Where are they from?

Since KEXP is based in Seattle, it shouldn't be surprising that Seattle is the biggest hometown across 25 years of its Annual Listeners' Favorite lists: 144 artists, about one list entry in nine. But the lists are far from local. The artists come from 26 countries, and the share of entries from the U.S. slipped from about 70% in the first decade to about 64% in the last ten years. So where do these artists come from, and has that changed?

The last post asked how long the artists have been at it. This one asks where they are from. "From" means the place an artist is most associated with, and the chart page explains the calls I made on the hard cases. Below you'll find a map you can zoom from countries down to the boroughs of London and New York City, plus the places that show up on every list, where the #1 albums come from, and how KEXP's two local scenes compare. Click and hover around.

So where are they from? Mostly the United States, though a little less than before, and mostly big cities, though not only big cities. KEXP's own Seattle has held steady at about a tenth of every list, and per resident it is in a league of its own, with 13 times New York City's rate. London doubled its share while New York City slipped, and a steady trickle of new hometowns, about five a year lately, keeps the map from settling. The Northwest is still the biggest local scene. The Bay Area, even after KEXP started broadcasting in San Francisco, is too small a sample to say anything about yet, so I'll check again after the 2026 list. Next up: the albums themselves.