The most played song on Australian commercial radio this year wasn’t the anti-consumerism anthem by the self-aware teen with great hair, a song about the likelihood of having sex being directly proportional to the hours spent staying up all night, or a combustible Miley Cyrus single about demolition.
Nopers. That distinction is held this year by the plaintive call-to-arms, “Lanterns”, by Perth group Bird Of Tokyo.
That doesn’t even seem remotely accurate, does it?
And yet according to the 2013 airplay report compiled by media monitors AirCheck, the rousing second single from the Perth band’s fourth studio album Match Fires was played a total of 17,419 times across commercial radio this year, eclipsing total airplay numbers accrued by supposed mega-hits of the year from the likes of Miley Cyrus, Lorde and anything feat. Pharrell Williams. Even more surprising? Not one of those featured in the top five. The year’s second most ubiquitous piece of music was Passenger’s “Let Her Go”, followed by Pink’s “Just Give Me A Reason”, Bastille’s “Pompeii” and The Lumineers’ “Ho Hey”.
In a downward trend reflecting the ineligibility of non-commercial and community radio stations like triple j and FBi, the frequency of Australian artists drops off quite significantly following top spot, with Vance Joy’s “Riptide” next best at 10th, The Stafford Brothers‘ Lil Wayne assisted “Hello” placing at 15th, and Sheppard’s “Let Me Down Easy” placing at 31st.
The full list below…
The Top 10 Most Played Songs of 2013
1. Birds Of Tokyo – Lanterns (17,419)
2. Passenger – Let Her Go (17,376)
3. Pink feat. Nate Ruess – Just Give Me A Reason (16,131)
4. Bastille – Pompeii (15,664)
5. The Lumineers – Ho Hey (14,786)
6. Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams – Get Lucky (14,697)
7. Avicii – Wake Me Up (14,639)
8. Robin Thicke feat. TI & Pharrell – Blurred Lines (14,631)
9. Bruno Mars – When I Was Your Man (13,582)
10. Vance Joy – Riptide (13,417)
2013’s Most Played Songs By Australians
1. Birds Of Tokyo – Lanterns (17,419)
10. Vance Joy – Riptide (13,417)
15. Stafford Brothers feat Lil Wayne & Christina Milian – Hello (12,733)
31. Sheppard – Let Me Down Easy (10,429)
40. Lorde – Royals (9482)
42. Matt Corby – Resolution (8998)
56. Flume – Holdin On (7529)
60. Timomatic – Parachute (7326)
61. Nathaniel Willemse – You (7102)
62. Samantha Jade – What You’ve Done To Me (6995)
64. Jessica Mauboy – Pop A Bottle (6942)
67. Sebastian Ingrosso & Tommy Trash – Reload (6714)
84. Justice Crew – Everybody (5770)
91. Gotye feat. Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know (5366)
