Xposition - December 2014

Attention!!!

December is course that time of the year where you analyze the sales, the streams and the radio plays to compile those much awaited year end lists of the best hits of the year. The most significant among these is the Billboard Year-End Hot 100. This year the list calculated data from December 7, 2013 to November 29, 2014 and therefore Taylor Swift's Blank Space will not be part of the list. So the top 10 of this year are:

1. Pharrell Williams - Happy
2. Katy Perry ft. Juicy J - Dark Horse
3. John Legend - All of Me
4. Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX - Fancy
5. OneRepublic - Counting Stars
6. Jason Derulo ft. 2 Chainz - Talk Dirty
7. MAGIC! - Rude
8. Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass
9. Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea - Problem
10. Sam Smith - Stay With Me

From last year we have top hits still on the list such as:

• Avicii - Wake Me Up
• Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball
• Katy Perry - Roar
• Imagine Dragons - Radioactive
• Robin Thicke ft. Pharell & T.I. - Blurred Lines
• Naughty Boy ft. Sam Smith - La La La
• Lorde - Royals

In the UK the Official Top 100 Biggest Songs of 2014 were also released. And the top 10 are:

1. Pharrell Williams - Happy
2. Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne - Rather Be
3. John Legend - All of Me
4. Mr.Probz - Waves
5. Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud
6. Ella Henderson - Ghost
7. Sam Smith - Stay With Me
8. Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass
9. Pitbull ft. Kesha - Timber 
10. George Ezra - Budapest

It is interesting to note that Happy topped both the charts in UK and US and that All of Me and All About That Bass is No.3 and No.8 respectively. However, it is clear that both year-end chart top tens are heavily influenced by mainstream pop. 

The nominations for the Grammy Awards 2015 were also announced in December, altogether 83 awards, one more than in 2014. Iggy Azalea's Fancy, Sia' Chandelier, Sam Smith's Stay With Me, Taylor Swift's Shake It Off and Meghan Trainor's All About That Bass are all nominated for the Record of Year. With the exclusion of Fancy the other four are competing alongside Hozier's Take Me To Church for Song of the Year. Iggy Azalea, Bastille, Brandy Clark, HAIM and Sam Smith are all vying for Best New Artist. 

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2014 was held in December and the coveted spots to perform went to Taylor Swift, Hozier, Ariana Grande and Ed Sheeran. Taylor Swift performed her chart topping Blank Space and her new single Style. Ariana Grande performed a medley of her hits Problem, Break Free, Bang Bang and Love Me Harder. Ed Sheeran performed Thinking Out Loud and Hozier performed Take Me To Church. 

The charts during December did not have many changes as Taylor Swift's Blank Space continued its reign at the top spot in the US throughout the month and will probably continue for some time in January 2015 as well. Selena Gomez's The Heart Wants What It Wants entered the top 10 at No.6 gaining a boost by her heartrending performance at the American Music Awards and Meghan Trainor's second hit Lips Are Movin' also climbed to No.4. We will just have to wait and see whether singer is capable of producing two consecutive top hits. Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk entered the top 10 and also Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud which had already topped the charts in the UK.

In the UK Take That's These Days claimed the top spot for the first week of December and in the second week Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud returned to number one after a lapse of four weeks.  Ronson's Uptown Funk was at the top for the third week only to be replaced by Ben Haenow's cover of Something I Need which was the Christmas Number One. This is not a big surprise as last year too the X-Factor winner's crowning song claimed the Christmas Number One. Union J's You Got It All, One Direction's Night Changes and Olly Murs ft. Demi Lovato's Up also entered the top 10 during the month. 

Other songs which became popular during the month were:

• James Newton Howard ft. Jennifer Lawrence - The Hanging Tree
• Tove Lo - Over 
• Alesso ft. Tove Lo - Heroes (We Could Be)
• Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo - Time of Our Lives
• Milky Chance - Stolen Dance
• Ariana Grande - Santa Tell Me
• OneRepublic - I Lived
• Nicki Minaj ft. Skylar Grey - Bed of Lies

Till the next beat…

At Ease!!!

Greatest Hits of 2014

Attention!!!

Well, compared to 2013, 2014 was a very mediocre year for music. Compared to the quality of the music produced in the previous year, 2014 did not offer much in terms of genre as well. The year focused heavily on mainstream pop with Pharrell Williams, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande leading the fray. The year also witnessed the entrance of heavyweight Meghan Trainor with her new doo-wop infused pop songs which stormed the charts worldwide. The year marked the crossover of Taylor Swift from country to pop and where she definitely proved that she can make a mark. Reggae also entered the charts again with Magic!'s Rude. The year witnessed a new low for the industry with most hits focused on butts, asses and booties. Big collaborations reached the top with Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj, Pitbull & Kesha, Jason Derulo & Snoop Dogg and Iggy Azalea & Rita Ora. Electronic Dance Music evolved further with the unique remixes of Robin Schulz and also the progressive elements incorporated by Calvin Harris and David Guetta in their new albums. Although the songs were not so great this year, the vocalists were brilliant, for instance Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Jess Glynne, Idina Menzel, Sia, Ella Henderson, Sam Martin, Rita Ora and Ariana Grande. 

This year too the list was compiled based on worldwide charts, sales and accolades received. While last year the top ten songs were most of my favorites, this year only a few can be considered as such. Pharrell Williams' best selling, award winning, chart topper Happy takes the crown followed by Meghan Trainor's All About That Bass. Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea have the most number of entries with three each followed by Zedd, Robin Schulz, Calvin Harris, Taylor Swift, Maroon 5 and Nicki Minaj having two each. So here are the greatest hits of 2014:

1. Pharrell Williams – Happy
2. Meghan Trainor – All about that bass
3. Taylor Swift – Shake it off
4. Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne – Rather be
5. Lilly Wood and the Prick – Prayer in C (Robin Schulz Remix)
6. Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX – Fancy
7. John Legend – All of me
8. Katy Perry ft. Juicy J – Dark horse
9. Magic! – Rude
10. Pitbull ft. Kesha – Timber
11. Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea – Problem
12. Taylor Swift – Blank space
13. Sam Smith – Stay with me
14. Idina Menzel – Let it go
15. Ed Sheeran – Thinking out loud
16. Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj – Bang bang
17. Ed Sheeran – Sing
18. Ella Henderson – Ghost
19. Sia – Chandelier
20. DJ Snake & Lil Jon – Turn down for what
21. Nico & Vinz – Am I wrong
22. Enrique Iglesias ft. Gente de Zona, Descemer Bueno & Sean Paul – Bailando
23. Nicki Minaj – Anaconda
24. Mr. Probz – Waves (Robin Schulz Remix)
25. Calvin Harris – Summer
26. Jason Derulo ft. Snoop Dogg – Wiggle
27. Rixton – Me and my broken heart
28. Iggy Azalea ft. Rita Ora – Black widow
29. Coldplay – A sky full of stars
30. Maroon 5 – Maps
31. David Guetta ft. Sam Martin – Lovers on the sun
32. Ariana Grande ft. Zedd – Break free
33. Tove Lo – Habits (stay high)
34. Shakira – Can’t remember to forget you
35. Calvin Harris ft. John Newman – Blame
36. Beyonce ft. Jay-Z – Drunk in love
37. 5 Seconds of summer – She looks so perfect
38. David Guetta ft. Skylar Grey– Shot me down
39. Kiesza – Hideaway
40. George Ezra – Budapest
41. Sam Smith – I’m not the only one
42. Jeremih ft. YG – Don’t tell ‘em
43. Maroon 5 – Animals
44. Michael Jackson & Justin Timberlake – Love never felt so good
45. Zedd ft. Hayley Williams – Stay the night
46. Ed Sheeran – Don’t
47. One Direction – Steal my girl
48. Charli XCX – Boom clap
49. OneRepublic – Love runs out
50. Cheryl Cole ft. Tinie Tempah – Crazy stupid love

Till the next chord…

At Ease!!!

Xposition - April 2014

Attention!!!

Well, April was relatively a very mellow and uninteresting month. The only thing that was at least of some interest was the 49th Academy of Country Music Awards held on 6th April and the Billboard Latin Music Awards held on 24th April. Miranda Lambert swept the ACMAs with Female Vocalist of the Year and Record of the Year for Mama's Broken Heart. She also shared the Vocal Event of the Year with Keith Urban for We Were Us. The Entertainer of the Year was George Strait while Lee Brice won the Song of the Year for I Drive Your Truck and Kacey Musgraves won Album of the Year for Same Trailer Different Park. Other significant awards were:

• Male Vocalist of the Year - Jason Aldean
• Vocal Duo of the Year - Florida Georgia Line
• New Artist of the Year - Justin Moore
• Vocal Group of the Year - The Band Perry
• Video of the Year - Highway Don't Care (Tim McGraw ft. Taylor Swift)

Marc Anthony was the top winner at the BLMAs taking 10 awards including Artist of the Year, Latin Album, Hot Latin Song, Digital Song, Latin Airplay Song of the Year for Vivir Mi Vida a track that spent 17 weeks at No.1 on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs. Social Artist of the Year was won by Shakira and Crossover Artist of the Year by Bruno Mars. Andrea Bocelli was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Other significant awards were:

• Vocal Event of the Year - Enrique Iglesias ft. Romeo Santos - Loco
• Producer of the Year - Anthony Romeo Santos
• Latin Rhythm Song of the Year - Daddy Yankee - Limbo
• Streaming Song of the Year - Prince Royce - Darte Un Beso

Pharrell Williams' Happy continued its domination of the Billboard Hot 100 in the US throughout the month without any hint of being overthrown. In the UK Aloe Blacc's The Man peaked in the first week followed by Sigma's Nobody to Love, Kiesza's Hideaway and Mr. Probz's Waves (Robin Schulz Remix). All four songs are not highly mainstream and except for The Man are all dance club tracks. 

DJ Snake & Lil Jon's Turn Down For What finally cracked the top 10 in the US peaking at No.5 which  was the only song to break the dormant Top 10 in April. Cash Cash ft. Bebe Rexha's Take Me Home peaked at No.5 and John Martin finally released a song on his own titled Anywhere For You which peaked at 7. Some other songs that were became popular in the US and UK are:

• Iggy Azalea ft. Charlie XCX - Fancy
• The Vamps - Last Night
• DJ Cassidy ft. Robin Thicke & Jessie J - Calling all hearts
• Neon Jungle - Welcome to the Jungle
• MKTO - Classic
• Rixton - Me and My Broken Heart
• Paramore - Ain't it fun

Til the next beat…

At Ease!!!

Xposition - March 2014

Attention!!!

The much anticipated 86th Academy Awards was held on 2nd March at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The Best Original Score went to Steven Price for Gravity. The Best Original Song went to Let It Go from the Disney animated feature film Frozen, which also won the coveted Best Animated Feature Film. The song was written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. The song has gained much recognition for its sharp undertone of female empowerment. The song beat Happy from Despicable Me 2, The Moon Song from Her and Ordinary Love from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. The song is performed by Idina Menzel who performed the song at the ceremony which ended with a standing ovation. The song's critical acclaim earned it commercial success which brought it to the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at No.5. A mainstream cover of the song was released by Demi Lovato and also a popular Japanese version by Hyolyn.

The Ultra Music Festival kicked off on the last weekend with headline appearances by Afrojack, David Guetta, Armin van Buuren, Zedd, Hardwell, Tiesto and Krewella. A notable performance was by Deadmau5's remix of Martin Garrix's Animals with the old children's song Old McDonald Had a Farm.  There was major controversy with security arrangements as a security guard was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage after being trampled by a crowd of people attempting to gate crash. The Mayor of Miami vehemently condemned the injury and the festival may move to a different location in 2015.

In the US Katy Perry's Dark Horse ran its final run at the top in the first week of March and the rest of the month was dominated by Pharrell Williams' Happy. In the UK too Happy returned to the No.1 spot for a week and was replaced by My Love by Route 94 ft. Jess Glynne. This is Jess Glynne's second number one as she also peaked in the UK for Rather Be with Clean Bandit. Tsunami (Jump) by DVBBS & Borgeous ft. Tinie Tempah claimed the top spot in the third week followed by I Got U by Duke Dumont ft. Jax Jones and She Looks So Perfect by 5 Seconds of Summer in the fourth and fifth weeks respectively. 

Some other good songs released in the UK and US were:

1. Aloe Blacc - The man
2. Tiesto - Red lights
3. Enrique Iglesias ft. Pitbull - I'm a freak
4. Coldplay - Magic
5. Flo Rida - How I feel
6. Foxes - Let go for tonight
7. Lily Allen - Air Balloon 
8. DJ Snake & Lil Jon - Turn down for what
9. Martin Garrix & Jay Hardway - Wizard
10. Little Mix - Word up!
11. Pixie Lott - Nasty 
12. Paloma Faith - Can't rely on you

Til the next beat…

At Ease!!!