Quantifying the Longevity of No Diggity, using Spotify Data

Quantifying the Longevity
of No Diggity, using Spotify Data

BY MATT DANIELS

This is part of a series about quantifying the cultural relevance of music. See Part 2: When Future Generations Don’t Remember the Classics and Part 3: The Future of Music from 2013.

TL;DR: Spotify plays are a good signal for the longevity of old music. And No Diggity wins.

I have this theory: let’s say it’s 2050. I’m old. With grandchildren. They’re like, “Gramps, what music did you jam to, back in the day.” And I’m like, “Suzy” – yea, in 2050, we still use OG names like Suzy – “I jammed to No Diggity by Blackstreet , not that garbage you kids listen to today.”

But Suzy’s like, “Gramps, No Diggity is my jam too.” In 2050, The world has forgotten most 90s music. They’re listening to some cacophony of dubstep and trap. But not No Diggity, still played at Bar Mitzvahs. Weddings. All the places.

I want to prove this: future generations will fondly revere No Diggity.

Proof means data. Yea, No Diggity is a great song, but I grew up with it. I’m biased. I can name like, maybe, 5 musicians from the 1930s. That’s the bar in 2050 for 90s music. One of five. Everything else is dust. If No Diggity stands a chance in 2050, the incoming generation, those not alive at the time of its release, need to love this song, even over all of the other crap released in the 90s.

The data is in Spotify. Spotify tells us that the average 16-year-old girl loves some One Direction/Justin Bieber/Drake amalgamation. Spotify measures the number of plays of every song, every week, and releases a big ole' chart.

So I did the same thing. Except for old shit. For a 16-year-old girl, birthed 4 years after No Diggity’s release, what are her top-played songs from the 90s on Spotify?

I made an old music top-25 chart, ranked by Spotify plays. This is how we quantify the longevity of No Diggity.

The Longevity of 90s Music

most-played hits* on Spotify in 2014 (1990 - 1999)

FIND A TRACK :

MOST POPULAR 90S SONG ON SPOTIFY IN 2014

NO DIGGITY!

SPOTIFY PLAYCOUNTS

14,000,000

20,000,000

26,000,000

38,000,000

44,000,000

50,000,000

Oasis, Wonderwall

34,342,877 plays

1996

*Songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Some artists (notably, The Beatles, Taylor Swift) are not on Spotify.

Note on Methodology: The data is skewed, since playcounts include people of all ages. Technically, we should normalize the data with Spotify users only born after 1995. They're the incoming generation with little bias towards the music (they didn't grow up with it), and they'll influence whomever is around in 2050. Spotify's user base already skews young, and the data more-or-less represents a generation in their mid-20s.

Hell yea: No Diggity at #5. Time travel to 1996, and no one would reasonably believe this. Un-Break My Heart by Toni Braxton and The Macarena were both released in '96. Both songs were huge. They sold-out stadiums. No Diggity was alright. Dr. Dre had a verse. But 20 years later, for whatever reason, they faded from culture, and No Diggity, against all odds, lingered around.

This is our model: Spotify plays as an approximation of cultural relevance. Yea. That’s dense. But bear with me.

Astute readers noticed the other top 5 tracks, including Iris by Goo Goo Dolls. Yes, Iris. Let that sink in. And Smells Like Teen Spirit. If you’re older than 40 (shout out to old peeps on the Internet), Smells Like Teen Spirit was kinda like a Lana Del Rey track, beloved in certain subcultures, but never Drake popular.

Here’s my explanation: song quality. The Macarena had a dance. Toni Braxton is gorgeous, an amazing performer, and was feeding off the inertia of an outstanding first album. So many intangibles feed into a track’s popularity, in its day. But 20 years later, we only hear the audio on Spotify. What withstands time is the song quality, and everything else that potentially fed into a track's popularity is forgotten.

This is why No Diggity is still around today. It’s a fucking good song. Arguably, the 5th best song from the decade, given its trajectory from a longevity perspective.

This is why Iris is such a shock. I hear the song and think of that terrible music video. But some 16-year-old hears amazing song-writing and chord progression.

Below is a table of every song that charted from the 90s and its respective Spotify plays. Revel in what the kids are listening to today.

Songs that have Stood the Test of Time

Every Billboard hit*, 1950 - 2005, and its play counts on Spotify

FIND AN ARTIST :

Examples: The Clash, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Billy Joel, The Doors, Frank Sinatra, Etta James

*Songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Some artists (notably, The Beatles, Taylor Swift) are not in Spotify.

TRACK

SPOTIFY PLAYCOUNTS