What’s wrong — and what’s great — with the pop charts?

Can a top 10 contain the unpredictability of music in 2024?

View this email online June 22, 2024 by Jacob Ganz Sitting in for Ann Powers, NPR Music’s editor wonders whether a top 10 can possibly contain the unpredictability of music in 2024 Julien de Rosa/Getty Images For the past few weeks I’ve been paying even more attention to the pop charts than normal. Part of that is out of professional interest, since Anastasia Tsioulcas began writing about the ins and outs of Billboard’s weekly top 10 songs and albums (and beyond) for NPR this spring. But I’ve also sensed something a little wild going on in the pop music atmosphere recently.  Taylor Swift’s domination of 2023 made it seem possible that music’s 1% would be unbothered by competition for some time. It’s true that on one level, Swift has held onto her reign in 2024 — her latest album has sat atop the album chart for eight straight weeks since it was released in April. But behind it has been a swarm of challengers for the pop crown, from high and low: a parade of long-awaited blockbuster (or would-be blockbuster) albums by the Duas and Billies of the realm; longtime insiders like Post Malone and Morgan Wallen making alliances for mutual benefit; newcomers like Tommy Richman and Chappell Roan quickly building armies across both digital platforms and huge festival stages. From a short distance, even the knives Kendrick Lamar aimed at Drake seem to have had the psychic effect of puncturing a stale status-quo dominated by the cultivation of untouchable vibes over messy ambition. I know not everyone cares about the “popularity” part of the pop charts — my colleague Ann Powers, who usually writes this email, has far less time for rankings than I do. But I’ve always been a little bit of an easy mark for countdowns of albums and songs, starting as an obsessive American Top 40 taper as a kid, back when Casey Kasem spoke out of the radio on Sunday nights like the voice of God (or at least History). Maybe that’s why I still keep one eye on the charts: Their ostensible authority makes it compelling to imagine how future music fans will understand the sounds of 2024. Up close, we know that’s not really true. They are full of flaws and accounting failures. And this moment in particular is a thrillingly chaotic one in popular music — fecund and unstable — as if the scramble for the crown might demolish it, jagged shards passed all around. Part of me hopes that the charts will etch this moment of anarchic potential into posterity. But I also know another truth, that the way we listen to music has changed so frequently and so drastically over the last two decades that you can’t trust any single source to encapsulate the wide variety of available musical experiences.  That last lesson hit me hard while I was reading Sheldon Pearce’s recent piece on Spotify’s influential RapCaviar playlist. Sheldon wrote about the uncanny feeling that arose for him watching that market-dominating, data-driven company wade into a debate whose terms are usually set along esoteric and highly personal metrics: rankings of rap’s greatest artists. “The value of this kind of exercise, where hip-hop artists and the diehards who follow them bicker ad nauseam over who’s on top,” he writes, “is in its inability to be definitive in any sense.” Precisely! It’s the argument, not the ranking, that helps us understand what music means to those of us who love it. OK. If I’m being honest, I probably won’t ever be able to resist the urge to look at the charts, but I’ll take this reminder to read the critics as well, and to enjoy both the countdowns and the chaos.  Newsletter continues after sponsor message NPR Classical When "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" gets hijacked ... Introducing NPR Music+, a new way to support what you love and explore new music and conversations sponsor-free. NPR Music+ includes two podcasts with one convenient subscription: All Songs Considered and Alt.Latino, both sponsor-free. Learn more and support us at plus.npr.org/NPRmusic Get NPR Music+ Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from Central Florida Public Media (edit station). Need a new playlist? Follow NPR Music on Spotify and Apple Music What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: nprmusic@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Books, Pop Culture, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to NPR Music emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy