It’s become a holiday tradition, like hot mulled cider and egg nog double chin. Welcome to our annual look back through the Stereogum database, into which we’ve fed an algorithm that crunched out a spreadsheet with html formatting our most downloaded MP3 files of the year. Just like mom used to make. For all the critics picks, there’s something refreshing about a list that reflects a track’s actual internet popularity (give or take a few cuts with creeper-bots jacking up download counts, you know who you are and why you aren’t invited here), which is why MGMT’s first Congratulations single and Major Lazer’s “Halo” cover will perform better here than most any other “Top Singles” list, and why Hole’s “Samantha” is posting up better than Caribou’s “Odessa” (though, that said, good job Caribou’s “Odessa”). It’s just one more way of looking at the year in music to make sure you covered the bases you wanted, and that Balam Acab didn’t slip through your cracks. That said, let’s get to the peoples’ choice, Top 50 style:

Merry listmas.