The Music Videos That Get Love on Valentine’s Day

February 12, 2016

Around Valentine’s Day, we’ve noticed that some music videos consistently become popular, every year. For example, here are the YouTube views of “I Just Called to Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder in February 2015:

Total Views* of “I Just Called to Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder

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*“Views” is based on both official and fan-uploaded videos claimed using Content ID

As Valentine’s Day approaches, YouTube users endearingly share, message and email “I Just Called to Say I Love You” at a much higher rate.

But that’s just Stevie Wonder. Here’s the music that people play the most around Valentine’s Day: 

Songs That Consistently Become Popular on Valentine’s Day
Views of video increased by at least 50 percent on Valentine’s Day, every year, since 2012.1

Artist Song Release Date
Laura Pausini Le Cose Che Vivi
1996
Nat King Cole L-O-V-E
1964
Axel Amo
2005
Franco de Vita Te Amo
1988
Joaquín Sabina or Sabina y Cía Contigo
1996
Adam Sandler Grow Old With You
1998
Stevie Wonder I Just Called to Say I Love You
1984
Savage Garden Truly Madly Deeply
1997
Barry White Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe
1974
Barry White You're the First, the Last, My Everything
1974
Umberto Tozzi Ti Amo
1977
Elton John Can You Feel the Love Tonight
1994
Jovanotti A Te
2008
Axel Tu Amor Por Siempre
2005
Rabito ... Que Te Quiero
2003
Tercer Cielo Enamorados
2012
Chayanne Completamente Enamorados
1990
Bryan Adams Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?
1995
1Methodology
Songs that have at least a 50 percent increase in views on Valentine’s Day vs. average across January, March, April, and May (using the same weekday in the month), 2012 to 2015. To control for well-known songs (and eliminate obscure ones), we’ve omitted any videos that, on average, do not have at least 20,000 views/day outside of Valentine’s Day.



To create this list, we searched for songs with views that increase at least 50 percent on Valentine’s Day, every year, since 2012. Of all music on YouTube, only 18 songs fit this criteria.

Some observations:
  • Barry White and Axel both have two tracks each.
  • Nat King Cole’s “L-O-V-E” (1964) and Barry White’s “Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe” (1974) are the oldest tracks on this list.
  • Spanish, not French, may be the language of love: Seven of the 18 songs are in Spanish, eight are in English, three in Italian, and none are French.
  • The only woman is Laura Pausini (an Italian artist).
Sadly, some of our favorite love songs just missed the cut of a 50 percent increase for four consecutive years, including: “Nobody” by Keith Sweat, “My Love Is Your Love” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston, and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles.

-- Posted by the YouTube Culture & Trends Team

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