Friday, December 18, 2015

My 2015 in Music

Music has always been important to me because it helps me:

1. Manage my emotions
2. Sleep, in times I couldn't 
3. Focus when studying
4. Tune out noise and other unnecessary sounds (esp. when commuting or walking)

In the past year, I used Spotify (an online music streaming application/service) extensively because downloading and sharing music using torrent has become time-consuming. I had to download songs on my desktop computer or laptop then transfer them to my iTunes on iPad and iPhone. With Spotify, I had music, literally, at my fingertips. I tried other apps like Guvera and Spinnr but their interface is confusing and their song lists were not as extensive as Spotify's--although Spotify still continue to lack a few songs I love such as 0% Interest by Jason Mraz.

By the numbers. According to Spotify's Year in Music, I listened to...

Spotify for 40,000 minutes or around 28 days!

657 different artists! 

1,826 different tracks!

 My personal playlist, dubbed "astronaut food" grew to 381 songs (as I type this)! The songs ranged from Southborder's Do You Believe In Me to David Guetta's Every Chance We Get We Run.

More importantly, this year I repeatedly used music as a yardstick to measure people. I always liked people who recommend songs and albums that I end up liking. I also have greater respect for people who has good taste in music or listens to different songs, artists and genres as much (if not more than) as I do, or, at least, has a decent Spotify playlist. Using music as a way to strengthen existing friendships or to connect better with acquaintances has resulted to me listening to "new" bands such as St. Raymond, Walk the Moon, Alabama Shakes and The Submarines.

The rest of my 2015 in music can be summarized as follows.

Albums | Wish We Were by Joshua Radin was the one I listened to the most. This is an old Radin album (2006, to be exact) but this year I found it on Spotify so I unconsciously streamed it for an alarming 359 times. Chvrches' Every Open Eye and Avicii's Stories followed at numbers 2 and 3, respectively. I loved Every Open Eye so much I even bought it on iTunes! Boo you, Taylor Swift! Joshua Radin's Wax Wings (sooo goood!) and Owl City's Modern Orchestra round out my top 5 albums for 2015. 

Tracks | I've been a fan of Joshua Radin since forever (okay, since I first heard one of his songs on the TV show Scrubs) and Only You didn't impress me then. But through a friend's Spotify playlist called "Mellow Yellow" (which is a good one! Give it a try!) I re-discovered the Imogen Heap mix of Only You. I loved it so much I listened to it for 281 times! No other song on my top 5 got more than 100 streams aside from Sulat by Moonstar88 (which got 154 streams; but I blame my feelings for this. Hahaha). Clearest Blue by Chvrches, Panic Cord by Gabrielle Aplin and Samson by Regina Spektor complete my top 5. 

Artists | Unsurprisingly, I listened to Joshua Radin the most in 2015 (and probably in my lifetime, too) with 709 streams. Chvrches and Owl City follow as a distant 2nd and 3rd, respectively, with 424 and 406 streams. Walk The Moon and St. Raymond complete my top 5. 


I was surprised neither George Ezra's Budapest nor Carly Rae Jepsen's Run Away With Me did not make it to any of my Top 5 lists, considering the alarming number of times I spent putting these songs on repeat and on loop. I also expected Hillsong United's Touch the Sky to make my top 5 because I listened to it a lot during Bar review and especially in November, the Bar examinations month.

Overall, I was happy with how I spent my 2015, music-wise. I may not have read a lot of books that I wanted to try, or went to places I wanted to go (mainly because I spent a big part of 2015 working my ass off to graduate and to review for the Bar); I think I've wisely spent all the free time I could spare by listening to literally a thousand different songs! This simple fact alone makes me happy. I hope to listen to 1,826 more tracks in 2016. 


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