My 2011 In Music

And now that we've moved into 2012, here's a look back at what I downloaded in 2011 -- some of it purchased, some of it, ummm, not -- and what ended up as the 25 most-played songs of my iTunes library.

There are only 271 new tracks in my iTunes since the beginning of 2011. That's down from 317 in 2010. Only 19 were Christmas songs, though, compared to 73 a year earlier. So if you take the holiday songs out of the mix, my musical acquisitions increased. However, a lot of those were downloads of individual songs. Part of the total also comes from a few artists I discovered through various means (such as Twitter or Facebook) who made albums available for free download:

Childish Gambino (a.k.a. Donald Glover) - EP (he's funny on "Community" but he has definite skills in the hip-hop arena; he now has a full-length album out, but I haven't bought it yet)
Loco - No Shade (Mixtape)
Simon Curtis - 8Bit Heart
DISCO PUSHER - Now You Know How The Story Ends (also a mixtape)

Then there were the records released before 2011...

Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
Brandon Flowers - Flamingo
Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much
Cee Lo Green - The Lady Killer
RuPaul - Champion
various artists - Christmas Remixed-Holiday Classics Re-Grooved (my only "new" Christmas album)

So that leaves just four albums I got that were actually released in 2011:

Lady Gaga - Born This Way
Chad D - The Story Begins
Maroon 5 - Hands All Over
Foster The People - Torches

So much for a top 10 of 2011! (But I can say that I recommend all of these.)

Part of the reason for this was my financial situation. Since that is a bit improved right now, perhaps 2012 will see me getting more albums. But the other thing is: I'm not exposed to new music like I used to be. I got rid of my satellite radio and I just don't listen to regular music radio. After having commercial-free music without a lot of moronic DJ chatter, I can't go back.

Also, I'm kind of a passive listener. I rarely seek out music. It has to come to me. Reading Twitter and websites such as Entertainment Weekly's site, I always find posts touting new artists' releases or new songs from established acts, with links to click to sample them, and I just don't do that. So I really should make an effort to seek out more new music beyond the select few artists who I will automatically buy (Annie Lennox, Madonna, now Lady Gaga as well, and...hmmm...that might be it now).

So, about my 25 most-played songs of 2011: you'll notice one act takes up most of my top 12 (this relates to my 2011 albums list). There are 3 songs that were also among my most-played in 2010. And unlike the past two years, not only did a Kelly Rowland dance track not top the list, but she doesn't appear at all. The one new Kelly Rowland song I got was "What A Feeling," a collaboration with Alex Gaudino, and it finished in 37th place. And now, without further ado...

25. (last year's #2) Teenage Dream (Glee Cast Version) - Glee Cast
24. T.G.A. - Chad D
23. (last year's #19) Marry You - Bruno Mars
22. Beautiful People (Club Mix) - Chris Brown (feat.Benny Benassi)
21. Tears Dry On Their Own - Amy Winehouse
20. S&M - Rihanna
19. Moment 4 Life - Nicki Minaj
18. I Hate This Part (Dave Aude Remix) - The Pussycat Dolls
17. Dirty Talk - Wynter Gordon
16. Say Somethin' (Stereo Anthem Mix) - Mariah Carey
15. Life Is A Ride - Chad D
14. Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
13. (last year's #18) Only Girl (In The World) - Rihanna
12. Hair - Lady Gaga
11. Judas - Lady Gaga
10. Somebody To Love Me (feat. Boy George/Andrew Wyatt) - Mark Ronson & The Business Intl
9. I Want It All (Manny Heatherly Remix) - Dangerous Muse
8. The Edge Of Glory - Lady Gaga
7. Government Hooker - Lady Gaga
6. Fame Kills - Dangerous Muse
5. Higher (Jody Den Broeder Club Mix) - Taio Cruz (feat. Kylie Minogue and Travie McCoy)
4. Bad Kids - Lady Gaga
3. Heavy Metal Lover - Lady Gaga
2. Higher - Taio Cruz (feat. Kylie Minogue) -- Yes, two versions of the same song. If we added them together they'd be way ahead of...
1. Born This Way - Lady Gaga
...but we won't.