ten good songs 8/19

it’s bad to be popular

honestly, this is more of an observation more than anything else. we’ve all been going back and forth on the song of the summer, but when looking at the picks we have to decide between, something stands out. when looking at the options below, can you see what i see?

• “360” by Charli XCX

• “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter

• “HOT TO GO!” by Chappell Roan

• “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey

got it? these are all folks who have never even remotely been a part of the top-200 pop music conversation. ever. and now they are all playing MSG.

so what can we learn from this? this is the summer of the underdog. the summer of pushing our usual suspects to the side and celebrating new personalities and creating new icons.

as a reminder, last year we were deciding between Morgan Wallen, T-Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Luke Combs, and friggin’ Gunna for the coveted “song of the summer” title. now we have Post Malone begging for you to remember he released an album this week. i’m here for it.

is one album no longer enough??

speaking of Post Malone, here’s a fun trend that probably won’t be going away any time soon. if you’re a top 10 artist, you are now required to release 20+ songs at a time. essentially two full albums in one go. don’t believe me? do you think i’m fucking pulling your leg??

Post Malone followed up this week’s already long 18-song record with an extended, 27-song “Long Bed” edition. jesus.

just look at this smattering of artists gouging our brains with content this year alone:

• Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poet’s Department: The Anthology - 31 songs, 122 minutes

• Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion: Long Bed - 27 songs, 87 minutes

• Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter - 27 songs, 78 minutes

• Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shady - 19 songs, 64 minutes

• Childish Gambino’s Bando Stone and The New World - 17 songs, 60 minutes

• Megan Thee Stallion’s MEGAN - 18 songs, 52 minutes

so why in the world is this happening. why god why. there are a few reasons i could think of.

first, more content means more streams. folks will listen to your entire album, and the artist/label/everyone else involved will get an extra quarter of a cent for every turd they tack onto an album that could have been finished 5 songs ago.

second, more content means it’s more likely something will go viral. it’s the most expensive way to throw spaghetti at a wall and hope that one of your 30 songs will turn into a meme on TikTok.

third, it’s an easy way for an artist to keep their live shows more interesting. more songs in an album cycle means more variation between shows. this may be the only good thing i can glean here.

fourth, these artists get to sell double LPs. those are more expensive. so instead of spending $30 on a record, now you get the distinct privilege of buying a $60 record! cha-ching!

finally, it’s just easier to make music these days. recording equipment is more portable, the technology to produce songs is easier to use and higher quality, and the whole process is just more efficient and economical. so if a pop star gets into a studio and cranks out 50 tracks, then HELL! let’s just release em’ all!

whatever. content is content. these albums are just tiring me out. but here we are. enjoy your content, sheep!

Reminder: all typos and inaccurate hyperlinks are intentional!