Psy Tops Miley for Most-Watched Music Video of 2013

'Gentleman' received nearly 600 million views on YouTube

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Did you just watch the clip above, the official music video for Psy’s song “Gentleman”? Then add one to the nearly 600 million views the video has already tallied.

That total makes it an easy victor for the title of most-watched music video on YouTube in 2013. As USA Today points out, Psy’s best known song, “Gangnam Style,” holds the most-watched-ever title.

Here are this year’s music-video runners up, according to YouTube’s official tally:

2.  Miley Cyrus – “Wrecking Ball” by MileyCyrusVEVO

3. Miley Cyrus – “We Can’t Stop” by MileyCyrusVEVO

4. Katy Perry – “Roar (Official)” by KatyPerryVEVO

5. P!nk – “Just Give Me A Reason ft. Nate Ruess” by PinkVEVO

6. Robin Thicke – “Blurred Lines ft. T.I., Pharrell” by RobinThickeVEVO

7. Rihanna – “Stay ft. Mikky Ekko” by RihannaVEVO

8. Naughty Boy – “La La La ft. Sam Smith” by NaughtyBoyVEVO

9. Selena Gomez – “Come & Get It” by SelenaGomezVEVO

10. Avicii – “Wake Me Up (Official Video)” by AviciiOfficialVEVO

The numbers are a reminder that driving conversation doesn’t always translate to driving views. After the phenomenon that was “Gangnam Style,” follow-up single “Gentleman” was eagerly awaited but didn’t lead to much debate or discussion — and yet the video that led to probably the most hand-wringing, “Wrecking Ball,” is more than 200 million views behind the first-place winner.

International appeal, past viral success and the possibility of a new horsey dance are, apparently, bigger draws than nudity and demolition. There’s also a huge difference, numbers-wise, between videos that seemingly everyone had to watch at least once and videos that were watched by merely a lot of people: the tenth-place vid has notched only 186.7 million views.

YouTube has also released a list of the top trending videos of the year:

1. Ylvis – “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” by tvnorge

2. “Harlem Shake (original army edition)” by kennethaakonsen

3. “How Animals Eat Their Food” | MisterEpicMann by MisterEpicMann

4. “Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball (Chatroulette Version)” by SteveKardynal

5. “baby&me / the new evian film” by EvianBabies

6. Volvo Trucks – “The Epic Split feat. Van Damme” by VolvoTrucks

7. “YOLO (feat. Adam Levine & Kendrick Lamar)” by thelonelyisland

8. “Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise” by CarrieNYC

9. “THE NFL : A Bad Lip Reading” by BadLipReading

10. “Mozart vs Skrillex. Epic Rap Battles of History Season 2” by ERB

And if there’s one take-away from that list it’s that, even when it comes to all of YouTube-dom (as opposed to music only), music — with a healthy dose of humor — is the platform’s forte.

If there are two take-aways, the second is that lots of people are wondering about something very specific. So, in the spirit of the holidays, allow us to answer…via YouTube, of course:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6NuhlibHsM]

(MORE: South Korea Now Has “Gangnam Style” Tourist Police)

Did you just watch the clip above, the official music video for Psy’s song “Gentleman”? Then add one to the nearly 600 million views the video has already tallied.

That total makes it an easy victor for the title of most-watched music video on YouTube in 2013. As USA Today points out, Psy’s best known song, “Gangnam Style,” holds the most-watched-ever title.

Here are this year’s music-video runners up, according to YouTube’s official tally:

2.  Miley Cyrus – “Wrecking Ball” by MileyCyrusVEVO

3. Miley Cyrus – “We Can’t Stop” by MileyCyrusVEVO

4. Katy Perry – “Roar (Official)” by KatyPerryVEVO

5. P!nk – “Just Give Me A Reason ft. Nate Ruess” by PinkVEVO

6. Robin Thicke – “Blurred Lines ft. T.I., Pharrell” by RobinThickeVEVO

7. Rihanna – “Stay ft. Mikky Ekko” by RihannaVEVO

8. Naughty Boy – “La La La ft. Sam Smith” by NaughtyBoyVEVO

9. Selena Gomez – “Come & Get It” by SelenaGomezVEVO

10. Avicii – “Wake Me Up (Official Video)” by AviciiOfficialVEVO

The numbers are a reminder that driving conversation doesn’t always translate to driving views. After the phenomenon that was “Gangnam Style,” follow-up single “Gentleman” was eagerly awaited but didn’t lead to much debate or discussion — and yet the video that led to probably the most hand-wringing, “Wrecking Ball,” is more than 200 million views behind the first-place winner.

International appeal, past viral success and the possibility of a new horsey dance are, apparently, bigger draws than nudity and demolition. There’s also a huge difference, numbers-wise, between videos that seemingly everyone had to watch at least once and videos that were watched by merely a lot of people: the tenth-place vid has notched only 186.7 million views.

YouTube has also released a list of the top trending videos of the year:

1. Ylvis – “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” by tvnorge

2. “Harlem Shake (original army edition)” by kennethaakonsen

3. “How Animals Eat Their Food” | MisterEpicMann by MisterEpicMann

4. “Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball (Chatroulette Version)” by SteveKardynal

5. “baby&me / the new evian film” by EvianBabies

6. Volvo Trucks – “The Epic Split feat. Van Damme” by VolvoTrucks

7. “YOLO (feat. Adam Levine & Kendrick Lamar)” by thelonelyisland

8. “Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise” by CarrieNYC

9. “THE NFL : A Bad Lip Reading” by BadLipReading

10. “Mozart vs Skrillex. Epic Rap Battles of History Season 2” by ERB

And if there’s one take-away from that list it’s that, even when it comes to all of YouTube-dom (as opposed to music only), music — with a healthy dose of humor — is the platform’s forte.

If there are two take-aways, the second is that lots of people are wondering about something very specific. So, in the spirit of the holidays, allow us to answer…via YouTube, of course:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6NuhlibHsM]

(MORE: South Korea Now Has “Gangnam Style” Tourist Police)