The Top 10 Lockdown Hit List

Posted In: Arts & Entertainment, National Music, From Issue 896 By: Robert E Martin

14th May, 2020 0

There has been lots of discussion on the perfect WFH set-up in lockdown. But little has been mentioned on the effects a good playlist can have on our productivity – the right songs can make the difference between a slacker and an achiever.

So, what has the World been listening to most frequently whilst in lockdown?

After analyzing over 35,000 songs and scouring Spotify for playlists with ‘lockdown’, ‘quarantine’, ‘coronavirus’ and/or ‘COVID-19’ in their title, recurring songs in the top 500 playlists* have been extracted to reveal the World’s favorite songs since coronavirus began.

RESULTS

Song	Artist(s)	Number of playlists
Toxic	Britney Spears	95
Stayin’ Alive	Bee Gees	87
U Can’t Touch This	MC Hammer	85
Don’t Stand So Close To Me	The Police	83
I Will Survive	Gloria Gaynor	75
SICKO MODE	Travis Scott	70
Mask Off	Future	69
Work from Home	Fifth Harmony, Ty Dolla $ign	67
Survivor	Destiny’s Child	66
Fever	Peggy Lee	65
It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)	R.E.M.	62
Harder To Breathe	Maroon 5	60
Closer	The Chainsmokers, Halsey	59
Can’t Feel My Face	The Weeknd	57
Down with the Sickness	Disturbed	55
Take My Breath Away	Berlin	55
Every Breath You take	The Police	54
I Feel It Coming	The Weeknd, Daft Punk	53
Bohemian Rhapsody	Queen	52
Toxicity	System Of A Down	51

As it turns out, disaster and panic can also bring out the fun side in us!

Featured in 95 of the 500 playlists considered, Toxic by Britney Spears is the World’s favorite lockdown song. An appropriate title with even more appropriate lyrics for the current climate.

The Bee Gees place in second with their classic Stayin’ Alive. The Saturday Night Fever classic appears in 87 playlists, with dark humour proving a suitable coping mechanism of choice for many of us. Stayin' Alive is a top song that has been played an impressive 16 million times on Spotify to date. Spotify users give another humorous nod to the situation, as it appears in 87 of the playlists.

In third place is MC Hammer’s U Can’t Touch, featuring in 85 out of the 500 playlists, which is followed by:

Don’t Stand So Close To Me – The Police (83 playlists)
I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor (75 playlists)
SICKO MODE – Travis Scott (70 playlists)
Mask Off – Future (69 playlists)

In 20th place is Toxicity by System Of A Down. While not a mainstream choice of song, it has been added to 51 of the 500 playlists and certainly seems a fitting anthem to the chaotic situation we find ourselves in.

Working up the table, above Toxicity are Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen (52 playlists), I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd and Daft Punk (53 playlists), Every Breath You Take by The Police (54 playlists) and Take My Breath Away by Berlin (55 playlists), to name a few.

Heavy metal makes another appearance in the world's top 20 favourite songs. American heavy metal band Disturbed place in 15th with their song Down With the Sickness – 55 different playlists feature this song.

Further hit songs of interest:

Many of the song titles considered in this study, even those that didn't scratch the top 20, humorously make light of a bad situation. Some of those in particular that bring a smile to our faces include:

· I Need A Doctor – Dr. Dre, Eminem, Skylar Grey (51 playlists)

· Temperature – Sean Paul (46 playlists)

· Livin' On A Prayer – Bon Jovi (49 playlists)

· Should I Stay or Should I Go – The Clash (36 playlists)

· Made In China – Higher Brothers, DJ Snake (35 playlists)

Do any of these hits make your lockdown playlist?

Be sure to visit their blog for more fun posts and studies from the OnBuy team. If you prefer listening to music via CDs or vinyl records, browse through their music range!