One of my jobs at Sony is working with Sony Music Group and that involves analyzing the latest music trends. I have a spreadsheet in front of me with Artists' names and the top tracks being listened to on streaming music services and I don't recognize a single name nor song. I take that back. It is Christmas time and one of the most popular songs is by Mariah Carey called "All I Want for Christmas is You." It is at this point that I have to state that she is a Sony Music artist so people don't think I am promoting her music. The truth is, I think the song is overplayed and prefer quite a few other Christmas songs.
I know I may be old but I didn't think I had grown so out of touch with songs that are popular. The songs I hear on the radio are not even close to what is popular for those that stream music. Now I will confess that I am looking at data for a decidedly younger crowd that is fairly tech savey. That confuses me though as the second most popular song is by Drake and titled "IDGAF" which stands for "I Don't Give a F..." I'll let you fill in the last 3 characters but am surprised youth find the song so popular. While I know Drake is a popular Hip Hop artist, I have never heard any of his songs.
Streaming services have really changed the music we listen to. It is now possible to create your own playlist with only the songs you want to hear. When you hear some songs too many times, like "All I Want for Christmas," you can unlike it and add new songs to your list. While I have a radio in my car, I also have the ability to play songs from my smartphone so I am not subjected to songs that someone else thinks I should be listening to. Unfortunately I think that is true because I don't care what other people listen to. Youth probably don't have that luxury.
I remember riding the bus home in junior high and an older kid asking another if he liked the group AC DC. Not wanting to sound ignorant, the kid replied, "Of course." The older kid then probed by asking him to name a song. I went home that day trying to find out who AC DC was and some of their songs. The only tool I had was the radio. Fortunately "Back in Black" was popular at the time and received a lot of air time. I knew at least one song and felt that would keep me from getting pummeled on the bus by any older kids.
One of the advantages of streaming music is that you can find music that you really like. I hope there isn't any peer pressure trying to get you to listen to music that others think is popular. If that is the case, then we are no more advanced in our music listening than we were 30 years ago.
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