Sorry, Oregon, Kurt Vile is Not Your Favorite Artist

Now we know who is, though.

By MATTHEW SINGER

Hey, Oregon: Remember that time, earlier in the week, where we all shared that map that we thought told us Kurt Vile was our state's favorite artist, and we all high-fived each other for having such great, unique taste?

Yeah, well, sorry to break the illusion, but that was kind of bullshit.

As often happens when something goes viral, the context got lost in the fervent rush to post stuff on our Facebook walls. What that map—which was put together by music tech company the Echo Nest—actually identified is the most "distinctive" artist for each state in the country. Using statistics taken from streaming services such as Spotify, Beats Music and Pandora, the map attempted to show which bands and musicians are enjoyed disproportionately in each state as compared to the rest of the country. Or something like that. It's all a bit complicated. 

Bottom line, though: Kurt Vile is not Oregon's favorite artist.

Now, however, we do know the artist Oregon digs most, statistically speaking. And all things considered, it's really not that bad: Drawing upon the same streaming data, the Echo Nest has determined that, based on plays over the last year, the Beaver State's favorite band is Daft Punk. That puts us in league with Massachusetts and Minnesota, who also apparently love them some robot Euro-disco. Turns out we're human after all.

Perhaps it's a bit disappointing to discover we're not a unique little snowflake. But considering the rest of the country is basically divided up among Drake, Jay Z and Macklemore, I'll take it. 

For the sake of comparison, here are both maps:

 

 BTW: What's up with the Alt-J obsession, Vermont? 

WWeek 2015

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