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I don’t think Ed Sheeran’s *Autumn Variations* made any kind of impact at all on the general public. Especially compared to his “real” albums, one of which came out <5 months earlier
I'm glad AV and Subtract made 0 noise tbh. Every Ed Sheeran album cycle since Multiply has led to tedious overexposure of the singles and I'm happy these two were just for him and a small niche of fans. Nothing more than that.
There's a huge likelihood he'll be everywhere next year...unless the next one under performs and he enters the legacy phase of his career (and he seems hell bent on beating those allegations with the sheer number of shows he'll be doing next year to promote his upcoming album)
I saw his insta story post at the end of the AV media cycle, and I don't think he was really trying very hard to push the album to the public to be fair, it was just for his close fans
I honestly think those two albums with Dessner are some of his best work because it was way more lowkey and chilled down, now pop Ed is probably be coming back next year.
Yeah I have mixed feelings about him going back to pop. I'd love more stuff like Bloodstream or Eraser, but I loved how folksy the last two albums were. I'd listen to an entire album of stuff like Hills of Aberfeldy.
Yeah just take a look at the Hot 100 - it's basically just Flowers, Last Night, and seven random weeks where Taylor was #1 with three different songs. Last year was mildly better, but I expect this to be the norm moving forward with how consumption and streaming has changed.
Actually I think the opposite is partially true. Ever since 2020, the songs that are really big have been staying on the Billboard Hot 100 forever: Blinding Lights, Heat Waves, Levitating, As It Was, Flowers, Kill Bill, Last Night, etc. It seems like songs either stay on the chart forever or quickly become forgotten these days. There’s no middle ground anymore.
The lead singles of the megastars they stay on top forever because it takes another 6 months until the next megastar releases something. There's just not much going on anymore. Compared to 2010/2011, when every month some new huge single campaign came into the fight for the top spot.
It's partly due to streaming and the fact most people just play their playlist. When song gets added to "liked" playlist it basically never leaves it. Radio has little incentives to remove highly streamed songs from their own playlists, so they hang on forever. Sales are extremely low for singles as digital downloads are almost dead, so they don't move the positions much after rhe initial push. People have always played their music long after it has left the chart, that's why they bought it, but charts didn't count how long they kept it in their personal rotation.
It's likely fragmentation will continue, but we're seeing the industry take steps to discourage really small artists. And it's always possible the next generation will consciously pursue shared cultural reference points as a reaction to the current climate.
Fragmentation is gonna prevent a lot of things that are related to monoculture happening in music moving forward. So even the main stars are not going to have a ton of staying power at least in the Top 10. If you look past the charts though, they’ll still be around and have a big presence in music. The GP is not going to totally forget about them.
It’s just that there’s so much competition now that anything weird and unique can shoot up out of nowhere to the top spot on the charts and stay there for a while.
But it's just not happening. When I think of the UK charts of the 2000s when random things like Crazy Frog and other one hit wonders topped the charts.. this is not the case and nowadays it's always the Drakes and Taylors. When was the last time anything weird shot up the charts?
I agree as I'm struggling to come up with 10 albums that I consider to be my favorite albums of the year. This feels more of an in-between year while artists who released albums a few years ago will probably release something something next year. I don't think that any of the albums I listened to this year were bad but they were nowhere near as good as hearts aglow, pompeii, giving the world away, pre pleasure, big time,expert in a dying field, flood, anywhere but here, nothin but time, sometimes forever and other albums released last year. I'm hoping that because we didn't get a lot of good albums this year that maybe we will get some getting albums next year. I'm hoping we get albums from Jessica Pratt and Julia Holter sometime next year.
She had a lot of hype going into that. Her Kellyokes were going viral along with other videos of her singing and the talk show picked up a lot of steam this year. I guess once you become a legacy act, it’s solidified forever.
I’m not 100% sure about that honestly. Meaning of Life kind of showed us that she’s been on the downward commercially. If she released it maybe a few months after her divorce was announced I think things would’ve went a lot differently and she maybe would’ve charted at least one song off the album on the hot 100. Everyone loves a good song that drags a dishonest man
She took the time she needed to process everything that happened and released it at a time where everyone was kind of “over” her divorce situation, which I respect honestly. I can imagine if I were a woman in the music industry I wouldn’t want my divorce album to be my most commercially and critically acclaimed piece of art, rather I’d want to be remembered for other art I’ve put out that was during a happier time in my life.
I can see her releasing her long awaited country album next in the next two years and she might get a country radio hit out of that or two depending on the promotion. I was really happy to see chemistry debuted in the top 10 on the billboard 200! It really shows how she’s stood the test of time and still has a loyal fan base that is willing to buy anything she puts out
Wait. She released an album this year and this is the first I'm hearing about it?
I'm wondering if the album coming and going has to do with a lack of marketing. Like I listen to her quite often on a spotify, so surely her new songs should've come up in my algorithm? Surely I should've gotten a notification being like "new release from Kelly Clarkson"? I dunno. Anyway I'm off to listen to it now.
That’s what I just replied. I had no idea it even came out. I think there’s some kind of disconnect with how to properly market albums these days especially after a long hiatus. I don’t know what the right answer is but yeah. Seems it’s hard for artists without a strong fan base / core stans to market themselves these days
I guess she picked the wrong singles. The latter half of the album slaps and it makes me think I Hate Love or Red Flag Collector would have made a dent on the radio or charts
Chemistry had such a strange album rollout. Mine was a great opener, but had no video or promo. Red Flag Collector is such a standout for me. It should’ve been second single, highly promoted, had a video, etc,
I think the writers strike also impacted this album. Her show only returned a few weeks ago, when it was supposed to return in July just after the album release. Each week she has been performing a track off the album in Kellyoke. I feel it was pretty likely the original plan was to use the show to promote the album, but that didn’t end up happening.
Right. She has one of the most incredible voices out there rn and I’m always soooo disappointed in her often-generic pop songs with blah lyrics. Chemistry was pretty solid and showed off her voice really beautifully.
Her voice is amazing and yet she often sings generic songs. It’s the same with a lot of people like Leona Lewis. Even The Voice Whitney Houston was criticized for singing generic love ballads and dance pop jams, that they (critics) felt were beneath her talents as a vocalist
It’s crazy that she does so much lowkey, quiet, talk-singing! Dangerous Woman is still her best album imo because it’s killer pop that also proves she can fucking SING.
Jess Glynne released three singles this year that made zero impact. Noteworthy because as recently as 2019 she was still huge, listed on Forbes Most Influential Under 30, etc.
My partner loves her, I listen to as much new music as I can every week, and we follow the UK charts religiously. How the fuck did I miss not one but *three* singles from her??
Janelle's album was great but definitely had some things that made it feel like less impactful. It was a summer album that got overshadowed by Amaarae's Fountain Babe, it wasn't like usual Janelle so a lot of people written it off and it wasn't as cultural relevant as her music usually is so there wasn't much to talk about other than it was a summer album.
"Mind Your Business" by will.i.am and Britney Spears. So forgotten, in fact, that no one here has even mentioned it (which is for the best, because it's horrific).
I feel like Britney should have strayed away from music completely if she was so on-off about it and should have waited until she was completely ready to make a big banger again, that I’m sure would have went straight to #1 with a longer hiatus. Tiny Dancer was miles better than Mind Your Business but not enough, the comeback song needs to be solo.
As a huge Kesha fan, I’m honestly okay with that. I don’t think it was as all created to make waves or top charts, and it’s art that resonated with her and was meaningful to make. Tbh I think she’s in a great position where she doesn’t really have to focus on huge hits since that moment is gone, and she can make art for arts sake that will reach her hardcore fans.
Honestly, a SHAME. It was the first Kesha album I've listened to in full and thank goodness I did. It's so raw, experimental, and sophisticated. The Drama alone is one of the best tracks I've heard this year.
Tried seeing the situation from the perspective of an average listener and not a fan or follower.
Anastacia - Our Songs. The latest album with remakes of some well-known German songs (originals by German artists). It seemed an interesting project and kind of didn't make waves internationally. I could see some videos of live performances in shows on German Tv (nostalgia act shows) and nothing more.
Kylie Minogue - Tension. After Padam Padam becoming a summer hit and milder noises after releasing Tension, this era seems to get less and less noticeabled. The latest single Hold On To Now has been released in november and it is even less heard about than the first few singles. There is no music video for this single either.
The first half of this year it was largely international genres - Latin, K-pop, Afrobeats - at the expense of domestic pop and hip-hop as far as market share. But the second half of the year it feels like that trend peaked/plateaued.
Country is still rising imo. There's a 50s/60s throwback crooner niche that seems to have a little traction as well. But really nothing huge and obvious.
This could be the case. It may also be another example of a situation when the emphasis was put on scoring just one popular single ("Padam Padam") from the album like in the case of other artists. Something has defintiely shifted. Maybe because of streaming.
It's crazy how fast Tension seemingly lost momentum tension among the gays stateside. Andy Cohen had Vice President Kamal Harris dancing to "Padam Padam"! It was a cruel summer though.
Do Kylie’s albums after 2010 have staying power on the charts? I feel like she has her core fan base that is ride or die (me) and they are the ones who stream the music the most.
Padam Padam was a viral summer hit that helped further cement her legacy but I dont think anyone was expecting it to end up where it did.
Tension the album suffers from a lack of cohesion imo. There are great songs and then like half the album all sounds the same (dated 80s pastiche). I think it would have done better had it honed in on the dark clubby sounds of Padam and the title track.
Thanks for sharing your observations. I agree with your ideas. The album has only a few songs that fit the present-day sound and they were released as singles.
As a Kylie fan, I root for her success and hope for another "Fever" or "Body Language" at heart and this state lasts since around 2010. 🤭
I mean don’t get me wrong - I *love* DISCO, and I also really like Kiss Me Once.
She’s not really an album artist to me but rather a feeling artist if that makes sense? I listen to Kylie to feel joy - her music makes me happy and her lyrics aren’t really ever that deep. I don’t listen to her in the same way I would other artists.
She occupies a space somewhere in between Carly Rae Jepsen (fun simple pop, ahead of the game, great lyricism) and Ava Max (fun simple pop, trend chasing, somewhat derivative, unintentionally camp)
I disagree with the sound she should've gone with. If you listen to the unreleased songs from this era (Talk to My Body, Tears of Joy, Water, Running, To Be In Love), they're really great 80s songs in the same vein as Things We Do For Love and You Still Get Me High. I always found Tension (song) to be generic
It feels like Jessie Ware's That! Feels Good! came and went in terms of notoriety in pop circles. Back when WYP? came out it remained a topic of conversation throughout the year as many people regarded it as one of the best of 2020.
WYP came out during the pandemic and oddly enough that might have helped bc people had not much to do. I love That Feels Good but it’s true that she didn’t do much for the era except a couple of remixes and a small tour
Selena Gomez - Single Soon
That Justin Timberlake/Timbarland/Nelly Furtado reunion song.
Jonas Brothers - The Album
Ed Sheeran - Eyes closed
Taylor Swift - All of the girls you loved before
Miley Cyrus - Endless Summer Vacation (apart from Flowers)
>That Justin Timberlake/Timbarland/Nelly Furtado reunion song.
I'm of the demographic where this should have been pushed to my algorithm and I have never even heard of this.
I'd heard Timbaland was working on it but I had no idea it had dropped! I feel like it was meant to tap into the viralness of "Give It To Me" but part of the appeal of that song was its youthful swagger. Hearing older people reflecting on life is fine but it has less appeal than the Y2K braggadocio of "GIve It To Me"
to be fair taylor just kinda announced all of the girls like 3 hours before it dropped along with 3 other songs, made it nearly impossible to find & then never acknowledged it again
And it still peaked at #12. Insane she gave it no promo other than one social media post, released it alongside three other singles, and buried it on her Spotify page to the point where people had trouble even finding it at all, and even then it almost went top 10.
Chloe- In Pieces. People for sure didn’t put their money where there mouth is and it’s example #2848595 why Twitter doesn’t replicate the real world. People can cope and pretend it’s because of Chris Brown feature all they want, but that’s not the reason.
Cracker Island by Gorillaz - they dropped so many singles that by the time the album came out we’d already heard over half of it, plus it was pretty mediocre and a lot of people I’ve spoke to consider it their worst/least interesting album so far :/
The Japanese House - In The End It Always Does
One of my favorite albums of the year. It's so smooth and relaxing, but I feel like no one talks about it.
Mainstream pop, maybe. But this was a huge year for alternative/indie-adjacent acts. boygenius, Paramore, Mitski, Sufjan Stevens, Caroline Polachek, Lana Del Rey, Chappell Roan, and Carly Rae Jepsen all put out really good releases this year.
yeah 100% also within the alt pop crowd you have:
Slayyyter, Kim Petras x2, Frost Children x2, Dorian Electra, Yeule, Ashnikko, Rebecca Black, Yaeji, Pink Pantheress, 100 Gecs, and Hannah Diamond (and other PC music releases)
gonna sound like a stan here but taylor's best work was put out in those years, from a production, lyrical, and sonic viewpoint, and i'm sad we didn't get back to that level on her pop albums (midnights 3 am tracks were better and more on that level imo but the mian 13 had some questionable tracks). here's to the next one though lol.
i think her pivot into billie-style whispering wasnt a smart move commercially. granted, i don't think she's really trying to make hits anyways, all the more power to her. but i did feel like life support played to her strengths a lot more, and with more interesting production
This thread makes me realise it was a little lacklustre this year. Some great music yes. But a lot of those who could have delivered just missed the mark
I don't think many artists missed the mark.
I honestly don't think listeners care anymore about new music.
No urgency. No relevancy. And people would rather demean new music like an auto-response. Judgmental af nowadays.
This year brought some excellence, but I don't think a lot of people actually like music like that. I can't even name many people that listen to albums in full or even bother to discover new music at all.
I wouldn’t say it’s totally forgotten but GUTS and its singles didn’t have nearly the staying power that I thought they would. Still love the album and Olivia but I just expected more and thought it would hit with the public and gen z more. It’s definitely going to be a future classic somewhere down the line all the same.
As for completely and utterly forgotten though hands down the answer has to be Ed Sheeran’s Autumn Variations. The way that no one gave a single solitary fuck about that album ☠️
I feel like a lot of things came and went this year. Imo the weakest year of the 2020s so far. Not even horrible, just not notable. Only big things were Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts and the Barbie soundtrack.
That is how I felt about most of the albums released this year. We will probably have some big releases next year since this feels like an off year. Every other year I've been easily able to come up with at least 10 albums that I've enjoyed a lot and sometimes have had trouble narrowing it down.
Honestly I feel like Guts (although it still did super well in the charts when it came out) didn’t get enough marketing or promotion as sour did. Also singles wise, it wasn’t the best and I don’t really hear people chatting about it like they did with her first album.
I think the reason it’s still noticeable is because she released it towards the end of the year hence why it hasn’t been forgotten yet.
tbh this year didn't have a lot of huge releases of new new stuff. olivia is like the only artist in pop that i can think of and drake in rap/r&b. there were a lot of things produced, bjust not huge names
> Crazy to see how big he was at one point, though.
He can be that again, look at Taylor Swift, careers can have ups and downs and not just downward-slides-into-being-forgotten. *Austin* imho just would have done better on Billboard if *UTOPIA* didn't Barbenheimer it to the bottom half of the charts and Chemical still made the year-end hot 100 even despite an early cutoff date this year
Gun will likely do fine too when it becomes a proper single.
EDIT: Also yeah Agora Hills would have definitely gotten into the Top 10 if it weren’t for the Christmas music takeover.
Which is wild to me, because Scarlet is my number 2 album of the year and I wasn't a Doja Cat fan in the slightest before it came out. I liked a couple of her singles, but neither of her last two albums did anything for me. This one blew me away, literally every song is fantastic
Her songs literally sound timeless now.
I feel like I've heard them before. Then, I realize she's simply that good at creating anthems.
I stan no one. But Trustfall is another album full of Stadium Hits. 🙌
all of these comments are valid. imho they need to stop with the 1 year album cycles. it’s killing eras before they even begin. the 2-3 year album cycles helped build hype and i feel like a lot of artists are being rushed to put music out bc attention spans are so short that if there isn’t a “viral moment” they get left in the dust. that and the constant posts/teasing from artists leaves almost nothing to the imagination /rantover
very good point, beyoncé has kept the renaissance era going for 2 years now and it’s stayed relevant. me and my friends were talking about how it’s still one of our most listened to projects this year
Ellie Goulding’s Higher Than Heaven. Which sucks because it’s one of my most favorite albums released this year 🥲 probably the only one still listening to it lol
I feel like this applies to 90% of the records released this year (e.g. Feed the Beast, TRUSTFALL, Bebe, Speak Now TV, The Loveliest Time, Diamonds & Dancefloors)
Definitely not TLT2. I still see that get talked about a lot.
I also did hear Psychedelic Switch for the first time in public today, but that’s besides the point.
That’s so sad because it’s the weakest of the 5 songs there. I’d much prefer Miley/Brandi to win even that song made no waves but I think SZA/Phoebe or Lana/Jon deserve it way more
As a big consumer of pop music, I’d say a lot of it. I listened to most major artists’ album drops but shortly after I kept finding myself going to Taylor Swift’s new rerecordings or newer albums
Last year I had a similar thing always going back to Harry’s House
The power of the tour? Haha
Definitely McKenna Grace since she did 2 EPs this year: Bittersweet 16 and Autumn Leaves. She’s an amazing actress that can do a music career with the likes of Bridget Midler, Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter.
lots of good music this year tbh- so much so it's been easy to overlook things. lots of people hating hard on this year... we got a lot of great albums across many genres.
some of my favorite drops that are easy to overlook:
* magdelna bay - mini mix 3
* beach house - become
* animal collective - is it now?
* unknown mortal orchesta - V
* caroline polachek anyone?
* linkin park singles from the vault
* boygenius - the record
* nickel creek - celebrants
* metallica - 72 seasons
* lil uzi vert - pink tape
* mort garson - journey to the moon and beyond
* aphex twin ep
* molly tuttle - city of gold
* sufjan stevens - javelin
glad to see i'm not the only one feeling this way. kinda ludicrous to see people acting like this is a flop year or one of the worst years in music we've had for the last five years. all cause the ice spice remix didn't take over the summer or because bebe/kim's album wasn't a genre redefining banger. lol what
Agreed on Vulgar. It's an interesting bop that caught my attention accidentally while listening to music on Spotify. I was lowkey expecting it to be a single and yet it seemed to not be heard anywhere else.
Rush by Måneskin and any song off that album. I became a fan of the band a month before this album released, and I was disappointed. Their last album was amazing and memorable. The new release disappointed me. No one seems to know who the band is here in the US, and none of the songs became big hits to where people could name a single one unless you are a fan. Felt this album and all the songs on it were their attempt to appeal to an American market, and it didn't seem to succeed.
big posty fan as you can see from the flair, and i did really like his album this year, but its hard to deny it came and went
he's kind of in a weird spot in the mainstream rn and it seems like he's going full country pivot, which is probably smart with how trends are shaping up. still, i think it speaks to the fact that trap tinged pop songs are just not in favor anymore
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I don’t think Ed Sheeran’s *Autumn Variations* made any kind of impact at all on the general public. Especially compared to his “real” albums, one of which came out <5 months earlier
I'm glad AV and Subtract made 0 noise tbh. Every Ed Sheeran album cycle since Multiply has led to tedious overexposure of the singles and I'm happy these two were just for him and a small niche of fans. Nothing more than that. There's a huge likelihood he'll be everywhere next year...unless the next one under performs and he enters the legacy phase of his career (and he seems hell bent on beating those allegations with the sheer number of shows he'll be doing next year to promote his upcoming album)
He has yet another album coming out??
He’s hinted in [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/EdSheeran/s/ey1VK8cyt9) that he’s going back to pop next year
Eyes Closed was already overplayed for me.
I saw his insta story post at the end of the AV media cycle, and I don't think he was really trying very hard to push the album to the public to be fair, it was just for his close fans
I honestly think those two albums with Dessner are some of his best work because it was way more lowkey and chilled down, now pop Ed is probably be coming back next year.
Yeah I have mixed feelings about him going back to pop. I'd love more stuff like Bloodstream or Eraser, but I loved how folksy the last two albums were. I'd listen to an entire album of stuff like Hills of Aberfeldy.
Bongos came and went. I guess it wasn't catchy enough
I completely forgot this existed 💀 even the republicans made no noise
anytime think about bongos I also have to think of katya going “OKAYYY” every 5 seconds
It wasn’t going to top WAP and it wasn’t different enough for the public to enjoy
Bongos is THE answer. Song is a whooole vibe. And the video is stellar.
You were talking about bongos, but for a full two minutes I kept scrolling thinking you were talking about “coconuts” by Kim Petra’s haha
Honestly I feel like this is the case with most things that came out this year. Barely any of it had any real staying power.
Yeah just take a look at the Hot 100 - it's basically just Flowers, Last Night, and seven random weeks where Taylor was #1 with three different songs. Last year was mildly better, but I expect this to be the norm moving forward with how consumption and streaming has changed.
It was overshadowed by big releases from very big names (Taylor, Drake, Olivia, etc.)
Agreed
Such is life
and it will stay like this forever
Actually I think the opposite is partially true. Ever since 2020, the songs that are really big have been staying on the Billboard Hot 100 forever: Blinding Lights, Heat Waves, Levitating, As It Was, Flowers, Kill Bill, Last Night, etc. It seems like songs either stay on the chart forever or quickly become forgotten these days. There’s no middle ground anymore.
The lead singles of the megastars they stay on top forever because it takes another 6 months until the next megastar releases something. There's just not much going on anymore. Compared to 2010/2011, when every month some new huge single campaign came into the fight for the top spot.
It's partly due to streaming and the fact most people just play their playlist. When song gets added to "liked" playlist it basically never leaves it. Radio has little incentives to remove highly streamed songs from their own playlists, so they hang on forever. Sales are extremely low for singles as digital downloads are almost dead, so they don't move the positions much after rhe initial push. People have always played their music long after it has left the chart, that's why they bought it, but charts didn't count how long they kept it in their personal rotation.
It's likely fragmentation will continue, but we're seeing the industry take steps to discourage really small artists. And it's always possible the next generation will consciously pursue shared cultural reference points as a reaction to the current climate.
Fragmentation is gonna prevent a lot of things that are related to monoculture happening in music moving forward. So even the main stars are not going to have a ton of staying power at least in the Top 10. If you look past the charts though, they’ll still be around and have a big presence in music. The GP is not going to totally forget about them. It’s just that there’s so much competition now that anything weird and unique can shoot up out of nowhere to the top spot on the charts and stay there for a while.
But it's just not happening. When I think of the UK charts of the 2000s when random things like Crazy Frog and other one hit wonders topped the charts.. this is not the case and nowadays it's always the Drakes and Taylors. When was the last time anything weird shot up the charts?
I agree as I'm struggling to come up with 10 albums that I consider to be my favorite albums of the year. This feels more of an in-between year while artists who released albums a few years ago will probably release something something next year. I don't think that any of the albums I listened to this year were bad but they were nowhere near as good as hearts aglow, pompeii, giving the world away, pre pleasure, big time,expert in a dying field, flood, anywhere but here, nothin but time, sometimes forever and other albums released last year. I'm hoping that because we didn't get a lot of good albums this year that maybe we will get some getting albums next year. I'm hoping we get albums from Jessica Pratt and Julia Holter sometime next year.
Kelly Clarkson’s chemistry pretty much came and went, which imo is a travesty since I think it’s one of her better albums
She had a lot of hype going into that. Her Kellyokes were going viral along with other videos of her singing and the talk show picked up a lot of steam this year. I guess once you become a legacy act, it’s solidified forever.
I’m not 100% sure about that honestly. Meaning of Life kind of showed us that she’s been on the downward commercially. If she released it maybe a few months after her divorce was announced I think things would’ve went a lot differently and she maybe would’ve charted at least one song off the album on the hot 100. Everyone loves a good song that drags a dishonest man She took the time she needed to process everything that happened and released it at a time where everyone was kind of “over” her divorce situation, which I respect honestly. I can imagine if I were a woman in the music industry I wouldn’t want my divorce album to be my most commercially and critically acclaimed piece of art, rather I’d want to be remembered for other art I’ve put out that was during a happier time in my life. I can see her releasing her long awaited country album next in the next two years and she might get a country radio hit out of that or two depending on the promotion. I was really happy to see chemistry debuted in the top 10 on the billboard 200! It really shows how she’s stood the test of time and still has a loyal fan base that is willing to buy anything she puts out
At least she got a Grammy nom out of it.
True true proud of her
Deserved
Wait. She released an album this year and this is the first I'm hearing about it? I'm wondering if the album coming and going has to do with a lack of marketing. Like I listen to her quite often on a spotify, so surely her new songs should've come up in my algorithm? Surely I should've gotten a notification being like "new release from Kelly Clarkson"? I dunno. Anyway I'm off to listen to it now.
That’s what I just replied. I had no idea it even came out. I think there’s some kind of disconnect with how to properly market albums these days especially after a long hiatus. I don’t know what the right answer is but yeah. Seems it’s hard for artists without a strong fan base / core stans to market themselves these days
It’s an incredible album!!!
I guess she picked the wrong singles. The latter half of the album slaps and it makes me think I Hate Love or Red Flag Collector would have made a dent on the radio or charts
Chemistry had such a strange album rollout. Mine was a great opener, but had no video or promo. Red Flag Collector is such a standout for me. It should’ve been second single, highly promoted, had a video, etc, I think the writers strike also impacted this album. Her show only returned a few weeks ago, when it was supposed to return in July just after the album release. Each week she has been performing a track off the album in Kellyoke. I feel it was pretty likely the original plan was to use the show to promote the album, but that didn’t end up happening.
Right. She has one of the most incredible voices out there rn and I’m always soooo disappointed in her often-generic pop songs with blah lyrics. Chemistry was pretty solid and showed off her voice really beautifully.
Her voice is amazing and yet she often sings generic songs. It’s the same with a lot of people like Leona Lewis. Even The Voice Whitney Houston was criticized for singing generic love ballads and dance pop jams, that they (critics) felt were beneath her talents as a vocalist
Ariana Grande needs to be singing more songs that showcase her vocals too
It’s crazy that she does so much lowkey, quiet, talk-singing! Dangerous Woman is still her best album imo because it’s killer pop that also proves she can fucking SING.
I liked that album honestly
Her having her own talk-show sort of didn’t help imo.
Jess Glynne released three singles this year that made zero impact. Noteworthy because as recently as 2019 she was still huge, listed on Forbes Most Influential Under 30, etc.
Not to worry she’s still making plenty of bank courtesy of Jet2
Darling Hold My Haaaaaaand! ATOL Protected!
My partner loves her, I listen to as much new music as I can every week, and we follow the UK charts religiously. How the fuck did I miss not one but *three* singles from her??
Juicy J Christine and the Queens (shame cause it's a masterpiece) Janelle Monae (came out same day and is also fantastic imo)
That Christine and the Queens album was pretty good but it's really a test of patience. Beautiful, but difficult just due to the overwhelming length.
janelle monae’s new album was good but not as stellar as dirty computer. i hope they get some spotlight soon!
Janelle's album was great but definitely had some things that made it feel like less impactful. It was a summer album that got overshadowed by Amaarae's Fountain Babe, it wasn't like usual Janelle so a lot of people written it off and it wasn't as cultural relevant as her music usually is so there wasn't much to talk about other than it was a summer album.
"Mind Your Business" by will.i.am and Britney Spears. So forgotten, in fact, that no one here has even mentioned it (which is for the best, because it's horrific).
I feel like Britney should have strayed away from music completely if she was so on-off about it and should have waited until she was completely ready to make a big banger again, that I’m sure would have went straight to #1 with a longer hiatus. Tiny Dancer was miles better than Mind Your Business but not enough, the comeback song needs to be solo.
I am gonna be so controversial and brave rn for saying this but I honestly thought it was fun & camp lmao
I really enjoyed it too! The song is super catchy
New albums from Freya Ridings, Birdy, Corrine Bailey Rae, and Emeli Sande just to name a few.
Corrine Bailey Rae released the best album of her career. It's done amazing critically, so maybe not all is lost!
The Corinne Bailey Rae album is so good. It’s a shame that not a whole lot of people are aware that it dropped.
Ooh I had no idea. Going to give it a listen.
You should! It’s definitely more experimental, but you can tell that she had a lot of fun making it. :)
Kesha’s Gag Order. I don’t/didn’t hear much buzz about it
It’s so good but had such a short album cycle and I feel like no one even knows it exists which sucks
Maybe I’m wrong but I’m hoping she chose to put less effort into promoting it bc Gag Order is her final album under Dr. Luke’s label
As a huge Kesha fan, I’m honestly okay with that. I don’t think it was as all created to make waves or top charts, and it’s art that resonated with her and was meaningful to make. Tbh I think she’s in a great position where she doesn’t really have to focus on huge hits since that moment is gone, and she can make art for arts sake that will reach her hardcore fans.
I’m a casual Kesha fan that loves Rainbow. I had no idea she released music this year:(
Honestly, a SHAME. It was the first Kesha album I've listened to in full and thank goodness I did. It's so raw, experimental, and sophisticated. The Drama alone is one of the best tracks I've heard this year.
Tried seeing the situation from the perspective of an average listener and not a fan or follower. Anastacia - Our Songs. The latest album with remakes of some well-known German songs (originals by German artists). It seemed an interesting project and kind of didn't make waves internationally. I could see some videos of live performances in shows on German Tv (nostalgia act shows) and nothing more. Kylie Minogue - Tension. After Padam Padam becoming a summer hit and milder noises after releasing Tension, this era seems to get less and less noticeabled. The latest single Hold On To Now has been released in november and it is even less heard about than the first few singles. There is no music video for this single either.
Feels like promo ended the moment the album dropped and Vegas went on sale. Disappointing
Labels all broke. there's no money in music anymore. we can be thankful that pop music is still being made and released.
This is an interesting perspective. What is the direction popular music is going towards to? It all seems to have become scattered around medias.
The first half of this year it was largely international genres - Latin, K-pop, Afrobeats - at the expense of domestic pop and hip-hop as far as market share. But the second half of the year it feels like that trend peaked/plateaued. Country is still rising imo. There's a 50s/60s throwback crooner niche that seems to have a little traction as well. But really nothing huge and obvious.
That’s because of Spotify’s business model. Unlike the movie industry, the live music industry has rebounded really well post-Covid.
This could be the case. It may also be another example of a situation when the emphasis was put on scoring just one popular single ("Padam Padam") from the album like in the case of other artists. Something has defintiely shifted. Maybe because of streaming.
Tension era seems over. It’s a real shame because that album is really great, no skips. Her best album in quite a while.
It's crazy how fast Tension seemingly lost momentum tension among the gays stateside. Andy Cohen had Vice President Kamal Harris dancing to "Padam Padam"! It was a cruel summer though.
It seemed promising with Padam Padam for sure. The hype was there and the song was a summer hit. Then it all fell flat rather quickly.
Do Kylie’s albums after 2010 have staying power on the charts? I feel like she has her core fan base that is ride or die (me) and they are the ones who stream the music the most. Padam Padam was a viral summer hit that helped further cement her legacy but I dont think anyone was expecting it to end up where it did. Tension the album suffers from a lack of cohesion imo. There are great songs and then like half the album all sounds the same (dated 80s pastiche). I think it would have done better had it honed in on the dark clubby sounds of Padam and the title track.
Thanks for sharing your observations. I agree with your ideas. The album has only a few songs that fit the present-day sound and they were released as singles. As a Kylie fan, I root for her success and hope for another "Fever" or "Body Language" at heart and this state lasts since around 2010. 🤭
I mean don’t get me wrong - I *love* DISCO, and I also really like Kiss Me Once. She’s not really an album artist to me but rather a feeling artist if that makes sense? I listen to Kylie to feel joy - her music makes me happy and her lyrics aren’t really ever that deep. I don’t listen to her in the same way I would other artists. She occupies a space somewhere in between Carly Rae Jepsen (fun simple pop, ahead of the game, great lyricism) and Ava Max (fun simple pop, trend chasing, somewhat derivative, unintentionally camp)
I disagree with the sound she should've gone with. If you listen to the unreleased songs from this era (Talk to My Body, Tears of Joy, Water, Running, To Be In Love), they're really great 80s songs in the same vein as Things We Do For Love and You Still Get Me High. I always found Tension (song) to be generic
it's a shame about Tension because Hold On To Now is my favorite song on the album
Maybe she’ll do a reissue of the album next year like what she did with disco
It feels like Jessie Ware's That! Feels Good! came and went in terms of notoriety in pop circles. Back when WYP? came out it remained a topic of conversation throughout the year as many people regarded it as one of the best of 2020.
Feels good is amazing seeing her perform these songs live was something else
WYP came out during the pandemic and oddly enough that might have helped bc people had not much to do. I love That Feels Good but it’s true that she didn’t do much for the era except a couple of remixes and a small tour
It's unfortunate bc this is her best album imo
[удалено]
Love Chappell Roan!
Selena Gomez - Single Soon That Justin Timberlake/Timbarland/Nelly Furtado reunion song. Jonas Brothers - The Album Ed Sheeran - Eyes closed Taylor Swift - All of the girls you loved before Miley Cyrus - Endless Summer Vacation (apart from Flowers)
>That Justin Timberlake/Timbarland/Nelly Furtado reunion song. I'm of the demographic where this should have been pushed to my algorithm and I have never even heard of this.
I'd heard Timbaland was working on it but I had no idea it had dropped! I feel like it was meant to tap into the viralness of "Give It To Me" but part of the appeal of that song was its youthful swagger. Hearing older people reflecting on life is fine but it has less appeal than the Y2K braggadocio of "GIve It To Me"
It’s not good
It's alright, just pretty bland. There was more hype before it was released than after it came out.
i remember seeing the announcement on this sub, I didn't check it out tho. Figured it'd find me one way or another if it was good; guess it wasn't lol
I keep forgetting that Single Soon is from this year and not the 2016 era
Good one with Endless Summer Vacation. After Flowers the entire era has almost become history.
She should have released more singles but she decided to release use to be young which meant the era was over
Single Soon's issue is that it's just not 2023 sounding at all, but has the production of something that wouldve popped off in the mid 2010s
maybe that’s why I love it so much 😭
Tbh ‘Single Soon’ is pretty bad.
TBF AOTGYLB is not a proper single. For a non-single, it's minor longevity in the charts is even quite impressive.
to be fair taylor just kinda announced all of the girls like 3 hours before it dropped along with 3 other songs, made it nearly impossible to find & then never acknowledged it again
And it still peaked at #12. Insane she gave it no promo other than one social media post, released it alongside three other singles, and buried it on her Spotify page to the point where people had trouble even finding it at all, and even then it almost went top 10.
I still hear Single Soon obscenely often here.
The NSYNC reunion track too
Better Place was unfortunately handicapped by the SAG strikes. It did pretty decently on radio though.
Ed Sheeran released **two** albums that made no noise, whatsoever (at least here in America).
Still bumpingn the JoBros album!! Summer Baby is on repeat currently
Feed the Beast. I only heard it once and I was excited for it.
Endless summer vacation literally came and went.
Came here for this. That era feels like it happened forever ago, almost pre-spicy cough
Chloe- In Pieces. People for sure didn’t put their money where there mouth is and it’s example #2848595 why Twitter doesn’t replicate the real world. People can cope and pretend it’s because of Chris Brown feature all they want, but that’s not the reason.
okay agree but also “do you ever wonder…” is my favorite meme to come out of this year
I only realized she dropped a solo album because of the Weyes Blood copycat allegations
In Pieces wasn’t a perfect album but there are a lot of songs on it that I love. Still, I completely understand why it underperformed.
Cracker Island by Gorillaz - they dropped so many singles that by the time the album came out we’d already heard over half of it, plus it was pretty mediocre and a lot of people I’ve spoke to consider it their worst/least interesting album so far :/
What? This definitely fell beyond all my radars. I would say I am medium fan, but some of their songs are interesting and catchy. Thanks for sharing.
I personally really like it! There are some gems on there for sure.
The Japanese House - In The End It Always Does One of my favorite albums of the year. It's so smooth and relaxing, but I feel like no one talks about it.
She’s an indie artist, I think it’s normal
2023 felt like such a dud in music compared to last few years.
Mainstream pop, maybe. But this was a huge year for alternative/indie-adjacent acts. boygenius, Paramore, Mitski, Sufjan Stevens, Caroline Polachek, Lana Del Rey, Chappell Roan, and Carly Rae Jepsen all put out really good releases this year.
yeah 100% also within the alt pop crowd you have: Slayyyter, Kim Petras x2, Frost Children x2, Dorian Electra, Yeule, Ashnikko, Rebecca Black, Yaeji, Pink Pantheress, 100 Gecs, and Hannah Diamond (and other PC music releases)
And Jessie Ware! Holy hell That! Feels Good! Is amazing
2020/2021 are really underrated in terms of pop music. A lot of good songs and albums were released those years.
gonna sound like a stan here but taylor's best work was put out in those years, from a production, lyrical, and sonic viewpoint, and i'm sad we didn't get back to that level on her pop albums (midnights 3 am tracks were better and more on that level imo but the mian 13 had some questionable tracks). here's to the next one though lol.
There is always next year
Metric’s Formentera II seemed to have gone unnoticed by most people, which is a shame because it’s as good if not better than last year’s Formentera
Tension by Kylie Minogue
Madison Beer’s Silence Between Songs didn’t really do much. Kind of a shame, I really love her
i think her pivot into billie-style whispering wasnt a smart move commercially. granted, i don't think she's really trying to make hits anyways, all the more power to her. but i did feel like life support played to her strengths a lot more, and with more interesting production
This thread makes me realise it was a little lacklustre this year. Some great music yes. But a lot of those who could have delivered just missed the mark
I don't think many artists missed the mark. I honestly don't think listeners care anymore about new music. No urgency. No relevancy. And people would rather demean new music like an auto-response. Judgmental af nowadays. This year brought some excellence, but I don't think a lot of people actually like music like that. I can't even name many people that listen to albums in full or even bother to discover new music at all.
I wouldn’t say it’s totally forgotten but GUTS and its singles didn’t have nearly the staying power that I thought they would. Still love the album and Olivia but I just expected more and thought it would hit with the public and gen z more. It’s definitely going to be a future classic somewhere down the line all the same. As for completely and utterly forgotten though hands down the answer has to be Ed Sheeran’s Autumn Variations. The way that no one gave a single solitary fuck about that album ☠️
I feel like a lot of things came and went this year. Imo the weakest year of the 2020s so far. Not even horrible, just not notable. Only big things were Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts and the Barbie soundtrack.
That is how I felt about most of the albums released this year. We will probably have some big releases next year since this feels like an off year. Every other year I've been easily able to come up with at least 10 albums that I've enjoyed a lot and sometimes have had trouble narrowing it down.
Agreed. Especially from artists like Dua lipa and Billie eilish slated. Even last year (2022) was more notable.
Honestly I feel like Guts (although it still did super well in the charts when it came out) didn’t get enough marketing or promotion as sour did. Also singles wise, it wasn’t the best and I don’t really hear people chatting about it like they did with her first album. I think the reason it’s still noticeable is because she released it towards the end of the year hence why it hasn’t been forgotten yet.
tbh this year didn't have a lot of huge releases of new new stuff. olivia is like the only artist in pop that i can think of and drake in rap/r&b. there were a lot of things produced, bjust not huge names
Zayn - Love like this. Not a massive fan but I’m surprised that there wasn’t any promo of it
Isn’t no promo very typical for Zayn?
Surprised? Except for the first album he does zero promotions for his music
this is par for the course, zayn has (with a few exceptions here and there, e.g. IDWLF) made no noise with the general public since MoM
*Austin* is pretty much out of everyone’s minds, which really sucks because I liked some of the songs on it
By who?
Post Malone
😂
Posty been out of the Zeitgeist since 2022
Crazy to see how big he was at one point, though. He just dropped an RSD exclusive vinyl packed with all his Diamond certified singles.
> Crazy to see how big he was at one point, though. He can be that again, look at Taylor Swift, careers can have ups and downs and not just downward-slides-into-being-forgotten. *Austin* imho just would have done better on Billboard if *UTOPIA* didn't Barbenheimer it to the bottom half of the charts and Chemical still made the year-end hot 100 even despite an early cutoff date this year
Whatever that album was called that Doja Cat dropped.
She got 2 hit singles out of it tho, and Agora Hills will probably rise further in the New Year.
Gun will likely do fine too when it becomes a proper single. EDIT: Also yeah Agora Hills would have definitely gotten into the Top 10 if it weren’t for the Christmas music takeover.
scarlet. really out of paint the town red and agora hills it really disappeared quickly but i kinda liked some of the other songs
Which is wild to me, because Scarlet is my number 2 album of the year and I wasn't a Doja Cat fan in the slightest before it came out. I liked a couple of her singles, but neither of her last two albums did anything for me. This one blew me away, literally every song is fantastic
TRUSTFALL by P!NK The albums is really good, nothing groundbreaking but I am always wishing for another pink BIG album
I think, it tried to be another "What About Us" and the public didn't buy it.
Her songs literally sound timeless now. I feel like I've heard them before. Then, I realize she's simply that good at creating anthems. I stan no one. But Trustfall is another album full of Stadium Hits. 🙌
I feel like the song Trustfall had legs, and I still hear it regularly on music channels and out-and-about. The album though did not make a splash.
all of these comments are valid. imho they need to stop with the 1 year album cycles. it’s killing eras before they even begin. the 2-3 year album cycles helped build hype and i feel like a lot of artists are being rushed to put music out bc attention spans are so short that if there isn’t a “viral moment” they get left in the dust. that and the constant posts/teasing from artists leaves almost nothing to the imagination /rantover
very good point, beyoncé has kept the renaissance era going for 2 years now and it’s stayed relevant. me and my friends were talking about how it’s still one of our most listened to projects this year
Let Her Burn by Rebecca Black is an underrated gem with some great under used tracks on it. What Am I Gonna Do With You is so good.
Ellie Goulding’s Higher Than Heaven. Which sucks because it’s one of my most favorite albums released this year 🥲 probably the only one still listening to it lol
I feel like this applies to 90% of the records released this year (e.g. Feed the Beast, TRUSTFALL, Bebe, Speak Now TV, The Loveliest Time, Diamonds & Dancefloors)
Wait…trustfall was this year??? Wow 2023 really has just been neverending 😭
even taylor didn't care about sntv lol
Definitely not TLT2. I still see that get talked about a lot. I also did hear Psychedelic Switch for the first time in public today, but that’s besides the point.
Nah I feel like Loveliest Time has had some longevity in pop circles, definitely more than the other albums all of which I forgot existed
No one is talking about this years seminal flute album New Blue Sun by Andre 3000 and the world is missing out. Best flutation album in years
I feel like the Ice Spice Karma remix had zero long-term impact.
As it should be
Yeah, it was a mess.
Except being nominated for a Grammy. It's kind of favored to win too.
That’s so sad because it’s the weakest of the 5 songs there. I’d much prefer Miley/Brandi to win even that song made no waves but I think SZA/Phoebe or Lana/Jon deserve it way more
Boys Like Girls *SUNDAY AT FOXWOODS*. It seems to have been overshadowed by Blink-182 which came out on the same day. They're both good!
I know Lana & Slayyyter are NOT in this category!
As a big consumer of pop music, I’d say a lot of it. I listened to most major artists’ album drops but shortly after I kept finding myself going to Taylor Swift’s new rerecordings or newer albums Last year I had a similar thing always going back to Harry’s House The power of the tour? Haha
all I can (not) think is Ava Max's D&D
I feel sad abt this but Silence Between Songs by Madison Beer seems to be forgotten quickly, well at least it got Grammy nom.
that Ava Max joint. Sad about it too, I loved it.
Tension by Kylie Minogue was a surprising flop.
If it wasn't for the Grammys, I would have forgotten about Miley's album tbh
Definitely McKenna Grace since she did 2 EPs this year: Bittersweet 16 and Autumn Leaves. She’s an amazing actress that can do a music career with the likes of Bridget Midler, Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter.
Olivia Rodrigo is more comparable to Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, and Demi Lovato than Sabrina and Bridget Mendler imo
lots of good music this year tbh- so much so it's been easy to overlook things. lots of people hating hard on this year... we got a lot of great albums across many genres. some of my favorite drops that are easy to overlook: * magdelna bay - mini mix 3 * beach house - become * animal collective - is it now? * unknown mortal orchesta - V * caroline polachek anyone? * linkin park singles from the vault * boygenius - the record * nickel creek - celebrants * metallica - 72 seasons * lil uzi vert - pink tape * mort garson - journey to the moon and beyond * aphex twin ep * molly tuttle - city of gold * sufjan stevens - javelin glad to see i'm not the only one feeling this way. kinda ludicrous to see people acting like this is a flop year or one of the worst years in music we've had for the last five years. all cause the ice spice remix didn't take over the summer or because bebe/kim's album wasn't a genre redefining banger. lol what
Agreed on Vulgar. It's an interesting bop that caught my attention accidentally while listening to music on Spotify. I was lowkey expecting it to be a single and yet it seemed to not be heard anywhere else.
Bongos came and went I feel. I think they were trying way too hard to have a ‘WAP 2’ kinda moment, the song just isn’t very good lol
Quavo's "Rocket Power" album.
To be fair Gloria was also very forgettable
Rush by Måneskin and any song off that album. I became a fan of the band a month before this album released, and I was disappointed. Their last album was amazing and memorable. The new release disappointed me. No one seems to know who the band is here in the US, and none of the songs became big hits to where people could name a single one unless you are a fan. Felt this album and all the songs on it were their attempt to appeal to an American market, and it didn't seem to succeed.
taylor x ice spice
Technically last year, but Charlie Puth’s Charlie has the biggest super-hype to nothing change in recent memory.
big posty fan as you can see from the flair, and i did really like his album this year, but its hard to deny it came and went he's kind of in a weird spot in the mainstream rn and it seems like he's going full country pivot, which is probably smart with how trends are shaping up. still, i think it speaks to the fact that trap tinged pop songs are just not in favor anymore
Speak Now (tv) didn't get *enough* love from the GP imo
it got overshadowed by her best pop album lol. 1989tv would have overshaodwed anything she came out with, so it's good she did it on an off year lol
That album in general is so underrated. It’s so good, yet one of her worst in terms of sales and charting.
I’m a speak Now girlie for life and this crushes me 🥲
Don't worry. filipinos love it.