Iron Maiden Spotify Statistics

Interesting numbers and there must be some of my plays aswell (eventhough I own the albums multiple times in lp and cd).
Have to say that it was actually The Final Frontier that was actually the first studio-album (not BOS) released while legal streaming-services (Spotify etc) came around.
 
mckindog said:
This is the most reliable accounting I have ever seen of the popularity of a given Maiden song.
Sure, certain playlists can sway the numbers, but there is no better indicator of how much people like a song than how often it has been listened to.
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I find that the only conclusion that can be drawn from my own spotify statistics is that I use it to listen to albums I don't own or a track or two from bands that I otherwise am not a huge fan of.

However, despite being cynical about the usefulness of these spotify stats, I completely agree with Wooten that you can't argue with that top 8 as being Maiden's most common denominator and well known hits (I'd argue they are undisputably there on quality merits too). In fact, I also think Wickerman is no surprise at number 9 as it's the biggest hit from the reunion generation.
 
mckindog said:
Can I Play With Madness is a beloved song.
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Heaven Can Wait and No More Lies also getting a more realistic rating than this forum gives them.

Also remember when this forum voted Run to the Hills Maiden's 80-odd best song :lol:
 
srfc said:
Heaven Can Wait and No More Lies also getting a more realistic rating than this forum gives them.

Also remember when this forum voted Run to the Hills Maiden's 80-odd best song :lol:
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"A bunch of randos on Spotify don't have as considered taste as a bunch of hardcore fans" isn't a surprise.
 
It’s also notable that other live favorites tend to do better in ranking/survivor situations. I think it’s more that Run to the Hills isn’t as strong as other “mainstream” Maiden songs like The Trooper and Number of the Beast.

I really appreciate the effort in compiling this information and it’s interesting stuff. I have a hard time taking these stats seriously as the most reliable accounting of a song’s popularity. There are too many unknown biases. It only covers fans who listen to Maiden on spotify (not even the most popular streaming service), it doesn’t take into account added popularity due to being on a playlist, it doesn’t give any regional/age information. It’s simultaneously too large a sample size and not a stratified enough sample. It is a good overview and starting point, but I’m not sure if it tells us that much about fan taste writ large.
 
Surprised to see people being surprised about the presence of Wasting Love in the Top 10. Heavy metal bands' power ballads being disproportionately popular in relation to their catalogue is nothing new.
 
Some of those might be higher if you count the live versions .. is Fear of the Dark the album cut or does it include plays on the live albums?
 
Mosh said:
It is a good overview and starting point, but I’m not sure if it tells us that much about fan taste writ large.
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I think it tells us a lot about writ large's tastes. Not so much the taste of "fans" though. Does anyone know if other services have these kinds of stats?
 
bearfan said:
Some of those might be higher if you count the live versions .. is Fear of the Dark the album cut or does it include plays on the live albums?
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Only the album versions, I might do an update because I'm checking each live album now. I think I'll edit the main post with each live album count when finished and an updated top 20 with all versions of each song added. I've checked RiR earlier and FotD had 11 million there, like 10 million more than Trooper and RttH so there's a chance it can get first place (not on LaD tho which may be the most popular live album). Clansman and SotC were 2nd and 3rd on RiR, respectively, with more than 3 million each. Makes sense because both are Bruce versions of great songs and both are on From Fear to Eternity.
 
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The Flash said:
Surprised to see people being surprised about the presence of Wasting Love in the Top 10. Heavy metal bands' power ballads being disproportionately popular in relation to their catalogue is nothing new.
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The presence of Wasting Love is better explained by its presence in a popular Power Ballads playlist.

Metal bands with popular ballads usually had hits with them in the late 80s/early 90s. Wasting Love was sent to radio stations but as far as I know didn’t really make much of a splash. It also came after power ballads as a trend were starting to fade.
 
The Flash said:
Surprised to see people being surprised about the presence of Wasting Love in the Top 10. Heavy metal bands' power ballads being disproportionately popular in relation to their catalogue is nothing new.
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True, but wasting love wasn't a hit in any shape or form that would explain enough randomers even being aware of it's existence to explain that amount of plays

Edit: This is pretty much the same point as mosh
 
Mosh said:
The presence of Wasting Love is better explained by its presence in a popular Power Ballads playlist.

Metal bands with popular ballads usually had hits with them in the late 80s/early 90s. Wasting Love was sent to radio stations but as far as I know didn’t really make much of a splash. It also came after power ballads as a trend were starting to fade.
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Eh. It was one of the very first songs I heard when I had just started listening to Iron Maiden and I was just picking the most downloaded songs on LimeWire. The song also has a huge view count on YouTube.
 
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