Streaming begins reshaping the mainstream

Top Songs of 2014

The Billboard Year-End Top 20, led by “Happy” by Pharrell Williams.

The musical landscape of 2014

Streaming, social media and electronic dance production changed discovery and promotion. Collaborations became especially important as genre boundaries weakened.

Jason Derulo appears 2 times in the Top 20, making the artist one of the clearest recurring presences in this year’s list.

What to listen for

Compare festival-scale electronic production with more intimate pop and R&B records built for repeat personal listening.

This list contains 19 different credited artists. The number gives a quick indication of whether the year was concentrated among repeat hitmakers or spread across a wider field.

Billboard Year-End Top 20 songs of 2014

RankSongArtistListen
1 Happy Pharrell Williams Spotify ↗
2 Dark Horse Katy Perry Spotify ↗
3 All of Me John Legend Spotify ↗
4 Fancy Iggy Azalea Spotify ↗
5 Counting Stars OneRepublic Spotify ↗
6 Talk Dirty Jason Derulo Spotify ↗
7 Rude MAGIC Spotify ↗
8 All About That Bass Meghan Trainor Spotify ↗
9 Problem Ariana Grande Spotify ↗
10 Stay with Me Sam Smith Spotify ↗
11 Timber Pitbull Spotify ↗
12 Shake It Off Taylor Swift Spotify ↗
13 Pompeii Bastille Spotify ↗
14 Let It Go Idina Menzel Spotify ↗
15 Turn Down for What DJ Snake Spotify ↗
16 Team Lorde Spotify ↗
17 The Monster Eminem Spotify ↗
18 Wiggle Jason Derulo Spotify ↗
19 Am I Wrong Nico and Vinz Spotify ↗
20 Story of My Life One Direction Spotify ↗

Build a 2014 playlist

Start with “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, then alternate familiar high-ranking records with contrasting selections from the lower half of the list.

Open the playlist builder

How this page should be used

Year-End charts summarize performance across an extended chart year. They are not simply a list of songs that reached number one, and historical methodology has changed. Treat this page as a guided listening resource and compact chart-history reference rather than a mathematical comparison with other eras.