Most Listened to Artists of 2013
According to my last.fm scrobbling of tracks played on my iPhone, iTunes, and Rdio and Google music accounts, below are the 50 artists I’ve listened to most in 2013. According to the rules that I made up for this, all of Jason Molina’s monikers are combined under a single entry (Magnolia Electric Co. had the number 1 spot, Songs: Ohia had number 2, and Jason Molina had number 36) and ties share a single entry (how’s that for Cat Power and Bill Callahan who were once lovers getting to share number 5?). I find it interesting where certain one album artistic collaborations by loved artists have gotten nearly as many or more plays than those individual artists have gotten in aggregate, across the rest of their oeuvres. For example, I am a big fan of Will Oldham, but I’ve listened to What the Brothers Sang, the amazing collection of Everly Brothers covers that he recorded with Dawn McCarthy, almost as much as I’ve listened to the rest of his recordings as Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Palace Music. Similarly, I’ve listened to Billy Brag & Wilco’s Mermaid Avenue more than I’ve listened to either artist separately, though I’m a fan of both. Same for Mark Kozelek and Jimmy Lavalle’s Perils from the Sea, which I’ve listened to more than I have their individual works.[1] For other nuances, like number of actual plays per artist, or to see the list past number 50, you can check out my last.fm profile.[2]
- Jason Molina / Magnolia Electri Co / Songs: Ohia
- Elliott Smith
- Low
- Mark Mulcahy
- TIE: Cat Power and Bill Callahan
- Francis and the Lights
- The Klezmatics
- Woody Guthrie
- Unknown Mortal Orchestra
- TIE: Howe Gelb and Janelle Monáe
- Warren Zevon
- Valerie June
- Billy Bragg & Wilco[3]
- Duke Ellington
- Silver Jews
- TIE: TV on the Radio and Bonnie “Prince” Billy / Palace Music
- Bonnie “Prince” Billy & Dawn McCarthy[4]
- Mavis Staples
- Tuscadero
- Feist
- Frankie Newton
- Gil Scott-Heron
- M. Ward
- Blood Orange
- Aloe Blacc
- Arcade Fire
- The Blank Tapes
- Mark Kozelek & Jimmy Lavalle[5]
- R.E.M.
- Lou Reed
- Dana Kletter
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Beirut
- Sufjan Stevens
- Damon & Naomi
- Jim James
- Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
- Sparklehorse
- Pete Seeger
- First Aid Kit
- Electric Empire
- Paul Simon
- Little Wings
- Sara Isaksson & Rebecka Törnqvist[6]
- Bob Dylan
- The Flaming Lips
- Phosphorescent
- Ray LaMontagne
- Freedom Singers
- Alex Turner
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan are in a different category since they’ve recorded three records together, between 2006 and 2010. I haven’t listened to a lot of Campbell’s solo work, but I am a fan of Lanegan’s solo stuff. ↩︎
I haven’t figured out any way to generate reports within a specified 12 month period, so “Last 12 months” will show data 12 months from the day you click through, and the data will begin to deviate very soon from what I captured for this post. ↩︎
Billy Bragg & Wilco, Mermaid Avenue ↩︎
Bonnie “Prince” Billy & Dawn McCarthy, What the Brothers Sang ↩︎
Mark Kozelek & Jimmy Lavalle, Perils from the Sea ↩︎
Sara Isaksson & Rebecka Törnqvist, Fire in the Hole: sing Steely Dan ↩︎
