The Top 250 on Spotify
The Top 50 with commentary, the full 250 below
Pos./ARTIST/Song/Peak/Points/Weeks
50 ED SHEERAN Galway Girl 19 811.9 38
The British juggernaut ended 2017 with a 2nd #1 this year with his ballad “Perfect”, in at #112. This song was not released to radio in the U.S. but was his 3rd single internationally.
49 NIALL HORAN Slow Hands 16 832 30
Stylistically similar to Sheeran, this 1D alum has had the best radio success of all the boys in 2017 with 3 strong singles, this, his 1st Pop #1.
48 THE CHAINSMOKERS Paris 5 834 46
After a huge 2016 the Chainsmokers spent 2 weeks in March in the top 10 before relinquishing that status to the bigger collaboration with Coldplay which spent 3 months there. This one still hung in the top 25 for 14 weeks.
47 MIRANDA LAMBERT Tin Man 17 864.6 34
The song only reached the top 25 in airplay on Country radio but spent 31 weeks between the end of April and the end of Nov. in the BR top 100.
46 RIHANNA Love On The Brain 12 867.6 52
This song had received award show exposure a while before it was pitched to radio and spent the 2nd half of 2016 developing here, finally cracking the top 100 in Oct. and reaching the top 40 in Dec. From there it spent 18 weeks in the 40.
45 DEPECHE MODE Where’s The Revolution? 6 878.5 34
A lack of radio exposure did not keep this from spending 7 weeks in the top 10. I don’t think its success here is due to it hitting #3 in Hungary.
44 KYGO f/ SELENA GOMEZ It Ain’t Me 8 879.9 41
It seemed to me there was a bunch of EDM/Pop sound-a-likes out in the spring especially. This was one of the biggest reaching #2 in Pop airplay and top 5 in European airplay.
43 LORDE Perfect Places 10 883.8 26
10 songs from Lorde charted this year with 4 reaching the BR250, all peaking in the top 100. Late summer was perfect for her Alternative top 15 hit.
42 CHILDISH GAMBINO Redbone 15 950.7 52
1 of 4 songs in the top 50 that was on a t least 1 personal chart every week of the tracking period. This was also one of the slowest burn radio hits of the year. It debuted the 1st week of the tracking year and saw its peak here in late winter but radio took longer to catch on.
41 BLEACHERS Don’t Take The Money 8 959 34
This song continues to rise at Hot AC after reaching the top 2 at Alternative radio over the summer.
40 ROYAL BLOOD Lights Out 6 970.5 33
The 2nd half of 2017 was very good to this UK duo, placing 4 songs in the weekly top 100, currently 2 of them simultaneously in the top 50. This one had 7 weeks in the top 10, 3 of those at #6.
39 KENDRICK LAMAR Humble 7 971.1 34
Overall Hip Hop struggles a bit at Beyond Radio but critic’s darling Lamar settled into the top 25 for 16 weeks. Along with collaborations with Maroon 5 and Sia, he managed to place 4 songs in the BR250 of the year.
38 TAYLOR SWIFT Look What You Made Me Do 2(6) 975.4 14
There may be a mini radio burn out on everything Swift-y which isn’t evident with her album sales or personal chart placements for all songs from “Reputation”. Here I think she got a 1 week gimme at #1 on pop radio with this self indulgent (shocker) song. In the end she couldn’t budge Pink out of the top spot so had to settle for 6 weeks at #2.
37 CALVIN HARRIS f/ FRANK OCEAN & MIGOS Slide 8 982.8 39
Harris’ 1st of 2 in the top 50, his collaborations with R&B and Hip Hop artists proved to be a success and stood apart from much of the other EDM generated Pop hits of the year.
36 FOO FIGHTERS Run 4 1022.9 26
The Foos placed 2 songs in the top 100, with “The Sky Is A Neighborhood” at #65. Both enjoyed runs in the top 10. While rock msic is in a bit of a lull at the moment, Dave Grohl continues to be a shining light in the genre.
35 ZAYN & TAYLOR SWIFT I Don’t Wanna Live Forever 5 1033.4 40
Personally I feel this song was a bit forced but name value brought the song to near the top of Pop and Hot AC radio.
34 NOTHING BUT THIEVES Amsterdam 6 1035.9 30
While getting no real Alternative radio love in the States, it didn’t seem to stop the insistent song to rack up15 weeks in the Beyond Radio top 25. Their song “Sorry”, which should have been a Hot AC contender, followed in the top 25 and came in at #132 for the year.
33 MILEY CYRUS Malibu 3 1046.5 28
Breezy 70’s style California pop is not what we might have expected from Cyrus but she likes to mix things up. It managed to reach the Pop top 20 but had more success in England and Australia than stateside.
32 CLEAN BANDIT f/ ZARA LARSSON Symphony 7 1051 36
The 1st of 2 songs from the UK dance outfit in the top 50, it was the 3rd song in a row to reach #1 in airplay in their homeland. Not bad for a Dance meets Classical outfit that could have been a novelty act.
31 LUIS FONSI f/ DADDY YANKEE & JUSTIN BIEBER Despacito 8 1058.5 41
One aspect of the Beyond Radio 250 is that it does not include charts that are almost solely Pop radio centric, though it does include Pop leaning charts that include non-radio songs. That could speak to the surprisingly low entry for this ubiquitous summer song.
30 IMAGINE DRAGONS Thunder 10 1065 31
The Dragons had an impressive year with 3 songs in the top 250. This one was a polarizing song attracting many haters as well. Even with that it has managed 16 weeks in the top 25 so far while also crowning the Pop airplay chart in the U.S.
29 LITTLE BIG TOWN Better Man 9 1070.9 52
I can safely say that I am a little giddy at the fact that this Taylor Swift penned song did better than any of her other songs this year. It clearly shows where her strengths are (certainly not rapping). Also it is great to see a long established country band spend 28 weeks in the top 100.
28 THE XX On Hold 7 1095.1 50
I would not have predicted the quirky alt band to score 3 songs in top 250 this year but indeed they did. Here their use of an extrapolated vocal from Hall & Oates #1 song “I Can’t Go For That” helped secure 16 weeks in the top 25.
27 BRUNO MARS 24K Magic 1 1138.9 37
3 songs in the top 100 make another banner year for Mars. This sat at #2for 10 weeks behind The Weeknd’s “Starboy” starting at the beginning of Nov. 2016 before getting a sole week at #1.
26 DUA LIPA New Rules 2 1148.1 24
5 total songs in the top 250, including collaborations, this one capped a year that established her as an international force.
25 KESHA Praying 2(2) 1162.1 21
A comeback of grand proportions, it sat behind Calvin Harris’ “Feels” in late summer as almost the antithesis in sentiment. That high note chills me every time.
24 BRUNO MARS That’s What I Like 5 1197.3 49
The man can hardly do wrong, he appeals to all demographics. He scored Billboard’s #2 radio song of the year with this throwback.
23 SHAWN MENDES There’s Nothing Holding Me Back 6 1203.4 31
This teenager gets a lot of love from Pop and Hot AC radio and along with international success it bodes well for the next few years of his career.
22 PARAMORE Hard Times 3 1206.9 32
What I’m sure was considered a commercial disappointment was clearly a Beyond Radio hit. Within a month of release it was in the top 25 and spent 3 weeks at #3 in June.
21 THE KILLERS The Man 3 1221.3 24
A Dance-tinged comeback for the Las Vegas band garnered them an Alternative #1 and much love at Beyond Radio. 17 weeks in the top 25 and still in the top 50 at the end of November.
20 LADY GAGA The Cure 2(3) 1231.5 32
After what was considered a weak performance by the singles from “Joanne” this non-album single delved into current pop trends and nabbed her a third Pop top 20 in less than a year. Her performance here was much better.
19 THE WEEKND f/ DAFT PUNK Starboy 1(12) 1232.1 30
This holdover from 2016 spent 6 of its weeks at #1 before Dec. of last year. If his 2016 points were added in this would sit at #2.
18 CHARLIE PUTH Attention 7 1240 31
The slinky groove of this song established Puth as a real radio contender, earning him a Pop #1. It has spent 29 weeks in the top 100 so far. I was a little late to the party, it just cracked my top 10 but still placed as my #3 Pop song of the year. Current pop has minimal impact on my personal chart.
17 CALVIN HARRIS f/ PHARRELL WILLIAMS, KATY PERRY & BIG SEAN Feels 1(4) 1267.8 24
Towards the end of summer this superstar collab reigned for 4 weeks, exerting the perfect lazy summer vibe that Pop radio loves. This one was my #25 of songs that reached the U.S. Pop chart but only placed at #616 overall. Doesn’t mean I don’t like it though
16 PINK What About Us 1(11) 1270.3 15
With only 15 weeks under its belt this would easily have been a top 10 or 5 contender if released earlier in the year.
15 ARCADE FIRE Everything Now 1(4) 1328 26
My summer shocker, and not unpleasantly, was the ascent of Arcade Fire to #1 for a month straight. While critic’s lists often polarize me this was their #7 song of the year. Right behind it was, IMO, one of the worst songs of all time, “Bodak Yellow”. It warms my heart that it failed to reach the BR250 for the year, placing only at #281 after a #39 peak.
14 LADY GAGA Million Reasons 4 1350.2 37
Before the Super Bowl performance gave this song a radio kick in the A, Beyond Radio already had the song sitting in the top 10 for 2 months.
13 CARLY RAE JEPSEN Cut To The Feeling 2(5) 1418.1 28
This is the radio head scratcher of the year. How can a song that is on numerous critics year-end lists (Entertainment Weekly’s #3) AND spent 14 weeks in the top 10 at Beyond Radio, with 5 of those at #2, not get ANY radio love. It is a travesty.
12 RAG’N’BONE MAN Human 5 1429.4 42
This song started to take off in Europe in August of 2016 and it wasn’t until early 2017 that it started to hit its stride in the U.S. In total it spent 28 weeks in the top 100.
11 CLEAN BANDIT f/ SEAN PAUL & ANNE-MARIE Rockabye 5 1450.1 52
Another song with international success before launching the U.S., this 1st hit the chart in Oct. 2016 and had a total of 16 weeks in the top 10. It spent 9 weeks at #1 on the UK singles chart.
10 THE CHAINSMOKERS & COLDPLAY Something Just Like This 3 1523.6 40
Their 2nd song in the top 50, this spent 12 of its 14 weeks in the top 10 in the top 5. Because of the collaboration this song managed to gain airplay at Alternative and AAA radio as well. To me, it is the perfect example of a Pop trend gone awry. I just recently learned about the EDM mechanism “The Drop”, which in clubs may work well, but on radio falls flat to my ears.
9 IMAGINE DRAGONS Believer 8 1537.3 43
21 weeks in the top 25 and 35 in top 100 helped fuel this songs steady pace towards the top 10 this year. Whether you like them or hate them, they are a rock band that has figured out how to stay relevant to the Pop audience while reaching most demographics.
8 KATY PERRY f/ SKIP MARLEY Chained To The Rhythm 1(6) 1540.3 42
This song dominated the early spring but subsequent singles couldn’t keep the flow. Even though, both “Swish Swish” (#70) and Bon Appetit (#127) reached the Beyond Radio top 25 during the summer.
7 LORDE Green Light 1(4) 1551.2 39
Right on Perry’s heels, Lorde took the latter half of the spring. Both spent 16 weeks in the top 25. Both ladies seem to have faltered from their previous highs overall but are taking creative risks. Lorde’s efforts have been validated by Grammy nods.
6 ADELE Water Under The Bridge 1 1629.5 43
This song had more than a half year of charting before entering the top 10 the 1st week of Dec. last year. Those points would have only brought this up a few notches.
5 HARRY STYLES Sign Of The Times 1(9) 1728.1 32
This sweepingly gorgeous ballad was the second longest running #1 of the year, behind Pink. Styles went in a complete opposite direction that Pop would have expected. With that he achieved a grand masterpiece and probably a good amount of industry cred.
4 ED SHEERAN Castle On The Hill 2(5) 1770.4 47
Released virtually simultaneously, this was always in the shadow of “Shape Of You” but kept good pace with it. It was a good call to release 2 songs that contrasted each other. This one had 19 weeks in the top 25.
3 THE WEEKND f/ DAFT PUNK I Feel It Coming 1(2) 1869.6 41
This song’s 2 weeks in November could have brought it into the #2 position. If Michael Jackson recorded a simple easy going R&B song in 2017 it would have been this.
2 ED SHEERAN Shape Of You 1(4) 1881.4 47
Sheeran connected in a big way with a song that borrowed from tropical house and built on a simple melody line. 19 weeks in the top 10 was not enough to bring it home though.
1 PORTUGAL, THE MAN Feel It Still 2 2072.1 38
Prolonged multi-format exposure wins the race, not reaching #1. The biggest difference between this and “Shape of You” is 33 weeks in top 25, 12 more than Ed Sheeran. It reached the top 25 in mid-April and the top 10 in August, hit the top 5 on Sept. 4 and spent the last 3 months of the year parked there. It’s an impressive run that is not quite over yet.
The BR250 of 2017