, about a month after starting to write “Love Runs Out”. In an interview with the Official Charts Company, Tedder said, “On the second day I woke up early and I started combing through the internet, searching for stuff that would inspire me for Beyoncé. I ended up coming across this weird song that had this indigenous folk sound to it that just struck me like lightning. I didn’t like the verses or lyrics, but I loved the feel and movement of it. That ended up inspiring Counting Stars.” (Source)
9. Passenger – “Let Her Go”
“Let Her Go” is a song written and recorded by British singer-songwriter Passenger. The recording features Australian musicians Stu Larsen, Georgia Mooney, Stu Hunter, Cameron Undy and Glenn Wilson. “Let Her Go” was released in July 2012 as the second single from Passenger’s third album, “All the Little Lights”.
The song became a hit first in the Netherlands after Dave, a Dutch fan e-mailed Passenger expressing his wish to introduce the song to some Dutch radio stations claiming it would be possibly a hit in the Netherlands. This resulted in the song trending on Dutch stations and finding enormous commercial success with the Dutch public. “Let Her Go” song reached top of Dutch Top 40 in December 2012 staying at the top for 2 weeks.
“Let Her Go” has sold over 1 million digital copies in the UK and over 4 million in the US as of July 2014, and was nominated for the Brit Award for “British Single of the Year”, and won Passenger the British Academy’s Ivor Novello Award for “Most Performed Work”. (Source)
8. Sam Smith – “Stay With Me”
“Stay with Me” is a song by British singer-songwriter Sam Smith from his debut studio album, “In the Lonely Hour” (2014). It was released in the United Kingdom as a digital download on 18th May 2014. The song was written by Smith and Jimmy Napier. “Stay with Me” is a pop ballad that details the protagonist pleading with his one-night stand not to leave him.
The song has become Smith’s most successful single to date, peaking at #1 in UK, becoming his third chart-topper there (second as a solo artiste), as well as in Canada and New Zealand. In US, it peaked at #2 for 2 weeks on Billboard ’s Hot 100 chart becoming his first top 10 hit in the country. It has also reached Top 10 status in over 12 countries worldwide, becoming his most successful single to date. (Source)
7. Coldplay – “A Sky Full of Stars”
“A Sky Full of Stars” is a song recorded by British alternative rock band Coldplay, released on 2nd May 2014 as the second single from their sixth studio album, “Ghost Stories” (2014). Recorded at The Bakery and The Beehive in North London, England, “A Sky Full of Stars” was co-written by the band and was co-produced by Swedish DJ Avicii, with production assistance from Paul Epworth, Daniel Green, and Rik Simpson.
Upon its release, “A Sky Full of Stars” garnered mostly positive reviews from music critics and have charted inside the top 10 in over 16 countries such as Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan, Mexico, UK, and US. (Source)
6. Calvin Harris – “Summer”
“Summer” is a song by Scottish recording artist Calvin Harris aka first artiste to reach a billion streams on Spotify, released on 14th March 2014 as the second single from his fourth studio album, “Motion” (2014).
Like his previous hit “Feel So Close”, he returns as a vocalist on “Summer”. The song debuted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Calvin Harris‘ sixth UK #1 single. “Summer” had sold over a million copies in the United States as of July 2014 and has peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his second top 10 hit as the main artist and third overall. (Source)
5. Maroon 5 – “Maps”
“Maps” is a song by American pop rock band Maroon 5. The song was released on 16th June 2014, as the lead single from their fifth studio album, “V”. The song was written by Adam Levine, Ammar Malik, Ryan Tedder, Benny Blanco and Noel Zancanella, and produced by the latter 3. “Maps” is an up-tempo pop/pop rock track, composed in the key of C# minor and contains a “breezy guitar lick”. It marks Maroon 5’s further departure from the funkier sound for which the band was originally known.
Lyrically, the song is about “the search for love, particularly a love that has been lost and needs to be found”. In the chorus, Adam Levine sings, “All the roads you took came back to me / So I’m following the map that leads to you.”
Shortly after its release, “Maps” quickly reached #1 on the Billboard Twitter Real Time Trending 140 chart, eventually staying within the upper ranks for several hours. The song also logged close to 1,800 first-day spins on radio which, according to the Nielsen BDS, would amount to a one-day audience impression of seventeen million. It has since peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached its million sales mark in August 2014. (Source)
4. Pharrell Williams – “Happy” (From “Despicable Me 2”)
“Happy” is a song written, produced, and performed by American singer and producer Pharrell Williams from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack album. It also served as the lead single from Williams’ second studio album, “Girl” (2014). It was first released on 21st November 2013, alongside a (now iconic) long-form music video.
“Happy” is a midtempo soul song on which Williams’ falsetto voice has been compared to Curtis Mayfield by critics. The song has been highly successful, peaking at #1 in US, UK, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and 19 other countries. It has sold over 5.6 million copies in US and over 1.65 million copies in UK, and has reached #1in the latter on a record 3 separate occasions. With worldwide sales of 10 million copies, it has become one of the best-selling singles of all time. It was nominated for an Academy Award for “Best Original Song” but lost to “Let It Go” from Frozen. (Source)
3. Sia – “Chandelier”
“Chandelier” is a song by Australian recording artist Sia from her sixth studio album, “1000 Forms of Fear” (2014). Written by Sia and Jesse Shatkin and produced by Shatkin and Greg Kurstin, the song was released on 17th March 2014 as the lead single from the album. It is an electropop song, featuring electronica, R&B, and reggae influences. Lyrically, the song has a melancholic theme, detailing the demoralisation and rationalisation of alcoholism through the typical thought process of a “party girl”.
Upon its release, “Chandelier” received mainly favourable reviews from music critics, who praised Sia’s songwriting and her vocals. Commercially, the single charted within the top 5 of record charts in countries including Australia, Italy, Norway, Poland, New Zealand, and UK. On the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the song has peaked at #8, becoming Sia’s first top 10 single as a lead artist on the chart. The track was certified triple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and platinum by the Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ). (Source)
2. John Legend – “All of Me”
“All of Me” is a song by American recording artist John Legend from his fourth studio album, “Love in the Future” (2013). He co-wrote the song with Toby Gad and co-produced it with Dave Tozer. The song is a dedication to Legend’s wife Chrissy Teigen. “All of Me” impacted American mainstream urban radio as the album’s third single on 12th August 2013.
On the week ending 16th May 2014, it peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming his first #1 single in the United States. It knocked off “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, which spent 10 weeks at #1 on the chart. The song peaked at #2 in UK and New Zealand and topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. (Source)
1. Magic! – “Rude”
“Rude” is the debut single by Canadian reggae fusion band Magic! from their debut studio album, “Don’t Kill the Magic”. Released on 10th October 2013 by Sony Music Entertainment, “Rude” peaked at #6 on the Canadian Hot 100. Internationally, the song topped the charts in US and UK and peaked within the top 10 of the charts in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
“Rude” was named after the reggae term “rude boy” and originally based on a real-life situation. The lead singer of Magic!, Nasri, had been in an unhealthy relationship with a previous girlfriend. After Nasri got in a fight with his girlfriend, the band based the song off of that headline. The couple was in a “mean time” when they were both being rude to each other, as Nasri says in what he describes as a “dark vibe”. However, the concept was revised and eventually flipped so that Nasri was still dating her, and was asking her father for his blessing to propose to her.
The song was certified Platinum by the RIAA on 27th June 2014, and it reached its two million sales mark in August 2014. (Source)
And there you have it! Which one of the above was your favourite and how many times do you stream it per day enough for it to make it into this list? It’s okay, you can tell us – in the comments box below 😉
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