Well, it’s almost time to wave bye-bye to 2023. Before that happens, let’s take one last look at my music listening habits for the year from my personal library, Spotify, and YouTube Music.
Since I have a lot of ground to cover, I’m going to be brief about stuff that I’ve already covered in previous posts.
Personal Music Library
In 2023, I added around 650 songs to my music library. That figure’s noticeably lower compared to last year’s ~900 songs.
I relied more on streaming than downloads this year because the Freegal music service is a pale shadow of its former self in terms of selection and my budget didn’t allow for many music purchases beyond the occasional sixty-nine-cent song from Amazon’s Download Store.
My Top Songs list is dominated by my two ult groups, NCT (the 127 unit) and MONSTA X. NCT 127 is responsible for seven of the fifteen total songs. All seven songs come from their album 2 Baddies and its repackage Ay-Yo. Meanwhile, MONSTA X ranks with four of the six songs from their REASON EP. Yeah, those are two fantastic albums!
While NCT 127 is my MVP for the second year in a row for having the most songs overall, my Top Song of 2023 belongs to MONSTA X and “Daydream” with 47 plays. “Daydream” is so unique. The bass-filled melody sounds like a remixed lullaby. I like how the end part of the chorus has this little bounce to it. Plus, everybody sings at some point. I’m most impressed by the part in the second verse where Joohoney starts off rapping then effortlessly slides in a sweet little adlib. I couldn’t stop playing it.
Only four other artists could break through 127 and MX’s chokehold on the list. ATEEZ, who didn’t rank last year, roar back to life with their fun and infinitely addictive anthem “Bouncy” at #4. Then Xdinary Heroes join forces with Day6’s Young K to positively pummel my poor heart with their beautiful ballad “Good Enough” at #7. Lastly, WayV and Jimin get in under the wire with the gothic dream that is “Phantom” at #12 and the mesmerizing “Like Crazy” at #14 respectively, which both ranked on my YouTube Music lists throughout the year.
Spotify Wrapped
My Spotify Wrapped rolled in on November 29. Right on time! I was starting to get antsy.
Here’s a rundown of my basic stats for the year:
- Total Listening Time – 6,025 minutes (up 3,198 minutes from 2022)
- Total Songs Played – 551
- Number of Artists Listened To – 116
- Peak Listening Time – 172 minutes on August 3
- Listening Style – Cyclops (“You like to focus on one genre.”)
- Top Genres – K-Pop, K-Pop Boy Group
- Sound Town – Davis, USA
2023 Top Artists
My Top Artists on Spotify are fairly predictable. The order, however, is very different than what I’d expected. All of the NCT units shift down a spot from last year, with NCT 127 now at #2, WayV at #3, and NCT Dream at #5. SHINee and TXT, who were at #3 and #5 in 2022, are replaced by new-to-me artists OnlyOneOf and THE BOYZ.
Speaking of THE BOYZ, they are my Top Artist of 2023! I’m in the top 1% of their listeners, with 1,100 minutes of listening time. I was surprised when I first saw that. It’s not that I don’t love the group. I do. I just could not believe that I had listened to them more than NCT.
It makes sense when I think about it, though. My Peak Listening Time for the group is March, which I’m guessing is when I first discovered them and wore out Spotify’s “This is THE BOYZ” playlist. And that doesn’t even account for the amount of times their songs pop up on one of my Daily Mix playlists. Their rank is well deserved.
2023 Top Songs
If I was surprised by my Top Artist, then I was SHOCKED by my Top Songs (though I guess I shouldn’t have been). NCT 127 appears at #5 with “Lemonade,” my top song of 2022, but the other four songs are from THE BOYZ.
“ROAR,” the lead single from THE BOYZ’s album BE AWAKE, is my Top Song. That song definitely had me in a tizzy from the moment I first heard it. It was my #2 Top Spring Track on YouTube Music, and I still watch the STUDIO CHOOM video for it almost every day. Nevertheless, Spotify says that its play count is only 28, which would put it at #15 on my personal library’s list, tied with NCT 127’s “1, 2, 7 (Time Stops).”
YouTube Music Recap
My year-end YouTube Music (YTM) Recap appeared within days of my Spotify Wrapped. I was particularly impatient for this recap because I hadn’t gotten anything since the summer except for a fall playlist of my top songs.
I’ve been tracking and sharing my stats all year as YouTube has released my winter, spring, and summer recaps. I truly look forward to my little music reports every few months. In fact, these recaps might be the thing that makes me subscribe to YTM over the other music services. I’m obsessed.
Check out my basic YTM stats for 2023:
- Total Listening Time – 20,462 minutes (up 12,596 minutes from 2022)
- Total Songs Played – 1,128
- Number of Artists Listened To – 281
- Number of Different Genres – 25
- Top Genre – K-Pop (52%)
- Top Playlist – New Stuff
- Early Fan – NewJeans
- Overall Musical Mood – Dramatic (36%)
2023 Top Artists
Once again, it’s not hard to figure out who my Top Artists are. Different service, same culprits.
NCT 127 holds firm as my Top Artist for the second year in a row. I listened to 93 of their songs for 45 hours, which puts me in their top 0.3% of listeners. They were also my Top Spring Artist and my #3 Top Summer Artist on YTM, while “2 Baddies” was my Top Live Performance for practically every season (though I still don’t know which performance they’re talking about). You know I love my Ilichils.
Elsewhere on the list, WayV, who were my #2 Top Artist in 2022 and had my Top Winter Album this year, move up one slot to #2. NCT/NCT U, my #4 Top Artist in 2022, moves up two slots to #2. Sadly, NCT Dream and Stray Kids are replaced by THE BOYZ (#2 Top Spring Artist and #5 Top Summer Artist) and Seventeen (#2 Top Summer Artist).
2023 Top Tracks
My Top Track in YouTube Music is NCT 127’s “Ay-Yo” with 122 plays. The song was also my #1 Top Spring Track and my #3 Top Winter Track on the service.
The weird thing is that the song doesn’t have nearly as many plays in my personal library. For example, it only has 15 plays in the Musicolet app. I think the discrepancy comes from the fact that I watched the music video a lot, both before and after I bought the song.
The only repeat offender from last year is NCT 127’s “Sticker,” which drops from #2 in 2022 to #5. None of the songs on YTM’s list are on Spotify’s, but WayV’s “Phantom,” which is my #2 Top Track and was my Top Winter Track, also ranks on my personal library’s list.
This is how the other three songs performed through the year:
- “Black On Black” (NCT) – #2 Top Winter Track
- “ISTJ” (NCT Dream) – #2 Top Summer Track
- “Sticker” (NCT 127) – #2 2022 Top Track, #3 Spring Track
2023 Top Albums
Kai, who was my #5 Top Spring Artist, walks away with my Top Album this year with his solo EP Rover. I’ve already waxed poetic about this near-perfect album when it was my Top Spring Album. Its spell hasn’t completely broken for me yet. I don’t listen to it on repeat every day anymore, but I still give it a spin every now and again.
I totally didn’t expect to see WayV’s On My Youth on the list, let alone at #2. I mean, the album just came out in November. How could I have played it that much already? I guess that speaks to its high quality. Some groups (not saying names!) can make great EPs and mini albums, but they fumble their full albums. Thankfully, WayV’s not like that. On My Youth is amazing, with songs that are memorable, mature, and suited to the group’s vibe.
Here are the other three albums and their rankings over the past year:
- REASON (MONSTA X) – #2 Top Winter Album
- FACE (Jimin) – #3 Top Spring Album
- EXIST (EXO) – Top Summer Album, #4 Top Summer Artist
Honorable Mention
There’s one artist that deserves a special shoutout: NCT DoJaeJung. This subunit, which consists of NCT 127’s Doyoung, Jaehyun, and Jungwoo, has consistently appeared on my YTM seasonal playlists since their debut mini album Perfume was released, but they have never ranked high enough to be on a recap. Call it NCT bias or whatever, but I could not let this year end without acknowledging their awesomeness somewhere.
I was so freaking excited when DJJ was announced. After I saw how well they did with that special stage of “Can We Go Back?” and their Christmas song medley last year, I had a pretty good idea of the havoc this trio would wreak. I mean, Doyoung brings his smoky voice, Jaehyun brings his smooth moves, and Jungwoo bridges the two with his flexible vocals and energetic dancing. And of course, they all bring the sexy. Once that no-skip album dropped, it was all over for me. Bring on the next album, please!
And that was my year in music!
Header Photo © “Black and Red Headphones” @ SplitShire from Pexels via Canva.com