New York is top of the pops

New York is top of the pops: New York has claimed the title of the world’s most sung about city.

The lyrics of more than 200,000 songs have been trawled to reveal New York as the most referenced city, with London in second place followed by Los Angeles, Paris and Miami.

Drake, Jay-Z and Elvis Presley mention the most places around the world in their songs

Newly released data research reveals the places around the world that have been mentioned the most in popular music since the 60s. The results can be seen in a first-of-its-kind interactive music map here: Music Mapped.

According to the data, commissioned by Celebrity Cruises, New York is featured in the lyrics of 161 charting singles, but London is not far behind in second place, with the UK’s capital being mentioned in 102 songs since the 60s.

The Top 20 chart is…

New York, USA – 161 songs
London, UK – 102 songs
Los Angeles, USA – 87 songs
Paris, France – 52 songs
Miami, USA – 46 songs
New Orleans, USA – 43 songs
Rome, Italy – 30 songs
San Francisco – 28 songs
Memphis, USA – 28 songs
Chicago, USA – 24 songs
Atlanta, USA – 23 songs
Detroit, USA – 23 songs
Compton, USA – 21 songs
Tokyo, Japan – 20 songs
Houston, USA – 16 songs
Las Vegas, USA – 16 songs
Ibiza, Spain – 12 songs
Mumbai, India – 11 songs
Liverpool, UK – 11 songs
Milan, Italy – 10 songs

Popular music expert Dr Jon Stewart, BA (Hons) of the British Institute of Modern Music (BIMM) Institute Brighton said: “Music is inevitably tied to location – who could imagine The Beach Boys without references to California? Without the geographical touchpoints found in Britpop, it simply wouldn’t make sense. And, how would the blues, country, and rock and roll genres be received if they were stripped of all connections to the geography and politics of the American deep south that inspired them?”