Backlash after Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" removed from Billboard Hot Country chart

DUa Lipa gets played on the A/C station here too. But then she gets played everywhere.

Plus there's that Argylle thing about to hit in a couple of weeks.

Speaking of which – OMG, Swifties: https://variety.com/2024/film/news/taylor-swift-argylle-author-matthew-vaughn-rumors-1235873834/

Yeah I didn't take it to be about "measuring" as much as the quality of what is right there in front of us, where it's always been (also, I mean, Duo Lipa is actually v popular)

― Wooly Bully (2005 Remaster) (morrisp), Tuesday, January 16, 2024 10:41 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

and im saying some people are just old and 'whats in front of you' is different than what was in front of you at 16

but also — and I think this point is being underestimated—I think more people than ever are *invested in* underground, mid tier, non-pop music, than might have been in the 12-CD-fan days. The 12-CD fan of the 90s now has their own Spotify playlist of stuff that might actually include some relatively obscure act—that act just happens to sound like the 12-CD popular level act they already like.

The point I'm making is that everyone's fandom has shifted, to a stage where being a 'casual music' fan by its nature includes liking some 'not that popular' shit

so when I say that what the pop charts are 'measuring' is different, its not just the pop charts ... the very meaning of obscurity or underground is different ... the entire framework of experiencing 'new music' is different..and I think suggesting this is just a continuation of how things used to be is missing how different things really are

OK but I didn't think we were talking about the "charts" here (thread title aside)

I think what's being exposed to some extent is how retro pop music *always* was ... something like the modern milwaukee rap song sounds 'brand new' to most ears, but its actually based on the 'low end' sound which existed in 2010 or earlier and was just off-board for online music fans... likewise peso pluma sounds new to ppl who don't listen to narcocorridos and its a 'new sound' in the pop space but not a new sound if you listened to popular mexican music for years ... so ppl can marshal this information to make any argument they want, ie "everything is retro now!!!" [spaceman meme] it always was

there's nothing new about the birth of hip hop ... this is just pigmeat markham all over again smh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRS62nccwmw

teenagers absolutely were listening to diane warren ballads in the 90s

did adult contemporary just kinda disappear?

as a distinctive style, yes it is basically endangered. the vast majority of songs on the ac airplay chart are songs that were on the pop airplay chart months before -- so the chart is basically the more milquetoast subset of the pop chart, which is itself boring/stagnant. this past year the exceptions were from artists like p!nk, nsync and lewis capaldi but none were particularly big in general or even at the ac format. there are also a few new christmas songs that come along every year, but during that time the audience reach of new songs at the format declines precipitously bc the playlists lean even more heavily on old songs than usual during that time -- new christmas songs take years to properly break. (there was one by david foster this year!)

anyway the way pop music operates (specifically in america!) absolutely is different now than it used to be, yes i am getting old but the differences are measurable and consistent at least if we're talking abt radio. and yes, shame on me for still paying attention to that hoary old distribution method but i do see it as unfortunate as there are aspects to the radio-listening experience that i do think are unique compared to just clicking thru social media or playlists. i legitimately enjoyed mainstream radio for at least a decade of my life and am sad that most stations in this country seem to think that those aspects simply can no longer be replicated (even tho other radio in other countries still manages it)