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Apple Music’s inaugural 100 Best Albums countdown ran from May 13 through May 22, 2024, revealing 10 albums each day. The final No. 1 album was Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
The list was presented as Apple Music’s human editorial judgment—not a ranking calculated from Apple Music streaming totals.
What was Apple Music’s 100 Best Albums list?
Apple Music created the list as a celebration of albums that shaped, inspired, and fundamentally changed music. The company assembled its selections with Apple Music experts and a group of artists, songwriters, producers, and other industry professionals, including Maren Morris, Pharrell Williams, J Balvin, Charli XCX, Mark Hoppus, Honey Dijon, and Nia Archives.
Apple said the project was “fully independent of any streaming numbers on Apple Music.” It did not publish a formal scoring formula, weighting system, or complete voter-by-voter breakdown. The results are therefore best understood as Apple Music’s editorial ranking, rather than an objective or universally agreed measurement of musical quality.
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How the 10-day countdown worked
The countdown began on May 13, 2024, with albums ranked 100 through 91. Apple revealed 10 albums per day for 10 days, concluding with the top 10 on May 22. The final reveal included a special Apple Music broadcast and roundtable.
The first day immediately showed that the project was not limited to older canonical rock and pop records: seven of the first 10 albums revealed came from the 21st century, two came from the 1990s, and one came from the 1970s.
The first 10 albums revealed
- No. 100: Body Talk — Robyn
- No. 99: Hotel California — Eagles
- No. 98: ASTROWORLD — Travis Scott
- No. 97: Rage Against the Machine — Rage Against the Machine
- No. 96: Pure Heroine — Lorde
- No. 95: Confessions — Usher
- No. 94: Untrue — Burial
- No. 93: A Seat at the Table — Solange
- No. 92: Flower Boy — Tyler, The Creator
- No. 91: Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 — George Michael
Apple Music’s final top 10
| Rank | Album | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill | Lauryn Hill |
| 2 | Thriller | Michael Jackson |
| 3 | Abbey Road | The Beatles |
| 4 | Purple Rain | Prince |
| 5 | Blonde | Frank Ocean |
| 6 | Songs in the Key of Life | Stevie Wonder |
| 7 | good kid, m.A.A.d city (Deluxe Version) | Kendrick Lamar |
| 8 | Back to Black | Amy Winehouse |
| 9 | Nevermind | Nirvana |
| 10 | Lemonade | Beyoncé |
Why The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill ranked No. 1
Apple Music described Lauryn Hill’s 1998 debut and only solo studio album as a “seismic event.” Its case for the album rests on the way it brings together rap, soul, gospel influence, personal storytelling, and broad cultural resonance.
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The album is also a substantial album-length work rather than merely a collection of hit singles: Apple Music’s catalog metadata lists 16 songs with a total running time of 1 hour and 17 minutes in LP format. That makes The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill vinyl LP a natural physical-listening option for listeners exploring Apple Music’s No. 1 selection, although the ranking does not endorse any particular pressing or retailer.
“This is my award, but it’s a rich, deep narrative, and involves so many people, and so much sacrifice, and so much time, and so much collective love.”
— Lauryn Hill
Zane Lowe, Apple Music’s global creative director and lead anchor for Apple Music 1, acknowledged the difficulty of the assignment: “We were tasked with selecting the 100 best — that’s practically mission impossible.” He also said the goal was to encourage passionate debate about music, not to end it.
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What the ranking says—and what it does not
The top 10 spans soul, R&B, hip-hop, rock, pop, alternative music, and singer-songwriter traditions. It also mixes landmark older albums such as Thriller, Abbey Road, Purple Rain, and Songs in the Key of Life with more recent records including Blonde, good kid, m.A.A.d city, and Lemonade.
Several different standards can produce a list like this:
- Historical influence: how strongly an album changed later music or its genre.
- Cultural reach: how deeply it entered public life beyond its original release.
- Critical consensus: how consistently critics and musicians have praised it.
- Album cohesion: whether the full record works as a unified artistic statement.
- Contemporary importance: how powerfully the album still speaks to current listeners.
Apple did not say how these factors were weighted. A high position should therefore not be read as proof that an album had the highest sales, the most Apple Music plays, or the largest audience. It reflects the panel’s editorial judgment about the album’s overall importance and achievement.
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The wider 100 Best Albums package
Apple built more than a countdown around the ranking. The project included a dedicated interactive microsite with album analysis, archival interviews, and sharing tools. Apple Music Radio ran daily specials and on-demand programming through Apple Music and Apple Podcasts.
Apple also created 100 audio vignettes, one telling the story of each album, and highlighted a dedicated Apple Books space featuring books by and about artists represented on the list.
Recipients received awards made from blasted anodized aluminum sourced entirely from recycled Apple products, with a polished PVD-gold finish. The back design drew on the appearance of a vinyl LP and included the artist, album title, and release year.
Was Apple Music’s list based on streams?
No. Apple explicitly said the ranking was independent of Apple Music streaming numbers. It was assembled as an editorial selection by Apple Music experts and invited music professionals.
When did the countdown happen?
The countdown started on May 13, 2024, and ended on May 22, 2024. It was a completed 10-day event, not a new countdown beginning on August 13, 2026.
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