Decade's most played songs on commercial radio

[Josh Weinstein]

According to the AV Club, bands like Staind, Papa Roach, and Train have the honor of having the most played songs in the past ten years. Here's the list for top played songs in each category:

Country: "Something Like That" / Tim McGraw / 487,343 spins
CHR/Top 40: "Yeah" / Usher featuring Ludacris & Lil Jon / 416,267 spins
Hot AC: "Drops Of Jupiter" (Tell Me) / Train / 338,749 spins
Alternative: "Last Resort" / Papa Roach / 221,767 spins
Rhythmic: "Low" / Flo Rida featuring T-Pain / 206,864 spins
Album Rock: "It's Been Awhile" / Staind / 189,195 spins
Urban: "Drop It Like It's Hot" / Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell / 169,511 spins
Urban AC: "Think About You" / Luther Vandross / 147,818 spins
Gospel: "Never Would Have Made It" / Marvin Sapp / 92,603 spins
Smooth Jazz: "Pacific Coast Highway" / Nils / 29,328 spins
I guess it helps to release a single in the beginning of the decade. Still, it goes to show that commercial radio re-plays the same recycled garbage. It's sad that any given rock station promotes the notion of not repeating the same song over the course of the day when there could be literally tens of thousands of relevant songs they could play. At least support any local college stations near you, they tend to have a much better variety.

[cshadows2887]

I haven't heard "Drops of Jupiter" in forver. Thanks for the reminder.

[theguy77]

hahaha i remember "yeah" and "its been awhile" getting the fuck played out of them from like 02-04

[cshadows2887]

Shit. I didn't even see "It's Been Awhile." That was my jam when I was still all about nu-metal.

[DDAANNIIEELL]

"The Reason"

[theguy77]

"The Reason"

oh yeahhh hahaha this shit got played every single hour where i lived at the time. if you were driving anywhere, i dont care how short the ride was, you were going to hear this song on the radio.

[WhoSaidThat?]

oh yeahhh hahaha this shit got played every single hour where i lived at the time. if you were driving anywhere, i dont care how short the ride was, you were going to hear this song on the radio.
I honestly like that song a hell of a lot before it was overplayed as shit.

[emkvetwin]

I approve of "Drops Of Jupiter."

[CTMarshall]

I approve of "Drops Of Jupiter."
This. I love that song.

[OneSongRomance]

I wish Switchfoot still got solid Mainstream play. Any seconds on that??

[theguy77]

I honestly like that song a hell of a lot before it was overplayed as shit.

i did too, that song was awesome when i was 14. crazy how some songs catch on like an epidemic, now i have no idea what happened to that band.

[WhoSaidThat?]

i did too, that song was awesome when i was 14. crazy how some songs catch on like an epidemic, now i have no idea what happened to that band.
They actually had an album out this year. Hell, I think Chris reviewed it.

With that said, I love Papa Roach.

[Charles777]

Fuck Papa Roach. But I gotta admit, Yeah is a really catchy song

[CalRahhh]

Drops of Jupiter is the only song on that list that I'm not sick of hearing.

[mulcahy67]

how in the world did "unwell" or "smooth" not get on this list? ive heard more of rob thomas' voice on the radio than any other dude. im pretty sure those two songs ive heard more than any other songs on this earth.

[4N6 science]

Interesting list. I'm surprised a Green Day song wasn't on there.

[cshadows2887]

how in the world did "unwell" or "smooth" not get on this list? ive heard more of rob thomas' voice on the radio than any other dude. im pretty sure those two songs ive heard more than any other songs on this earth.

Part of me thinks "Smooth" might have been in '99. The other part of me is too lazy to look it up.

[ProfessorForbes]

Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani is without a doubt the most overplayed song of the decade

[xJesusFreakx]

I will never grow tired of hearing "Drops of Jupiter."

[SanePsychotic]

Ha, I love that "Drop It Like It's Hot" is on that list.

[oliviaemmer]

surprised hey there delilah isn't on there. that got overplayed SO badly

[zachff]

Low was only released last year

[OneSongRomance]

I'm interested in what classic rock songs are played the most... That would be cool cause we would see what classics we still listen to quite a bit today. I'll take a wild stab in the dark and say it's Journey: Don't Stop Believing. (Does anyone else get annoyed that Don't Stop Believing is the only Journey song anyone my age knows?)

[kearn1tm]

If you look at the frequency of occurrence of anything over a specific period of time, the things that were introduced earlier will more often than not appear more frequently than those introduced later, which makes this list a bit meaningless, if not fun to run.

Not that I'm revealing anything to you guys that you didn't already realize.

[GoWaitInTheCar]

This year it's been Muse. They sold their entire new album to ESPN it seems..

[RX XR]

surprised nickelback isn't on there.

[Josh Weinstein]

I'm interested in what classic rock songs are played the most... That would be cool cause we would see what classics we still listen to quite a bit today. I'll take a wild stab in the dark and say it's Journey: Don't Stop Believing. (Does anyone else get annoyed that Don't Stop Believing is the only Journey song anyone my age knows?)

In terms of "classic rock," the AV Club also had another article about catalog albums of the past decade (http://www.avclub.com/articles/according-to-billboard-bob-seger-is-the-bob-marley,36582/). According to Billboard, Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" was the highest selling catalog album of the 80s, Bob Marley and the Wailer's "Legend" was the highest selling of the 90s, and Bob Seger's "Greatest Hits" were the highest of the '00s. I think it's interesting to look at this in terms of the public's music-buying trends in the past three decades.

[cshadows2887]

I'm interested in what classic rock songs are played the most... That would be cool cause we would see what classics we still listen to quite a bit today. I'll take a wild stab in the dark and say it's Journey: Don't Stop Believing. (Does anyone else get annoyed that Don't Stop Believing is the only Journey song anyone my age knows?)

If I had the funds, I would burn a copy of "Faithfully" for every member of this generation. Everyone should heard the greatest power ballad of all-time.

[OneSongRomance]

If I had the funds, I would burn a copy of "Faithfully" for every member of this generation. Everyone should heard the greatest power ballad of all-time.

THANK YOU SIR!!! Or Ma'am, I did not look at your sex before going to the reply page. That is one of the most amazing songs EVER!!! Faithfully and Wheel in the Sky are my two favorite Journey songs!!!

[anthonydarko]

Wow, I can remember listening to It's Been Awhile when I was 13 and thinking it was one of the best songs ever. I just might have to revisit that for old time's sake.

[zion the lion]

According to the AV Club, bands like Staind, Papa Roach, and Train have the honor of having the most played songs in the past ten years. Here's the list for top played songs in each category:


I guess it helps to release a single in the beginning of the decade. Still, it goes to show that commercial radio re-plays the same recycled garbage. It's sad that any given rock station promotes the notion of not repeating the same song over the course of the day when there could be literally tens of thousands of relevant songs they could play. At least support any local college stations near you, they tend to have a much better variety.

Whats wrong with Luther Vandross?

[cshadows2887]

Whats wrong with Luther Vandross?

Absolutely nothing.

[xJesusFreakx]

This thread reminds me that I do actually really like "It's Been Awhile."