Those pie-eyed romantics at the Facebook analytics team have been combing through some Spotify data in advance of Valentine's Day 2012. The team has published what it says are the top songs that people listen to when entering a relationship, as well as the top songs people listen to after a breakup.
Facebook Data Team member Jonathan Chang introduced the lists in an official post on the team's Facebook page:
Every day, people are breaking up and entering into relationships on Facebook. When they do, they play songs that personify their mood. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, we looked at the songs most played by people in the U.S. on Spotify as they make their relationships and breakups "Facebook official".
Below are the two lists that, according to Facebook, represent the top coupling and de-coupling songs played by users via the Spotify app.
Songs listened to when entering into a relationship:
1. "Don't Wanna Go Home" by Jason Derulo
2. "Love On Top" by Beyoncé
3. "How to Love" by Lil Wayne
4. "Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars
5. "Good Feeling" by Flo Rida
6. "It Girl" by Jason Derulo
7. "Stereo Hearts" by Gym Class Heroes featuring Adam Levine
8. "Criminal" by Britney Spears
9. "No Sleep" by Wiz Khalifa
10. "Free Fallin'" by John Mayer
Songs listened to after ending a relationship:
1. "The Cave" by Mumford and Sons
2. "Crew Love" by Drake
3. "All of the Lights" by Kanye West
4. "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele
5. "Take Care" by Drake
6. "It Will Rain" by Bruno Mars
7. "We Found Love" by Rihanna & Calvin Harris
8. "Call It What You Want" by Foster the People
9. "Love You Like a Love Song" by Selena Gomez and the Scene
10. "Without You" by David Guetta featuring Usher
Both lists have been published as playlists on Spotify: Here's the "love mix," and here's the "breakup mix."
Facebook has all of this data, of course, thanks to Facebook's introduction of a new class of "frictionless" app, which allows for a service like Spotify to share and store every time one of its users listens to a song on Spotify. These new apps -- and the special relationship between Facebook and Spotify -- was announced at the Facebook F8 Developer's Conference in September; just four days after the conference, Spotify had already gained one million new members, all of them logging in using their Facebook accounts. The number of Facebook users signing up for Spotify continued to rocket upwards after that.
There was a lot of data for the Facebook Data team to comb through, in other words. Congratulations to all of the bands and artists who made either list, and a special kudos to Bruno Mars, who apparently appeals to both lovebirds and sad sacks. We are, however, a bit disappointed that our favorite breakup song, the all-time classic "She Hates Me" by Puddle of Mudd, didn't make the breakup list, but we aren't going to judge recent visitors to Splitsville nor their tender emotional states; if they want to rock out to "We Found Love," then so be it! Forget guys/girls tonight, let's just dance!
And a final side note, as we near Valentine's Day: Don't worry if you just got dumped, ladies and gents. You know what they say: There are plenty of fish in the sea, and what's more, 'tis better to have loved and lost than to never have etc. etc. etc...
Or, whatever. I need a drink. Bartender!