International music streaming service Guvera has summed up the varied and diversified music choices that were popular in the Asia Pacific region in 2014. Guvera, which is currently available in 20 countries worldwide, based its study on behavorial collected over the second half of 2014, focussing primarily on Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Australia. Here are the tunes and beats Asia hummed this year: What we listened to? 1) Pop emerged as a clear choice for people across the region. Except for Hong Kong alone, where Rock takes the lead, Pop remains the top hashtag in all markets. 2) Rock makes it to the top five hashtag playlists for all markets, becoming one of the top genres keeping music lovers hooked, except for Singapore. 3) Seems the rhythmic rap of Hip-hop and dance-inducing beats of Dance music has managed to charm all as these playlists perform rather strongly across all markets. 4) Love and romance have not yet failed to imbue the air, as Love songs become the third and fouth most popular hashtag playlist in Indonesia and Malaysia respectively. Whom we listened to? With an overwhelming presence of bands and singers across the globe, the popularity contest among them became a nail-biting experience. Maroon 5: With their latest album V and all time favorites, the 20-year-old band continued to enrapture fans and ruled the 'map' becoming the top band in the region. Lorde became 'royal' taking home the title of Top Female Artist. Topping Guvera charts, the New Zealand singer and songwriter created tough competition with her singles and albums. Seems all of us loved all of John Legend making him top the charts with the title Top Male Artist. The nine-time Grammy winner doubled and tripled his fan count across the region, most prominently with his record-breaking "All Of Me". Malaysia and Indonesia while switching to international albums and singles of Maroon 5, Ariana Grande, Jessie J and Nicki Minaj, also held tight in 2014, its local music where local artists, especially in Malaysia were the undeclared kings and the queens. When we listened to? Guvera users prefer listening to music while they are on the move, like walking, travelling, working etc. Users across all markets and all age groups (aged 18 to 44 years old) across the region are predominantly using Guvera on their smartphones. It was observed in the study that usage of the online service hiked mid-week and during the weekend. Guvera users in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Australia are most likely to stream music over the weekend, while users in Indonesia and Hong Kong are apparently helping themselves pass through the working week with music, with streaming peaks on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, respectively. It was also observed that people typically listen to music right before or after work to feel good and fight stress. Guvera users in Indonesia were most active from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., while users in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Australia prefer to listen to music in the evening hours between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
