Sunday, 27 December 2015

Year-End Review 2015 - Artists

I hope you had nice holidays so far. As every year I’m proud to present you my favourite artists and songs of the year. And as every year I’ve to open the record book. For a 2nd year in a row I charted fewer songs than in the year before. Back in 2014 I charted 696 songs and missed the 700 mark by only four songs. This year I charted 661 songs and 505 artists from 35 countries.

National ranking 2015:

1. (1.) USA
2. (3.) Germany
3. (2.) England
4. (6.) Austria
5. (5.) Canada
6. (4.) Sweden

Within the Top 6 countries only one country climbed up more than one spot. It had been my home country Austria! The climb of two spots is no surprise when you followed my chart. Over the summer there had been so many songs in my personal Top 10 from Austria that there hadn’t been a chance for a drop out I predicted last year. Unfortunately Austrians #1 yield didn’t reach the same peak. Only one song by Austrian band Tagtraeumer reached #1 for this year-end countdown. To be fair their new single “Nichts” is #1 in this week's edition of my regular chart, but it won’t represent here. It was too late to make a major impact. Since the start the national ranking is dominated by the USA. This year nothing changed. Once more I charted twice as many artists from the USA as the second strongest nation Germany.

Among the artists I charted in 2015 there are core artists like Kelly Clarkson or Anouk who had some very strong hits as in every year. But there are some artists which celebrate their breakthrough. So far I had 19 #1’s from 15 artists in 2015. Two artists scored more then one #1's this year. Tagtraeumer had two and if you're good in maths you'll know that the other artist topped my chart with four songs. In total this artist topped my chart for nearly 25 % of the year or 14 weeks. So let’s start with my Top 10 artists of 2015.

TYLYArtistInfo
10.(1.) EmmaBack in 2014 Italian Emma had a very successful year.”L’amore non mi basta” was the year-end #1 and several other songs were in the year-end Top 100 of 2014 too. This year it had been a little bit calm around her. A cooperation with Modá and the first two singles from her new album were the output in 2015. Although she reached the Top 10 with two of the three mentioned songs, she failed to get a #1 this year. We will see if she could continue her successful run on my chart next year.
9.(9.)Matt CardleMatt Cardle is a phenomenon on my chart. Since years he is scoring hit on hit from all of his three albums. From 2011 to 2015 he had been a regular guest on my chart, but I’m waiting for a fourth album. Since several weeks my chart is without a song by him which is really sad, because he is the only male core artist – beside Ben Montague – I’ve. I hope he will come back very strong with his new album if released next year.
8.(re)Kate VoegeleAfter a short break in 2014 Kate Voegele returned very strong. Most of the songs of her “Wild Card”-EP reached my Top 10 and one of these songs also reached #1. “Carousel” spent three weeks at the Top and is her highest ranked song in this review. Unfortunately “Just watch me” failed to reach my Top 100, but there are more songs which can be found within the Top 100.
7.(---)Tove LoEarly in 2015 Swedish newcomer Tove Lo had a big hit in Austria and elsewhere with the remix version of “Habits”. On my chart “Habits” was also her breakthrough although I didn’t chart the remix version. “Habits” hadn’t been her first charting hit on my chart. Back in 2013 she had a minor hit with “Love ballad”, but back in these days I hadn’t thought that she could really that big in the future. Beside “Habits” she had some other hits – including “Not on drugs” – on my chart and so she really deserves this entry.
6.(---)Madeline JunoAt #6 you can find Madeline Juno. It is a little bit surprising to find her on this list, because she and Tove Lo have no #1 on my chart so far. I really like her debut album, although I bought it very late. So after “Error” reached my Top 10 back in 2013 it was quite calm around her. In 2015 she benefits from this buying. Two more songs reached my Top 10 and several others were hits in my Top 20. Recently she released her new single from her sophomore 2nd album. At the moment I’m not sure about this single, but I definitely give the album a try in the next weeks.
5.(---)Madi DiazAnd here is the next female newcomer. In autumn 2014 she had her first chart hit with “Stay together” which later was a #1 hit. “Stay together” has a split record and so this song can also be found in this year-end review. But Madi Diaz isn’t only “Stay together”. Her first alternative electronic pop album “Phantom” has several really good and catchy songs such as “Ghost rider” or “The first time”. While Tove Lo had her international breakthrough Madi Diaz is still a insiders’ tip. Unfortunately her recently released non-album single “Control” will not changed the opinion of the majority, because this song isn’t as good as most of the songs from “Phantom”.
4.(2.)AnoukIn 2014 Anouk had a very good year with a #1 and #2 debut in the same week. This year she hasn't been as successful as last year, but if you release a non-album single like “New day” which peaked for several weeks at #1 2015 isn’t a bad year too. From her last album “Paradise and back again” I’ve not charted all songs so far, so you can count on her for next year too.
3.(re)Kelly ClarksonHow often have I written that I don’t like the “Piece by piece”-album as much as the “Stronger”-album? I can’t count. Looking over my top artists in 2015 really surprised me when I found out that Kelly Clarkson easily returned in my Top 3. “Heartbeat song” reached #1 and maybe this is her first song reaching the year-end Top 10. Then there is “Someone” which peaked at #2 and was still in the Top 50 in its 21st week on chart. And so on. Such bad can’t her album be if she has these hits.
2.(4.)Taylor Swift#6 in 2013, #4 in 2014 and #2 in 2015: These are the year-end positions by Taylor Swift. Sure you could argue admirably if her country songs were better than ger pop songs and if she betrayed her fans of the first hour, but in the end she had to live with this decision to leave the country behind her. Personally I like her country songs too and I hope that there will be some of these songs in the future too, but her pop songs aren’t bad either. This year she had seven Top 10 hits with “Bad blood” and “Wildest dreams” reaching the Top 3, but the #1 smash was denied. Although she had no #1 it was a really tough race for my #1 artist. Only four weeks ago she had to leave the top spot and she made the way free for an artist who hadn’t been part of my year-end top artists before.
1.(---)Leslie ClioUnthinkable if she hadn’t been my #1 artist of the year. Leslie Clio is the only artist who had more than two #1’s on my chart in 2015. Some years ago she had some solid top hits on my chart without reaching the Top 10. Than she released the first single of her “Eureka”-album and the rest is history. A week too late for my birthday she scored her first #1 with “My heart ain’t that broken”. This catchy pop song dominated my chart for seven weeks. In the same week when the run of “My heart ain’t that broken” began she debuted within the Top 10 with her 2nd single “Be with you” which later topped my chart for three weeks. Leslie Clio is the third female singer who replaced herself at #1. The others have been Anouk who did it three times and Adele. Two more songs followed on the footsteps of “My heart ain’t that broken” and reached my top spot. As Emma back in autumn 2013 Leslie Clio scored most her #1’s in a very short time. Let’s stay tuned if she has more than one hit in my year-end Top 10. “My heart ain’t that broken” is a sure shot and for the rest you have to wait.

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