I Enjoy Making Lists

[Deleted]

Obscurity Index

This can also be called a fame index, but this is indie we're talking about. Basically, I ordered up a list of Sasquatch bands by number of listeners on last.fm to determine their relative popularity. There's something of a bias against older (1990s and prior) bands, but the list would probably be used in the context of this year anyway, so no big loss. More categorization, too, because I like categorization. I will probably make something else like this if I have time before the festival.

Famous.
1. Massive Attack - 1,435,701
2. MGMT - 1,129,590
3. Broken Social Scene - 828,530
4. LCD Soundsystem - 758,434
5. Vampire Weekend - 730,604
6. Tegan and Sara - 690,124

Well-known for one reason or another.
7. OK Go - 654,441
8. Band of Horses - 617,856
9. Nada Surf - 603,499
10. Kid Cudi - 567,429
11. The National - 564,632
12. Pavement - 561,816
13. My Morning Jacket - 483,133
14. Camera Obscura - 477,831
15. Simian Mobile Disco - 471,177
16. The New Pornographers - 429,460

Think about the implication of these three bands being equally popular.
17. Public Enemy - 406,484
18. Minus The Bear - 406,302
19. Passion Pit - 404,623

$15 to $20 a ticket on their own, easily and headlining the venue, too.
20. The Mountain Goats - 376,251
21. They Might Be Giants - 366,792
22. Laura Marling - 339,161
23. Deadmau5 - 320,269
24. Boys Noize - 301,185
25. The Hold Steady - 278,762
26. City and Colour - 276,511
27. Ween - 275,895
28. Booka Shade - 269,778
29. Caribou - 261,368
30. Martina Topley-Bird - 260,350
31. Wale - 255,408
32. Midlake - 233,029
33. The XX - 229,789
34. Vetiver - 212,468
35. Why? - 199,605

Once we even got played on the radio!
36. The Temper Trap - 190,203
37. Miike Snow - 181,746
38. She & Him - 176,120
39. Dirty Projectors - 173,517
40. Portugal. The Man - 171,275
41. Dr. Dog - 157,049
42. The Posies - 153,600
43. Girls - 145,562
44. No Age - 137,605
45. Mumford & Sons - 130,359
46. The Tallest Man on Earth - 128,280
47. The Long Winters - 122,807
48. Drive-By Truckers - 116,994
49. YACHT - 108,555
50. Fruit Bats - 105,375
51. Brother Ali - 103,196
52. Patrick Watson - 100,492

You don't think they're that obscure, but then you remember that you must be a really big music fan if you're reading this and that only like 10% of music listeners know about Animal Collective, if that.
53. Neon Indian - 93,975
54. Cymbals Eat Guitars - 76,842
55. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - 71,493
56. Japandroids - 65,276
57. Local Natives - 64,592
58. A-Trak - 52,765
59. Mayer Hawtorne - 51,337
60. The Heavy - 49,253
61. Quasi - 46,793
62. The Very Best - 45,286
63. Z-Trip - 44,414
64. Telekinesis - 31,979
65. Nurses - 30,906
66. Hudson Mohawke - 30,521
67. Tune-Yards - 27,242
68. Freelance Whales - 23,880
69. Jaguar Love - 22,138
70. Fool's Gold - 21,318
71. Phantogram - 20,067

Tree Falls In A Forest
72. The Middle East - 15,957
73. Dam-Funk - 12,332
74. Past Lives - 7,353
75. Avi Buffalo - 5,735
76. Yes Giantess - 3,785
77. The Lonely Forest - 2,933
78. Fresh Espresso - 1,069
79. Shabazz Palaces - 698

I don't think they have any recorded material out yet, so in a weird way this is impressive
80. Morning Teleportation - 54

Number of listeners equal to number of people in band
81. Shadow Shadow Shade - 7

[gonzo]

Nice list. I think the most obscure point is that Ween shows up at 27th on this list, yet is headlining the final night. I am also fairly shocked that The National and Pavement are so far down the list.

[know ID yuh]

Awesome. I knew based on the title of the thread, and the creator, I was in for a treat. I laughed out loud at least three times.

To be fair though, I think Shadow Shadow Shade changed their name recently, but I still laughed either way.

I was surprised the Drive-By Truckers were that low, but I keep forgetting they don't have the internet in the south yet.

[Pea]

are these weekly plays?

[stamper]

this is so great. brilliant work.

[Deleted]

Yeah, again regarding Pavement and Ween, bands like them and Public Enemy who have been around since the 80s and 90s can probably be adjusted up a couple slots.

Also, this is all-time listeners. I considered doing listens, but bands like Why? had an off-the-charts ratio for listens-to-listeners. That could be ordered some other way, I think.

[bradberad12]

Well Done and entertaining. Interesting and informative. Thanks for the post.

[Pea]

ohhh i misread the thread at first. i thought you listed their all-time plays, not listeners. those numbers would have been astronomically higher haha

[Pea]

also, i can only imagine how many more listeners a band will gain on that site when one of their songs gets used in a commercial or movie/show. massive attack's teardrop or band of horses funeral for example.

[skychotic]

This is awesome. I love stats and rankings so this is right up my alley. I guess I'm kind of surprised at Tegan and Sara at #6. Perhaps they're bigger over in Europe than they are here? Also kind of funny that here in Minneapolis for some strange reason Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are pretty popular, yet everywhere else they are fairly obscure.

[Pea]

I guess Edward Sharpe's "Home" has become the most requested song on Seattle's alternative station lately.

[Deleted]

Apr 9, 2010 6:09:47 GMT -8 skychotic said:

This is awesome. I love stats and rankings so this is right up my alley. I guess I'm kind of surprised at Tegan and Sara at #6. Perhaps they're bigger over in Europe than they are here? Also kind of funny that here in Minneapolis for some strange reason Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are pretty popular, yet everywhere else they are fairly obscure.

They're actually pretty popular and pretty Canadian, not European. There's some Canadian radio law that requires something like 25% of artists played to be nationals of the country (Canadians help me out on this one), so they probably have a big following over there. Also, they've got appeal beyond the indie crowd; I'm sitting in french class right now, and I know that a good quarter of the class would recognize Tegan & Sara exclusively among names on this list.

OK, maybe Vampire Weekend too, but that's it.

[jobosrock]

Yeah, we defiantly have that regulation, but I think it is actually like 35% must be Canadian based music though. And Tegan and Sarah get a lot of play on the local indie station, but not really any on the other stations. I's say most people would have at least heard of them though.

[emptyfox]

Apr 9, 2010 8:06:59 GMT -8 @newjersey said:

Apr 9, 2010 6:09:47 GMT -8 skychotic said:

This is awesome. I love stats and rankings so this is right up my alley. I guess I'm kind of surprised at Tegan and Sara at #6. Perhaps they're bigger over in Europe than they are here? Also kind of funny that here in Minneapolis for some strange reason Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are pretty popular, yet everywhere else they are fairly obscure.

They're actually pretty popular and pretty Canadian, not European. There's some Canadian radio law that requires something like 25% of artists played to be nationals of the country (Canadians help me out on this one), so they probably have a big following over there. Also, they've got appeal beyond the indie crowd; I'm sitting in french class right now, and I know that a good quarter of the class would recognize Tegan & Sara exclusively among names on this list.

OK, maybe Vampire Weekend too, but that's it.

"Radio

To qualify as "Canadian content," music must generally fulfill at least two of the following conditions
(the MAPL system):

M (music) - the music is composed entirely by a Canadian.

A (artist) - the music and/or the lyrics are performed principally by a Canadian.

P (production) - the musical selection consists of a live performance that is (i) recorded wholly in Canada, or (ii) performed wholly in Canada and broadcast live in Canada.

L (lyrics) - the lyrics are written entirely by a Canadian.

Under the Commercial Radio Policy, 35 per cent of all music aired each week on all AM and FM stations must be Canadian. In addition, 35 per cent of music broadcast between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday must consist of Canadian content.

French-language radio stations are required to ensure that 65 per cent of the vocal music they broadcast each week, and 55 per cent of vocal music broadcast between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, is in the French language.

Seven per cent of music aired on ethnic radio stations each week must be Canadian."


www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/cultural_policies/canadian_content_rules.cfm