241 Songs Over 1,000 Spins
An update on the growing number of songs that broke the 1,000 plays threshold.
Less Than 1,000 Spins is a Micro-Chop side project, Spotify and YouTube playlist, daily newsletter, and a place to find great songs with less than 1,000 spins. You can support the project by sharing the newsletter, the playlists, and/or music from the playlists with other people.
I called out Spotify CEO Daniel Ek for his decision to demonetize songs with less than 1,000 plays a little over a year ago. It’s worth noting that songs with under 1,000 spins make up a significant percentage of the music available on Spotify.
In addition to calling him out, I started Less Than 1,000 Spins as a Micro-Chop adjacent passion project. I compiled 500 songs with less than 1,000 plays on Spotify and 442 on YouTube. I also made playlists to capture the songs that break the 1,000 threshold and titled them Formerly On Less Than 1,000 Spins.
My wife and I joyfully welcomed our son and second child on February 8th, so I haven’t been able to pay close attention to the metrics of this project for a little bit. However, I recently had an opportunity to go through the playlists. I was stunned by the numbers. 241 songs featured on the Spotify version of Less Than 1,000 Spins have broken 1,000 plays. That’s close to 50% of the songs I’ve selected.
The YouTube numbers aren’t quite as strong, as only 57 songs have broken the 1,000 spins barrier so far. But that number seems to be climbing slowly and steadily. I predict the YouTube playlists will gain significant traction the longer I keep this project going.
It seems like people are much more interested in tracking the Less Than 1,000 Spins playlists (957 saves on Spotify and 2,806 views on YouTube) than the Formerly On Less Than 1,000 Spins playlists (88 saves on Spotify and 300 views on YouTube), which I completely understand. There’s only so much obscure music a person can keep up with.
That said, I wanted to take this opportunity to point out the Formerly On Less Than 1,000 Spins playlists to my subscribers. Both versions are loaded with great songs that I think you’ll enjoy.
Making these playlists has been a profound, eye-opening experience. It has underscored the limitations of my musical knowledge while inspiring me to dig deep for new albums and songs I can share with my readers. Several songs found during my Less Than 1,000 Spins journey have become very important to me.
So if you can, take a moment to sit with the songs that have broken 1,000 spins. Be sure to let me know if any specific tracks catch your ear.
Make sure to check out Less Than 1,000 Spins on Spotify and YouTube. You can also check out Formerly On Less Than 1,000 Spins on Spotify and YouTube.
Thank you for your support - I’ll be in touch again soon.