The Year That Was 2025
The most popular stories, videos, TikToks, and interviews from this newsletter
Happy New Year! 2025 was a wild ride for both me and this newsletter. We added about 4,000 subscribers, bringing a total of nearly 10,000 into this vibrant music community.
I also published my first book, Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves. I’ve been working on this for seven years, so it was thrilling for it to come out. It was even more thrilling that the book was covered by CNN, Rolling Stone, and The Economist. I am forever indebted to anyone who has shared or read the book.
Nevertheless, I always assumed that the year my book came out would be the most exciting thing to happen to me in that year. Not so! I also got engaged at the beginning of 2025. So, the book has to sit at a distant second place.
Once again, thank you for reading. I have a ton of fun doing this. Until January 1, I am offering 50% off for paid subscriptions to this newsletter. Paid subscribers get access to double the newsletters each month, including interviews with musical luminaries, round-ups of the most important stories in the industry, and a direct line to have me answer questions.
Most Popular Stories
These stories are ranked by the number of views that they received in the last year.
“The Greatest Two-Hit Wonders”: You’ve heard of one-hit wonders. But what about artists who had exactly two hits?
“How Many Artists Did The Beatles Kill?”: I investigate the oft-repeated story that when The Beatles arrived in the US, the popularity of their novel sound ruined scores of careers.
“I Analyzed Chord Progressions in 680k Songs”: Using a repository of hundreds of thousands of chord progressions from popular songs, I take a look at how composition is evolving.
“Which Music Stars are Being Forgotten the Fastest?”: Popularity in music is fickle. We see which big names are turning into nobodies.
“How a Funeral Home Became Warner Records”: Months before Netflix offered to buy Warner Bros., I recounted the weird tale of how the Warner media conglomerate was borne from a funeral home.
Most Popular Interviews
Paid subscribers get access to biweekly interviews with people moving the music industry. Here are the most popular interviews from the last year.
“The Audiophile’s Streaming Service: A Conversation with Qobuz’s Dan Mackta”: Months before it shot up the ranks of music streaming services, we talked to Dan Mackta, an executive at Qobuz, the fast-growing streaming service for audiophiles.
“Should I Gamble On Music? A Conversation with Caleb Davies”: As sports betting has become commonplace, other betting markets have cropped up, including those focused on music. I spoke with Caleb Davies, one of the most successful music gamblers.
“The Vinyl Drug: A Conversation with Chad Kassem”: In a digital world, Chad Kassem remains steadfastly loyal to the magic of vinyl records. We speak about how his obsession became lucrative.
“How TV Shaped Music: A Conversation with Mark Malkoff”: Johnny Carson biographer Mark Malkoff provides insights on how The King of Late Night reshaped music.
“The Guitar’s Future: A Conversation with Fender EVP Justin Norvell”: Fender guitar executive sits down to explain the future of the famous six-string brand.
Most Watched TikToks
Along with running this newsletter, I’m also popular on TikTok. Here are the most popular TikToks that I posted this year
Though the United States and United Kingdom share tremendous overlap in their tastes for holiday music, the UK has some Christmas songs that are unique to their country
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Did Frank Sinatra perform at my grandmother’s high school? I turned the popular investigation in this newsletter into a TikTok.
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Similar to (1), I looked into Christmas songs that are dramatically more popular in the United States than the United Kingdom.
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Everyone is acquainted with one-hit wonders. In a post repurposed from this newsletter, I look into one-album wonders.
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Before I posted about Christmas music uniquely popular in the US and UK, I looked at pop stars in the UK that never made it across the Atlantic. This also started as a post in this newsletter.
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Most Played New Songs
Each week, I recommend a new song, meaning a song from the current year. Here are the new songs that got the most plays.
“100 Horses” by Geese: For fans of Exile on Main Street-era Rolling Stones
“If You Know Me” by Hudson Freeman: For fans of mysterious folk music
“a good man with a broken heart” by LoVibe.: For fans of lo-fi hip-hip
“Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” by ROLE MODEL: For fans of stomp-clap folk
“Dead Beat City” by Kids That Fly: For fans of 1975-esque pop-rock
Most Played Old Songs
Each week, I recommend an old song, meaning a song from at least five years ago. Here are the old songs that got the most plays.
“All I Wanna Do” by The Beach Boys (1970): When Brian Wilson invented dream pop 20 years before anyone else
“Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough” by New Radicals (1998): You’re familiar with “You Get What You Give” by the New Radicals, but their entire album is 1970s rock ‘n’ roll pastiche in the best way possible
“Gypsy Woman” by The Impressions (1963): Tasteful guitar work from Curtis Mayfield and supreme vocal harmonies that leave you wanting more
“Bless the Telephone” by Labi Siffre (1971): The phrase “I love you” has never been recorded with more delicacy.
“The Bottom Line” by Big Audio Dynamite (1985): Mick Jones ditches The Clash and gets you dancing with just two chords
Most Enticing Titles
If you read this newsletter in your email inbox, all you can see before you click is the title. I figured that the newsletters with the highest email open rates had the most engaging titles.
“Why Did the CD Die but the Book Lived?”: As physical media dies in the music business, it remains as powerful as ever in the book world. Why?
“When Did Rock & Roll Die? A Statistical Analysis”: Writer Daniel Parris stops by to look at when rock ‘n’ roll actually died
“The Thin Side of Heavy”: Critic Tim Riley breaks down an old Led Zeppelin box set.
“How Many Artists Did The Beatles Kill?”: Discussed above
“My Book is Getting Published”: Title says it all. You should buy my book!
Most Popular News Stories
Throughout the year, we gather important news stories for paid subscribers. Here are the stories that were the most popular.
“Porn on Spotify Is Infiltrating the Platform’s Top Podcast Charts” by Ashley Carman (Bloomberg)
“How Record Labels Came Back from the Dead and Turned into Tech Platforms” by Matt Stoller (Big)
“Tiny Vinyl is a new pocketable record format for the Spotify age” by Chris Foresman (Ars Technica)
“It’s The 10th Anniversary Of Lord Huron’s ‘The Night We Met,’ The Most Sneaky-Huge Indie-Rock Song Of The 21st Century” by Steven Hyden (Uproxx)
“Is CBS Simulcast of VMAs the Final Blow to MTV?” by Tony Maglio (The Hollywood Reporter)
Most Viewed Videos
Each month, we also share videos from all across music history with our paid subscribers. Here are the videos that were watched the most times.
A performance of “Ghost Riders in the Sky” live on The Lawrence Welk Show in 1961 incidentally illustrating how radically popular music changed in the 1960s
The Beatles, before Ringo joined the band, demoing a cover of Barrett Strong’s “Money” with Pete Best on drums
Black Sabbath covering Carl Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes” in 1970 (RIP Ozzy Osbourne)
A bunch of musicians try to recall what the Saturday Night Live theme music sounds like in celebration of the show’s 50th anniversary
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Questlove, D’Angelo, and some other superstars covering The Beatles’ “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window” at Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2012 (RIP D’Angelo)
Most Clicked Tweets
My Twitter addiction also results in me rounding up humorous tweets each month for paid subscribers. Here are the tweets you enjoyed the most.
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Nice bass!! That's an Aria Pro II, right? I've got one of those too; making a record with it right now.
Great growl to the tone of those. Nice pick!