“The Harlem Shake” debuts at #1 the week after Billboard adds YouTube to its Hot100 formula and bloggers lash out as fans propel “incorrect” hits like “Thrift Shop” and “Blurred Lines” to the top of the charts. No Black headliner scores a #1 hit all year, but the first Gen-Zer (Lorde) does. Plus, Justin Timberlake is back and married, Katy Perry is divorced and “Roaring,” Indie Folk booms, Bruno Mars surges and Miley Cyrus gets her twerk on at the VMAs.

#1 Song of the Year   The top song according to our Chartcrush ranking of all Hot100 songs that earned the majority of their chart ranking points in the year

Artists of the Year   The top three artists based on all charted songs during the calendar year

1. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
2. Imagine Dragons
3. Bruno Mars

Artist with Most Charting Songs   Artist(s) with the most Hot100 charting songs during the year (song count in parentheses)

• Justin Bieber (14)

Average #1 Artist Age   The average of how old artists who scored #1 Hot100 hits during the year were when their songs first reached #1

• 28.9 years

#1 Songs   List of Hot100 #1 songs that earned the majority of their chart ranking points in the year, and (in parentheses), the month the song first hit #1 and the total number of weeks it was #1

1. Rihanna – Diamonds (December ’12, 3 wks)
2. Bruno Mars – Locked Out of Heaven (December ’12, 6 wks)
3. Macklemore feat. Wanz – Thrift Shop (February, 6 wks)
4. Baauer – Harlem Shake (March, 5 wks)
5. Bruno Mars – When I Was Your Man (April, 1 wk)
6. P!nk feat. Nate Ruess – Just Give Me a Reason (April, 3 wks)
7. Macklemore feat. Ray Dalton – Can’t Hold Us (May, 5 wks)
8. Robin Thicke feat. T.I. & Pharrell – Blurred Lines (June, 12 wks)
9. Katy Perry – Roar (September, 2 wks)
10. Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball (September, 3 wks)
11. Lorde – Royals (October, 9 wks)