Get Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves
Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves is Chris Dalla Riva’s debut book. It all started with a simple quest. Dalla Riva wanted to listen to every number hit from 1958 through today. During his journey, he tracked a ton of data about each, which he used to write a data-driven history of popular music. You can buy a copy wherever books are sold.
Get the Data and Playlists
If you would like to see the massive dataset that Chris compiled to write this book, you can view it here. If you want to download the cover art to every number one hit, you can head here. Feel free to use these resources for whatever you’d like. Just cite “Chris Dalla Riva” in your final product.
If you are looking for a playlist with every Billboard Hot 100 number one hit, please head here. If you are looking for playlists containing a chronological list of every song in each chapter, please head here. These playlist are on Spotify, but they can be transferred to any other service using Soundiiz.
What People Are Saying
“Unapologetically funny, opinionated, and data-driven.” ―Significance: The Royal Statistical Society
“Dalla Riva mixes data analysis with music criticism in this scrupulous debut analysis of popular music trends from the 1950s to the present ... Data-minded music fans will relish this deep dive.” ―Publishers Weekly
“It's easy to forget that sitting around and talking music with friends is about as fun as it gets. Chris Dalla Riva captures the feeling of spirited in-person discourse about records in book form. He brings to the table a raft of knowledge bolstered by deep analysis of relevant data, so you'll learn something new on every page. But he also realizes that numbers in music are more useful for starting conversations rather than ending them, so you'll walk away remembering his ideas and opinions rather than stats.” ―Mark Richardson, rock and pop music critic, Wall Street Journal; former Editor-in-Chief, Pitchfork
“Chris Dalla Riva's beautiful mind navigates the intersection of culture and data, making us appreciate art by looking and listening again and again.” ―Will Page, author of Tarzan Economics and former Chief Economist of Spotify
“Chris Dalla Riva has written a fascinating, rollicking journey through musical history. By tracing the rise and fall of trends at the top of the charts, Dalla Riva holds a mirror to our cultural evolution allowing us to better understand ourselves based on the music we're obsessed with. The book is a data-stuffed musical delight that could only be done by Chris Dalla Riva.” ―Walt Hickey, Pulitzer Prize Winner; Author of You Are What You Watch: How Movies and TV Affect Everything
“This book shines a light on the choices, patterns, and instincts behind the hits we love and the songs we write. It reminds me why I fell in love with songwriting in the first place and gives me new ways to think about how I approach my own writing.” ―Evan Bogart, award-winning songwriter and CEO of Seeker Music