Phew, this year is going by quick isn’t it? I don’t think we’ve even had time to breathe this year, it will be Christmas again before we know it. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a great start to your new year. We are in 2016 now people, Olympic year!

So as you know, I do monthly blogs on my music listening habits and this is the first blog of 2016. It’s time to look back at the music hitting my airwaves throughout January 2016.

So, back on 10th January, you may have heard the sad news regarding the passing of David Bowie. David was a fantastic musical talent and paved the way and inspired many of today’s musical artists. I am not going to lie, I never really paid much attention to Bowie before he passed away, like I knew of him and his biggest hits but I wouldn’t have called myself a fan. I can’t believe it took his death to make me realise what a national treasure the man was, and that actually he had many great songs throughout his career. It will come as no surprise to anybody, that David Bowie is my #1 most played artist throughout January 2016. Through the greatness of Apple Music, I have been able to discover many under-rated songs and all of his albums and actually I have been surprised by how many songs that I have liked, including his latest album “Blackstar”. David received a total of 170 plays throughout January and has now got many tracks featured in my iTunes library. This song will always be my firm favourite of his.

Here are the Top 10 Artists of January 2016…

1. David Bowie – 170 plays
2. Coldplay – 122 plays
3. Kylie Minogue – 110 plays
4. Justin Bieber – 92 plays
5. Laidback Luke – 83 plays
6. Rachel Platten – 78 plays
7. Taylor Swift – 75 plays
8. Tina Arena – 64 plays
9. John Williams – 64 plays
10. Purity Ring – 61 plays

So that was my most played artists, but what was my favourite album? It turns out that this month I have been listening to lots of Coldplay again as their latest album “A Head Full Of Dreams” is my most played album of the month, notching up a total of 91 plays in total. Don’t forget to check out their anticipated performance at the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 7th. I expect they will put on a brilliant show, as both Rihanna and Beyoncé are anticipated to perform alongside them, I am also very excited as I expect this will be a big taster of what we can expect on their forthcoming tour, a tour which I am seeing in June. Check out their latest album on Apple Music by clicking the cover.

Here are the Top 10 Albums of January 2016…

1. Coldplay – A Head Full Of Dreams – 91 plays
2. Justin Bieber – Purpose – 86 plays
3. Laidback Luke – Focus – 83 plays
4. Rachel Platten – Wildfire – 74 plays
5. Taylor Swift – 1989 – 65 plays
6. Purity Ring – Another Eternity – 61 plays
7. Shawn Mendes – Handwritten – 48 plays
8. Ira Losco – The Fire – 43 plays
9. Steve Angello – Wild Youth – 43 plays
10. Fleur East – Love, Sax and Flashbacks – 42 plays

So, here is the exciting bit. The most played track of the month and the month in tracks. This month I have notched up a grand total of 7301 scrobbles, that’s an average of 235 plays per day folks! I have played a total of 3435 different tracks but it’s now time to look at the Top 10 songs of January 2016.

So, at #1 this month, it’s the man himself, Justin Bieber. You may remember that in the later reaches of 2015 I had turned into a bit of a Belieber and was digging his new stuff, and I especially like his latest album “Purpose” which is at #2 in my most played albums of January 2016 also. The song “Sorry” is a banger of a hit and in total (so far) has rocked a total of 103 plays, with 48 plays being in January alone. The song is definitely a monster hit and if you haven’t heard it yet, where exactly have you been hiding? Justin Bieber seems to be going nowhere fast in my iTunes library and I do wonder if we will see him crop up somewhere in next months blog? Stay tuned to find out.

So, here is “Sorry” in video form for your enjoyment.

Right then, let’s look at the Top 10 in full:

1. Justin Bieber – Sorry – 48 plays
2. Coldplay – Birds – 32 plays
3. Tinashe – Player – 30 plays
4. Rachel Platten – Stand By You – 30 plays
5. David Bowie – Heroes – 28 plays
6. Donny Montell – I’ve Been Waiting For This Night – 28 plays
7. Ariana Grande – Focus – 27 plays
8. AlunaGeorge – I’m In Control – 27 plays
9. Taylor Swift – Out Of The Woods – 26 plays
10. Polina Gagarina – A Million Voices – 25 plays

You may have noticed this month’s blog coming out a little bit later than planned, this is because the statistics on Last.FM are now released in real time meaning that I don’t post the results until after midnight on the 1st of every month. Going forward, I expect the blog to be released a little bit later in the day on the 1st, just incase you were wondering. You can read more about the changes on Last.FM here.

So, I hope you have all enjoyed your 2016 so far, I certainly have. I will be writing up more blogs as days go by on how my life is, plus another Ever-So-Slimming blog due to be released soon. There is a lot of good music out this month, including the long awaited return of the British girl group All Saints. I really can’t wait to check out their new single released on the 26th February, the same day the British National Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 is on. A lot to look forward to, what are your musical taste buds rocking to recently?