What constitutes “Classic Rock”? As it turns out, the answer to that question has been shaped by careful data collection and even a few algorithms. Data-centric blog FiveThirtyEight put the numbers to the test and found that although New York stations seem to play more Led Zeppelin than their counterparts in KISS-loving Charlotte, North Carolina, the twenty-five most played classic rock artists nationwide – such as Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and the Rolling Stones – make up half of the plays on classic rock stations. This explains how the same song seems to surface on classic rock radio again, and again, and again…
The following is a list of the top 15 most played Classic Rock Songs:
So who defines the parameters of this seemingly genre-free category? It’s actually you – the listener. Very little is played on classic rock stations without extensive market research to find a niche amongst their audience, and that’s how regional popularity will always trump age or genre in defining the musical category of classic rock. Read more here about the carefully crafted classic rock subset and how age alone isn’t the only thing that can make a song truly “classic.”
More The List
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Mick Jagger performing at a Rolling Stones concert. Photo shows: Head and shoulder shot of Mick Jagger in performance. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) -
The Monkees pop group Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith pose in their directors chairs for the 1966-68 tv series. (Photo by Screen Archives/Getty Images) -
(L-R) English musicians Rick Allen, Phil Collen, Rick Savage, Steve Clark (1960 – 1991) and Joe Elliott, of the English rock band Def Leppard, pose for a group portrait during the 1987 Hysteria Tour at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, November 2, 1987. (Photo by Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images) -
Left to right: Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael Jackson of American pop group The Jackson 5, at ABC-TV studios, California, 9th July 1971. The Jacksons are fiming their ABC TV special 'Goin' Back to Indiana'. They will also meet cast members of the TV show, 'The Brady Bunch', for a promotional special entitled 'The Brady Bunch Visits ABC'. (Photo by Laufer/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) -
George Harrison performs onstage circa 1982. (Photo by Lester Cohen) (Photo by Lester Cohen/Getty Images) -
CLARKSTON – JULY 14: Guitarist Porl Thompson, bass player Simon Gallup, musician, songwriter and lead singer Robert Smith, drummer Boris Williams and keyboard player Laurence 'Lol' Tolhurst, all members of the English rock band The Cure, pose for a portrait backstage at the Pine Knob Music Theatre on July 14, 1986, in Clarkston, Michigan. (Photo by Ross Marino/Getty Images) -
Rick Ocasek – The Cars in concert in Philadelphia in 1979 (Photo by MpiRock/MediaPunch via Getty Images)
