Discover the best year and best number one song for you

Author : mamun Published: January 24, 2019

Updated

January 25, 2019 09:17:31

Collage of Hottest 100 alumni including Lorde, Powederfinger, The Cranberries and Kendrick Lamar.

When it comes to the songs that make up triple j’s Hottest 100 each year, there are but a few certainties: there’ll be 100 songs and people will complain furiously about them.

“It’s not as good as it used to be,” people will say. “[insert band name here] was robbed!”, or “it’s too commercial these days”, and of course “Ya joking shoulda been higher“.

But what if there was a way to end the debate (maybe) and work out the best year and the best number one track based on your musical tastes?

We have just the thing for you. Pop on your headphones/speakers and take our quiz to see how your preferences in music match against more than two decades of Hottest 100 countdowns.

How does the quiz work?

Using the Spotify API, we captured data on nearly every song that has featured in the hottest 100 since it began counting down in 1993 (not including hottest 100s of all time).

This data includes information about track length, tempo and key as well as more granular and insightful information like a song’s mood, its energy, how well you can dance to it or how acoustic a track is. It’s the data powering recommendations on the streaming service.

Using that information, we’re able to compare how many songs in each year match up with the characteristics you selected.

Stay tuned for part two of this piece on January 28, where we use this data to take a closer look at the 2018 Hottest 100 and the dramatic changes the countdown has undergone since 1993.