Coldplay Rules Last.FM

"Coldplay are to Last.FM as Beatles were to Billboard" reads the headline to a recent article on ReadWriteWeb referring to the dominance the Fab Four had over the Hot 100 in 1964. That year, the Beatles landed six songs at #1, three of which replaced each other at the top, and, became the first and only group to occupy the entire top five. We marvel at what T.I . has been able to do the past couple of weeks, but it's nothing compared to what the Beatles achieved during the spring of '64. Stuff like that just doesn't happen anymore. On Billboard at least.

Last.FM, a site that allows music listeners to essentially build their own online radio station perfectly suited to their tastes, has released its top ten list of 2008 based on the most played songs on the site. Coldplay not only topped the album list with Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends, but had six of the top ten songs including the title track at #1 and "Violet Hill" at #2. MGMT also had a strong showing with three songs. The only other artist to make it on the list was Katy Perry with "I Kissed A Girl". One of these songs is not like the other. I guess she is the indie kid's guilty pleasure.

As all traditional sources of measuring a band's success have become antiquated in the age of mixes, Youtube, and illegal piracy, Last.FM seems like the last best hope for gaging popularity. The radio is dominated by urban markets and panders to pre-teens, and iTunes only shows the tastes of people who aren't so cheap that they refuse to drop $0.99 for a song. Looking at Last.FM's year end list as well as it's current most played songs (Dominated by Coldplay and MGMT still, but also has plenty of Killers, Kanye, Kings of Leon, and even Britney Spears) its evident that this is the music that's being played in dorm rooms across America. Although the 18-25 demographic is actually purchasing music less and less, they consume it more than any other age group. I guess that makes Coldplay the Beatles of 2008. The question remains, at the end of 2009, will we look back in amazement at what Christ Martin and the boys did and wonder if it will ever happen again?

Last.FM Top Ten Songs of 2008:
1. "Viva La Vida" - Coldplay
2. "Violet Hill" - Coldplay
3. "Time To Pretend" - MGMT
4. "Electric Feel" - MGMT
5. "Life In Technicolor" - Coldplay
6. "Cemeteries Of London" - Coldplay
7. "I Kissed A Girl" - Katy Perry
8. "42" - Coldplay
9. "Strawberry Swing" - Coldplay
10. "Kids" - MGMT