Tag Archives: YIR15

Google, Twitter and Facebook assemble 2015’s trending topics

December 31, 2015Entertainment, News, VideoFacebook, Facebook Year in Review, Google, Google A Year in Search, retrospective, Twitter, Year on Twitter, YIR15Scott Meisner

Ring in the New Year by taking a step back and reviewing what has come to pass over the past year. It’s about appreciating the good times and mourning loss. It’s about evaluating missteps, learning from mistakes, and broadening the brighter road ahead. Search giant Google and social networks Twitter and Facebook are here to provide retrospective, analytical, and all-encompassing telescopes looking back at the year 2015; let the good, the bad, and everything in-between comes into focus.

Posted above is Google’s Year in Search video and it brings to life the queries we searched and the questions and answers they brought forth. The Paris attacks, Star Wars, water on Mars, Cecil the Lion; all of the major crises and celebrations are accounted for in this clip and beyond. Google’s A Year in Search portal is an interactive way to explore what went down in 2015 around the world. There’s even a Top Charts section that breaks down the top searches across a wide range of categories. The top 10 U.S. searches in 2015? Lamar Odom, Jurassic World, American Sniper, Caitlyn Jenner, Ronda Rousey, Paris, Agar.io, Chris Kyle, Fallout 4, and Straight Outta Compton. In chaotic times, we sure do enjoy our entertainment, don’t we?

Jump after the break to see what Twitter and Facebook have to offer. Continue reading Google, Twitter and Facebook assemble 2015’s trending topics →

This year in viral videos, as told by YouTube’s top 10 of 2015

December 31, 2015Entertainment, Videomashup, viral, viral video mashup, viral videos, YIR15, YouTubeScott Meisner

YouTube reminds you to Rewind and take a look back at the most viral memes and trends of 2015. The clip embedded above is the video streaming site’s annual YouTube Rewind celebration that remixes some of the most popular songs of the year and superimposes YouTube stars in front of scenic landscapes and shiny arenas. Though you may not recognize all of the youthful faces here, it’s definitely a fun recap of what we embraced on the Internet this year.

And now, check out the top 10 most popular YouTube clips of the year, based on “the amount of time people spent watching, sharing, commenting, liking, and more,” according to YT. Music videos, Super Bowl commercials, pranks, and late-night TV clips proved to be mainstream fare. The following clips were watched for over 25 million hours!

Curious about the most-watched music videos of 2015 that people spent over 37,000 years playing in this year alone? Pop after the break to eye the list. Continue reading This year in viral videos, as told by YouTube’s top 10 of 2015 →

This year in music, as told by DJ Earworm’s mega-mashup “United State of Pop 2015”

December 31, 2015Music, VideoDJ Earworm, mashup, music mashup, music video, YIR15Scott Meisner

I don’t know how he does it, but year after year DJ Earworm manages to fuse the biggest songs both musically and visually in something I’ve endearingly labeled a mega-mashup. This go-around, he’s challenged himself to take on Billboard’s top 50 tracks (that’s up from the typical 25 he deals with) and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he utterly nails it. Ed Sheeran, Fetty Wap, Justin Bieber, Meghan Trainor, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, and The Weeknd dominate with the most songs used here, but be sure to check out the full list of songs used after the break to see if there’s any you didn’t catch. Want the song for keeps? Head over to DJ Earworm’s SoundCloud page to download a free copy. Continue reading This year in music, as told by DJ Earworm’s mega-mashup “United State of Pop 2015” →

iTunes shares 2015’s top-selling music, movies, TV shows, apps & more

December 31, 2015Movies, Music, News, Technology, TelevisionApp Store, Apple, best-selling, iBooks Store, iTunes, iTunes Best of, iTunes Store, top-selling, YIR15Scott Meisner

Thanks to its undeniable ubiquity, Apple’s iTunes storefront is a great barometer of the most popular media sold in entertainment. Let’s take a look at who and what performed well in 2015…

Included in iTunes’ top-selling albums are Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Taylor Swift’s 1989, and Adele’s 25 (which came out only weeks ago!). The top-selling song of the year is Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars’ addicting “Uptown Funk.” Hanging around in the top 20 are Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud,” Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen,” The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face,” and of course, Adele’s “Hello.” In addition to these top-selling lists, Apple likes to share hand-picked Editor Choice awards and they include: Drake (Best Artist), Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly (Best Album), The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” (Best Song), and Bryson Tiler (Best New Artist).

Top-selling movies include Star Wars: The Digital Movie Collection, Big Hero 6, American Sniper, Inside Out, and Kingsman: The Secret Service. Apple’s featured best movies include Mad Max: Fury Road, Inside Out, the Amy Winehouse documentary Amy, and Dope. In TV, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Downton Abbey, Scandal, and The Blacklist are amongst the year’s best-selling series. Apple’s featured best TV shows include Mr. Robot, Fargo, UnREAL, and Inside Amy Schumer.

Apple’s App Store is home to the largest library of apps in the world. The best app to help pass the time with friends, Heads Up!, keeps its crown as the top-selling paid app in 2015. Rounding out the top five paid apps: Minecraft: Pocket Edition, Trivia Crack (ad free), Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, and Facetune. The top 5 best-selling free ones are always easy to nail: Trivia Crack, Facebook Messenger, Dubsmash, Instagram, and Snapchat. Don’t worry–YouTube, Facebook, Uber, and Crossy Road don’t trail far behind.

Calling all book readers! Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train, E L James’ Grey, Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and John Green’s Paper Towns are among the best-selling fictional novels. Top-selling non-fiction novels include Chris Kyle’s American Sniper, Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat, and Erik Larson’s Dead Wake.

Lastly, in the realm of podcasts, NPR’s Fresh Air is the most downloaded of the year. Apple named Mystery Show Best New Podcast and WTF with Marc Maron Best Classic Podcast.

Want more? Open iTunes to view all the top-selling media across Apple’s digital ecosystem.