Pop Quiz: How'd Your Most-Streamed Song Of The Year Earn Its Spot?

The TRL Pop Quiz works like this: our editors are posed a music-related question and have only 15 minutes and just 100 words to studies, pick and explain their answers. Immediately after finding out our most-streamed songs of the year, this week we ask: How'd your no. 1 song earn its spot at the best of your chart?


In per year full of change, no song defined my life more than “Rainbow” by Kacey Musgraves. Things will usually work out in the end, Kacey reminds her listeners, singing that “there’s routinely been a rainbow hanging over your head.” It’s a brilliant song for anyone going through sad endings, new beginnings and looking to feel nostalgic about the past. By encouraging me to embrace the changes in my own life, “Rainbow” noticed its way to the best of my listening chart and I’m expecting it to return as needed in 2019, also. – Matt Gehring


“You mention you can't live without me/So why aren't you dead yet?/Why you still breathing?” My most-streamed song of 2018 was “Dead” by Madison Beer because I was totally blown away by how savage and bold the lyrics are. Written by Madison Love, Michael Leary, and Delacey, the track is about putting an end to a toxic relationship. In a BUILD Series interview, Beer revealed the idea came from seeing meme of a little bit boy pouting with the caption: “when your ex says he couldn’t survive with and also you visualize him breathing." Genius! – Kristen Maldonado


My most-streamed song of 2018 was “All the Time” by Kim Petras, an artist I began listening to this past winter and was instantly hooked on. It’s such a bop and it’s WAY also catchy.  I was listening to Kim and most specifically “All the Time” on the train to work, at work, on the train back, in the fitness center, at the supermarket, in the shower, before bed. I even fell asleep to it several times while dreaming of being a carefree youth who was at a party or driving a convertible past some palm trees. – Landyn Pan


My most-streamed song of 2018 was “Mystery of Love” by Sufjan Stevens (and the rest of my top five were all by Phoebe Bridgers, so clearly I was in my feelings a lot in 2018). I saw Call Me By Your Name in January 2018, and listened to the soundtrack day-to-day right after that for months. I’ve routinely been a Sufjan stan, and his contributions to this album only solidified my love. When I love the complete soundtrack, “Mystery of Love” was my one true love, and got repeat spins. Right now excuse me, I have to go cry in front of a fireplace. – Leah Williams