Rory’s 2024: Music

How I counted music (and what I missed)

Quantifying what I heard in a comprehensive way is difficult. I didn’t listen on Spotify for a bunch of reasons, so that’s one musical source eliminated. I did a lot of listening on YouTube, which didn’t give me a year-end wrap-up because I turned off my history. (No regrets.) Apple Music was the main place my music listening came from, but it doesn’t have artists I watched obsessively on YouTube, and it doesn’t have any of the music other people played around me. There might be some gaps because memory is not reliable, you know?

Also, despite a lot of these songs/artists using unique capitalization, I standardized a lot of it in the interests of finishing this post at some point before 2026. I tried to keep accents and unique characters, though.

The Grammys kind of covered it???

I’ve never been able to use the Grammys as a shorthand for what I thought was good in the previous year, but I largely agreed with the televised awards this year. Quelle surprise!

• Record of the year, song of the year: Not Like Us, Kendrick Lamar. (59 in my top 100 songs, but played a lot more via YouTube.) I don’t need to add to the large numbers of words and filmed minutes dedicated talking about Kendrick Lamar in 2024/2025, but I will say this: Not Like Us is a banger, and I was awake when Meet the Grahams dropped. What a time.
• Rap album: Alligator Bites Never Heal, Doechii. Admittedly she’s been more of an early 2025 artist for me, but if you haven’t listened to Denial is a River or Nissan Altima yet? Run, don’t walk. If you have twenty minutes, her NPR Tiny Desk concert is a great place to start.
• Country album, album of the year: Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé. This is actually the Beyoncé album I’ve probably clicked with least since before Self Titled, but it definitely deserved its wins, and I really like 16 Carriages (67 in my top 100 songs).
• Best new artist: Chappell Roan. I think Good Luck, Babe (11 in my top 100 songs) was immediately one of the greatest pop songs of all time upon its release; I’ve never heard that kind of queer heartbreak captured so well in song form before. It was Chappell Roan’s only official new release last year and it shot her into the stratosphere. (Hence why I think Best New Artist was a perfect Grammy for her to get.) The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess was my ninth-highest album of the year, though, and Chappell Roan was my sixth most-listened-to artist overall.
• Pop vocal album: Short ‘n’ Sweet, Sabrina Carpenter. Sabrina Carpenter isn’t super my thing—I bounced off her Coachella performance—but I can’t deny I listened to Please Please Please a lot in 2024, even if it didn’t make an impact in my Apple Music stats. Her sense of humor is really good.
• Pop duo/group performance: Die With a Smile, Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga. Bruno Mars had a couple good features in 2024, and I’m really hooked into Lady Gaga again after Disease-Abracadabra. Die With a Smile is probably my least favorite of all of these, but it’s still great; I bet it kills as a group sing-along.
• Runners up. I had a bit of a Brat winter (Von dutch was 75 on my top 100 songs in 2024) and liked a couple songs off Billie Eilish’s album (Chihiro made 64 on my top 100), so those are worth mentioning despite a relative dearth of awards. It isn’t that those things were bad; it was that music in 2024 was so good that the competition was tough.

100 new-to-me songs in 2024

My fun goal for last year was deliberately trying to listen to a bunch of music last year and make a playlist out of my 100 favorites. I ended up hitting 77 songs on the playlist, but the general goal was to expand out of a musical rut. Achieved!

I’m continuing the playlist idea this year without the number requirement, along with a companion bring-it-back playlist for songs that reenter my sphere, and I want to listen to albums more in 2025 as well. Not sure how to make that happen, but I’ll figure it out.

A couple highlights from the playlist that probably won’t make it into another other section:

• Kesha’s Joyride (10 on my top 100) was a big part of my year, but she used AI for her single cover and hired someone gross for the official video, so this is my Kesha mention and we’re moving on.
• Hozier was throwing out some real bangers that didn’t make his already-great album Unseen Unearth! I loved Empire Now (17 on the top 100) and Nobody’s Soldier (66 on the top 100), but yes, I also listened to TikTok smash Too Sweet (71 on the top 100). He was my second most-listened-to artist in 2024, and considering I have a ticket to see him this summer, another top 10 entry for him in 2025 seems reasonable.
• Damiano David’s Born With a Broken Heart left an impression on me, probably because it seemed a bit Harry Styles-like. Interesting way to go while on break from Måneskin.
• I had a bunch of Megan Thee Stallion on this playlist, but I mostly listened to her/watched her on YouTube. Hiss! Mamamushi! Bigger in Texas! I could keep going.
• I cut my TikTok section for length, but rest assured the app’s musical stylings made an impact. The highest song from TikTok on the top-100 list (that wasn’t Jungle) was icantbelieveiletyougetaway by aldn, at number 54.
• My number one song of the year, Lizzie McAlpine’s doomsday, was a discovery I made after trying some of Apple Music’s discovery features. I promptly stopped using those features and listened to this song way more than the 35 times Apple Music recorded, since I watched on YouTube and could put it on my Halloween playlist. Thanks, Apple Music.

The Terrible Influence Tour pre-show playlist

My best live musical experience was a touring show from YouTubers Dan and Phil, despite it largely being a comedy performance? I won’t get into spoilers for the show right now, but Dan works very hard to curate a pre-show playlist every time, and this one was full of hits: Lisa’s New Woman, Lithonia by Childish Gambino (78 on the top 100), This is Why by Paramore (which got me feeling old because apparently Paramore is more millennial and less Gen Z).

There was a pre-show announcement that broke up the playlist, and the end was basically a kick in the chest: Rush by Troye Sivan, Von dutch by Charli xcx, a group-dance-along to Hot to Go by Chappell Roan (22 on the top 100), Chk Chk Boom by Stray Kids, and a little bit of Toxic by Britney Spears. Killer.

The song that stuck with me most, though, came from my (spoiler) movie of the year: Starburned and Unkissed by Caroline Polachek (42 on the top 100). I don’t really have words to describe how it felt to hear that song in that room at that time. Or ever? If Good Luck, Babe is WLW longing, Starburned and Unkissed is trans longing. The way the words “come home” stuck to me upon first listen and never left. Phew.

ATEEZ present!

I entered 2024 with the goal to learn Korean in conjunction with exploring more in Korean music and TV/movies, and…the language learning/watching didn’t really happen. But a lot of my friends love K-Pop, and I really latched onto ATEEZ at the end of 2023/beginning of 2024. I’ll take a partially-achieved goal!

ATEEZ exemplifies my favorite parts of K-Pop: they have an interesting overall concept, their choreography is super fun, and the way a lot of their earlier songs end with an intense moment gives the best kind of pop-music rush. (Searching “break the wall fanchant” gives you an idea of the energy that happens between artist and audience in this regard.)

All this meant ATEEZ dominated my Apple Music replay: they were my top artist (659 minutes listened to), took six of my top fifteen most-listened songs of the year (from top to bottom: Guerilla, Halazia, Inception, Wonderland, Deja Vu, and Bouncy), and my first comeback (Golden Hour Pt. 1) was number three on my albums of the year. They took more titles, too: top artist specifically in January, March, and June; top songs in January (Inception) and May (Blind), and the aforementioned comeback was my top music in May. It was a good time, all around!

The year of K-Pop (kinda)

But it doesn’t end there! I took some recs from friends and followed my ears and generally had a lot of fun with K-Pop artists in 2024. Including:

• Blackpink solo artists: Lisa is my favorite, so she popped up the most. Rockstar (both song and the Y2K-flavored video) specifically was my favorite, reaching number 12 on my most played songs of the year and being the most played song in July and August. Rosé’s APT (see also: a Bruno Mars collab) hit my radar a little via TikTok and really clicked with me in January 2025. I first listened to Blackpink around Couch Coachella 2023, so it was fun to see that impact stick.
• Red Velvet: For years, my two favorite K-Pop idol groups have been Red Velvet and Dreamcatcher. I’ve fallen a little behind with the latter, but Red Velvet’s Cosmic (and associated Midsommar-esque video) were absolutely sublime in 2024. If Chappell Roan hadn’t existed, Cosmic (13 out of my top 100) probably would have been my song of the summer.
• Taemin: Basically everyone I know who likes K-pop from the last decade loves Shinee, and Taemin is a standout. I only listened to Guilty in 2024, but it was my seventh most listened-to song of the year. The choreography that goes with it is a fun mix of sexy and silly (the hand going up the shirt move makes me giggle).
• Seventeen: I watched their performance at Glastonbury from last year, and their 2024 album release had some great songs! Maestro made my new-to-me playlist, but the song that really stuck with me was Clap (24 on my top 100).
• OnlyOneOf: Their concept has more of a taboo, queer edge (for K-pop, anyway), so naturally, their US audience seems to be mostly lesbians? A lot of this knowledge is secondhand, so grain of salt, but I can say that Gaslighting made an impression (79 out of my top 100).
• Stray Kids: Easily the most popular idol group amongst my mutuals that isn’t BTS. I started dipping my toe in at the end of the year after receiving a bunch of recommendations from one of my best friends; Thunderous squeaked in at the end of the new-to-me playlist—I love its heaviness—and Red Lights immediately went onto my favorite music videos playlist. They might make more of a 2025 impact; a bunch of my friends are seeing them on tour. We’ll see!

What stayed from Couch Coachella

I usually watch at least one weekend of Coachella streaming at home every year. (If you’re subscribed to my Patreon, you can read my initial reactions over there.) Obviously, Chappell Roan was one of my standouts, and ATEEZ did a great set on weekend two (weekend one’s stream had some technical issues, but they were great); who else really stuck across the year?

• Reneé Rapp: The first half of 2024 was a Reneé Rapp period for me; she kept showing up on TikTok, I watched the Mean Girls musical movie for the first time toward the beginning, and her Coachella performances delighted me, especially on weekend one when she brought out the cast of The L Word to intro her. I love the way she uses musical theater training to belt it out on pop songs. My favorite track of hers is Snow Angel (38 out of my top 100);”I’ll make it through the winter if it kills me” is a vibe and a half.
• Hatsune Miku: I’m just as surprised as you are! My understanding is that the Coachella version of the show didn’t give the full impact of what an actual Hatsune Miku show is like, but the live band killed it. My favorite of the songs was Hyper Reality Show (34 out of my top 100), which has a hard rock/metal edge to it; I listened to it on and off all year.
• The Last Dinner Party: Probably my third-favorite performers of the festival were The Last Dinner Party. (Number one went to Brittany Howard, who is just as electric solo as she was in Alabama Shakes.) A rock band with women is an easy enough sell for me, but their songs are also extremely good. Sinner (39 out of my top 100) was my top listen of the bunch even though I remember Nothing Matters more, since it was in my YouTube fave music videos list.
• Jungle: I caught their set while I was waiting for Jon Batiste (second-favorite performer of the festival) and knew Back on ’74 via TikTok, but their vibe is kind of the perfect background music? I don’t say that as an insult; it’s the perfect balance between energetic enough to get the blood flowing, but chill enough to keep anxiety low. I played their music while I did chores in the latter half of the year, and it added up; they were number four on my Apple Music artists of the year (227 minutes played), and Busy Earnin’ was my fifteenth song of the year. They won September as my top artist for that month, too.

More background favorites

Again, not an insult! If you’re an artist that makes it into this group, chances are you’ve been in here other years and might be a favorite over decades. You’re around while I write, fold laundry, take a shower, go for a walk, calm down before bed…honestly, you’re probably in my space more than most people I know.

• Goldfrapp: Definitely a decade-spanning favorite. Goldfrapp’s great because there are some fun uptempo albums if that’s your vibe, but it’s always the background albums that make it in the long term: Felt Mountain was album four for the year, and Seventh Tree was album six. Not too shabby considering the most recent of those albums was sixteen years old in 2024! Goldfrapp made it to my third-favorite artist of the year on Apple Music because of it. Imagine having that kind of long-term impact on anyone. These albums are slightly on the sleepier end—I have playlists where I use them to fall asleep—but again, not a bad thing.
• Massive Attack: Mezzanine was my seventh most-listened to album of the year, and Massive Attack was my fifth artist of the year. I didn’t listen to the album for the first time until long after its release, but it came out in 1998! The longevity!
• Portishead: Portishead are actually a somewhat newer addition to this list in terms of album presence (I’ve listened to Like a Fool specifically for a long time, though). That’s why Dummy was my number two album on Apple Music this year; the combination of familiar trip-hop with songs I hadn’t heard before made for a potent pair.
• Radiohead: It’s probably strange to say OK Computer is actually a good background album for me, but it is. There’s a wide variety of Radiohead opinions out there, and mine boil down to “I could listen to OK Computer probably every day for the rest of my life, with an occasional In Rainbows swap to keep things fresh”. Radiohead was my tenth most-listened to artist of 2024 in Apple Music, OK Computer was number five in my albums, and both artist and album won October 2024.
• Woodkid: Woodkid’s more writing music than anything else, perfect for singing breaks and bringing up emotions. Woodkid made it to eighth on my Apple Music top artists, and s16 was my 10th most-listened to album in 2024. September seemed to be s16 time.

Andrew Lloyd Webber spirals

I can tell I’m not feeding my inner theater kid enough when I have big Andrew Lloyd Webber flare-ups. I had two of them in 2024! Wicked came too late, and I didn’t latch onto this version! (I did an Elphaba Halloween costume around 2006ish. I’ve been there.)

The first resurgence of ALW was an obvious choice: Jesus Christ Superstar around Easter. My preferred production is the live TV version they did in the last decade with John Legend as Jesus, so that version was number eight in my top-listened-to albums and claimed April. Superstar the song was my top-listened to song in April; it’s also my favorite in the show.

The second makes the most sense when you realize one of my all-time favorite Madonna songs is You Must Love Me, which won the Oscar for Best Song the year she starred in the film adaptation of Evita. I was on a bit of a Madonna kick mid-year and only just realized that stage version of Evita added the song later, so I found the Broadway revival that included it (unfortunately, it was the one with Ricky Martin) and listened to it a lot. To the point where it was my top album of the year. I’m not proud of it, but look. I’m scared to confess what I’m feeling. (Sorry.)

We did it!!!

I had a draft of this post over 5000 words that seemed like it was going to crest 10,000 before I was done. I can talk a lot about music! Maybe too much? Either way, I’m relieved I managed to trim things down.

If you like this post:

• Consider subscribing to my Patreon for a bonus post on productivity tips and tricks in 2024.
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• Catch up on my 2024-in-review series on Egregious and read my TV recap and my video games recap.