Facebook users' top breakup songs revealed

Spotify

Jonathan Chang of Facebook's data team has put together Spotify playlists with the top songs played by Facebook users when they enter or end a relationship.

Many people have a go-to song for every occasion, be it happy, sad or something between. And thanks to a little bit of a correlation study by the folks at relationship-status-obsessed Facebook, we now actually know which songs many tend to play as they begin — or end — a romance.

Jonathan Chang of Facebook's data team explains that the folks at the social network analyzed the songs U.S.-based Facebook users played on Spotify as they changed their relationship status fields recently. The data team discovered that songs such as Jason Derulo's "Don't Wanna Go Home" and Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are" were frequently played by those who were making a new relationship Facebook official, while Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and Drake's "Crew Love" were commonly played by those in the middle of a break-up.

The catch — there had to be one, of course — is that Facebook's data relies on the moments when relationship status fields were changed on the social network. These moments don't necessarily occur right when a relationship starts or ends. Despite that caveat, it's still reasonably fair to assume that people are thinking about the relationship while changing that portion of their profile, and therefore are likely to be playing tunes which match their mood.

So with that in mind, here's the full listing of the top songs played by the happy lovebirds:

Songs people listen 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

And here's how the break-up songs broke down:

Songs listened by people 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

To make things easier for those who are going through either of the landmark relationship moments, Chang has taken the time to create two Spotify playlists with the songs listed above — one for those who are starting a relationship and one for those who are ending a romance.

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Discuss this post

None of these songs will hardly be remembered in 10 years. Not a single song on both lists is an all-timer, classic. Music in the new millennium sucks bad. Overproduced, auto-tuned, bubblegum garbage. Give us some real musicians who write, play, produce, and can perform live, instead of being those produced puppets that the industry wants you to listen.

  • 2 votes
Reply#1 - Mon Feb 13, 2012 1:13 PM EST

Cygnus you should go watch Bruno Mars' guest performance on the X Factor. He is amazing live, doesn't use autotune, and can actually sing. While I agree with most of your rant, there are some musicians out there like Mars who really are the real deal.

    #1.1 - Mon Feb 13, 2012 2:00 PM EST

    Maybe it's just me, but when I was growing up and in my 20's, music was almost like a mystical, religious experience to me. I would listen to the classic bands over and over again, listening for little nuggets of insight, and listening for that certain riff or bridge that I hadnt heard before. I wanted to be actively amazed by what I was listening to. Nowadays, kids are content with being passively entertained for exactly 3 mins, then moving on the next inane love/break-up bubblegum pop song. Where are the opus albums? Where are the concept double albums with 10 minute songs? Where are the musicians that experiment, discover, and progress to new sounds? I'm sure they're out there, but can they get noticed, produced, and marketed in such a monopolized music market?

    • 1 vote
    #1.2 - Mon Feb 13, 2012 2:11 PM EST
    Reply

    I prefer the "Happy Break-up Song."

      Reply#2 - Mon Feb 13, 2012 2:28 PM EST
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