LiveXLive's VP of Programming, Kevin Stapleford Breaks Down Top 100 Songs of the Decade

If you haven't heard, we're not only in the last month of the year but the decade as well. So, it was only right that LiveXLive dropped it's controversial Top 100 Songs of the Decade list. While the position of some songs might surprise you - "Uptown Funk" topping the list or "Old Town Road" falling in the middle - numbers don't lie. So, we caught up with LiveXLive's Vice President of Programming, Kevin Stapleford for more insight on the list, how it was ranked, and his role in the company. Catch up below 👇🏾

What are your responsibilities as Vice President of Programming for LiveXLive Radio?

I oversee all the content at LiveXLive, working with a team of curators and hosts from all over the country. We have close to a thousand programmed stations and our curation efforts also directly inform the creation of custom stations and music recommendations across the entire LiveXLive platform.  I run the editorial calendar, which dictates what types of special programming we build on an ongoing basis, and I also water all the plants in the office.

How did the Top 100 Songs of the Decade list come about?

We've been featuring “end of the year” countdowns since 2015, and we’ll be doing that for 2019 too. But we realized that we actually had listening data for the entire decade. LiveXLive Radio was originally known as Slacker, which signed on in 2010.  From the beginning, we’ve presented all sorts of countdown features, and we’ve found that they really drive audience engagement. People love to see how their favorite songs perform, and they also love to debate the results. Looking at the entire decade gave us a chance to really amp these efforts up. This is like a countdown on steroids.

Which factors and metrics affect each song’s ranking?

Everything is dictated directly by user data.   Unlike other countdowns or charts, our analytics are based on what people are listening to and how they choose to engage with the music. This is pure quantitative data. We know when people choose to listen to a song, when they decide to skip a song before it ends, when they “heart” it so that it will be played more, etc.  We take all those data points and assign each song an "engagement quotient,” and that dictates where they land on the countdown. 

Were there any songs that surprised you by their rank?

Since our countdown is dictated by pure data points, we really let the numbers fall where they may.  At the other extreme, however, is the fact that all of our countdowns are fully hosted by LiveXLive curators and DJs who are insanely passionate about music and, as a result, they are loaded with qualitative opinions. This means that, along with the data, you’re getting a pretty complete picture as to why the songs are performing the way that they did.

In terms of surprises, it was interesting to see songs like Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” and Luis Fonzi’s “Despacito” land in the middle of the pack.  These songs were so dominating in terms of other charts and, while they performed really well for us, they didn’t even come close to the Top 10. LiveXLive listeners are very discerning, and they move pretty quickly from song to song…which is a polite way of saying they tend to burn out on over-played songs fast.

I was also taken aback by the fact that Beyoncé didn’t have a song on the countdown.  People might also be shocked by how well country songs performed, and I noticed that, although Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” came out in October of 2009,  it performed well enough in 2011 to make the countdown. And, even though “Señorita” by Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes was only released five months ago, but it powered its way in.

Are there any behind the scenes stories from the artists themselves, concerning the poll?

Not yet, we just announced the results.

What’s next for LiveXLive Radio?

In 2019, we started to create video companions for our biggest “radio” specials, and this was no exception. We will be looking to create a lot more content that embraces both platforms.  As I said before, countdowns have always proven to be very popular with our audience, so expect tons more in 2020.

Anything else we should know before you go?

Again, if you’re looking for countdown content, LivexLive has tons of it. Warning! It’s like a never-ending rabbit hole of music stories and trivia.  We do weekly countdowns of the top songs in every major genre. We have “all time” shows that feature the top artists in music streaming history, the all-time game-changers in Hip Hop and country, the biggest badasses and jerks in music history. We’re coming up with crazy ideas all the time. It’s what we do.