I finally sat down to see what the most-popular episodes of 2016 were. Once again, I compiled two lists. The Top 20 shows of All 2016 and the Top 10 shows from July 2015 through June 2016. I also compiled the top episodes on YouTube, but I started posting episodes through the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast Google account. So things already look different.

Top 10 Shows from July 2015 to June 2016

1. 29243 – 10 Years of Great Irish & Celtic Music, a Retrospective #217
2. 27184 – Burly Bagpipe Music, 2-Hours! #222
3. 26538 – Celtic Harp Music Special for 2-Hours #239
4. 24166 – Top 20 Best Celtic Music of 2015 on #241
5. 23690 – 2-Hours of Celtic Fiddle Music #229
6. 23476 – St Patrick's Day Top 20 Celtic Bands #251
7. 23310 – Relaxing Celtic Music #232
8. 22760 – Lucky Carrickfergus #214
9. 22442 – 2-Hours of Celtic Canadian Music #254
10. 22207 – Irish & Celtic Music #231

Top 20 Celtic Music Shows of All of 2016

Looks like those two hour specials are popular with folks, huh?

1. 27885 – 2-Hours of On Fire Celtic Music #284
2. 26538 – Celtic Harp Music Special for 2-Hours #239
3. 24166 – Top 20 Best Celtic Music of 2015 on #241
4. 23476 – St Patrick's Day Top 20 Celtic Bands #251
5. 22442 – 2-Hours of Celtic Canadian Music #254
6. 21584 – Celtic Love Songs & Tunes #244
7. 21298 – Celtic Music for a Cloudy Day #255
8. 20732 – Celtic Music from the Cornish Kitchen #264
9. 20372 – Wind & Whiskey to Shake the Barley #245
10. 20338 – December Celtic Music #286
11. 20121 – Chilling By the Celtic Campfire #258
12. 19818 – Whiskey Kelpie Reels #243
13. 19695 – King of the Fairies #242
14. 19580 – Totally Trad Irish Music… April Fools! #253
15. 19446 – Wild Geese in a Summer Storm #260
16. 19314 – Celtic Music to the Rescue #259
17. 19312 – Celtic Music Hero's Return #257
18. 19266 – Celtic Halloween #281
19. 19132 – Post-St. Patrick's Day Blues #252
20. 19123 – Crazy Summer Dance #266

The podcast had a record number of downloads in 2016. Our downloads were up 10% last year.

Total in 2016 = 2,064,327
Total in 2015 = 1,872,591
Total in 2014 = 1,239,680
Total in 2013 = 1,090,695
Total in 2012 = 1,205,539
Total in 2011 = 1,303,502

Top 10 YouTube Celtic Music Shows of All Time

Every episode is now published to the podcast YouTube Channel.

1. 186,151 – Irish Drinking Songs Top 20
2. 151,510 – Bagpipes Rock Playlist
3. 48,370 – 2 Hours of Bagpipe Music in the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast
4. 40,381 – Irish Celtic Music #136 – Celtic Love
5. 40,157 – Celtic Music – St Patrick's Day Playlist
6. 30,512 – Best Irish & Celtic Music of 2013
7. 21,905 – Best Irish & Celtic Christmas Music Online
8. 18,772 – Top 20 Celtic Bands of 2012 for St. Patrick's Day Playlist
9. 16,656 – 2 Hours of Celtic Rock Music
10. 8,878 – Celtic Music Inspiration Playlist

Top 10 Countries Downloading the Show

1. 5739289 – United States
2. 602324 – United Kingdom
3. 474309 – Portugal
4. 393027 – Germany
5. 332125 – Canada
6. 272908 – Japan
7. 178954 – Italy
8. 150541 – France
9. 149638 – Spain
10. 110456 – Switzerland

Goals for the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast in 2017

The show currently has 3,349 subscribers to the Celtic Music Magazine. I would love to hit 5,000 subscribers by the end of 2017. That’s about 138 new subscribers a month, or 5 per day. That might be attainable if they stay subscribed.

Our Facebook page has 8,429 Likes. My goal is to hit 12,000. To do that, we will need to get 138 new Likes per month, or 5 per day.

****I donate a portion of my Celtic compilation CDs to charity each and every month. At the end of the summer, I also hit a Milestone whereby I am now donating 10% of income earned through Patreon to charity as well. In all, I donated $1,841.94 to charity. I will be sharing more details about where the money went later this month. You can see past Celtic non-profit donation recipients here.

Finally, we have 190 patrons pledging $459 episode of the podcast over on Patreon. I would love to see that number hit $750 per episode because that would mean a serious full-time income from the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. But I am grateful for whatever donation is given. Once again, thanks to all of my awesome Patrons. Thank you all for making this a record year!