A segment on the radio this afternoon sent me chasing a rabbit. The story being discussed on air revolved around the fact that the ubiquitous Shaboozey song was on track to become the "most popular" song of all time by many metrics. Blowing right past other phenomenons such as Harry Styles "As It Was", multiple TSwift tracks, The Macarena, a plethora of Ed Sheeran joints, The Weeknd and many other pop culture stalwarts of the past few decades. Data going back to Elvis, The Beatles et al is apples oranges.
But I'm not here to talk about pop music madness. The conversation got me to thinking, what are the most popular songs in our scene? Not the best, but the most played. We set about defining anthems last year. Again, those weren't necessarily the best or most played...but the ones that define an artist, moment in time or the scene in general. The blueprints of all this. Check that list out if you haven't.
For the purposes of this very unscientific experiment, I will solely use Spotify data. Mainly because I'm being lazy and don't want to dive across multiple platforms at this moment. But, also because I feel it to be a good barometer here on the doorstep of 2025 of what the most played tracks are. Much like the pop music pablum listed above, it's hard to compare this era to peak Pat and Ragweed as we weren't streaming then. So, keep that in mind when looking over this list.
Without further ado, here is what my hasty, admittedly unthorough research has revealed.
The Top 20 Streaming Songs in Texas/Red Dirt Music (as of October 15, 2024)
Cody Johnson - Til You Can't - 286 million
Cody Jinks - Loud and Heavy - 220 million
Pecos and the Rooftops - This Damn Song - 214 million
Josh Meloy - Porch Light - 206 million
Parker McCollum - Pretty Heart -204 million
Red Clay Strays - Wondering Why - 187 million
Uncle Lucius - Keep the Wolves Away - 178 million
Wyatt Flores - Please Don't Go - 151 million
Whiskey Myers- Broken Window Serenade - 145 million
Koe Wetzel - Something To Talk About - 126 million
Muscadine Bloodline - Porch Swing Angel - 114 million
Southall - Why - 101 million
Josh Abbott Band - Settle Me Down - 96 million
Flatland Cavalry - Life Where We Work Out - 84 million
Turnpike Troubadours - Long Hot Summer Day - 80 million
Treaty Oak Revival - Missed Call - 79 million
Kolton Moore and the Clever Few - Mine All Mine - 74 million
Shane Smith and the Saints - All I See Is You - 64 million
Randy Rogers Band - Kiss Me in the Dark - 51.8 million
49 Winchester - Russell County Line - 51.2 million
Did I miss one in my rush? What surprises you? We will revisit this periodically to see what is moving up the list.
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