This week in pop music saw some exciting returns. Olivia Rodrigo followed up her chart-topping single “Drivers License” with another lovelorn track, Demi Lovato shared an exciting collaboration with Ariana Grande , and BTS returned to debut a new soulful single.
After Olivia Rodrigo’s debut single “ Drivers License ” had an eight-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the singer is venturing into more playful territory with “Deja Vu.” About the follow-up single, Rodrigo said she wants to shy away from being labeled in a certain genre: “It's definitely not like 'Drivers License' at all, which I'm really happy about. I didn't want to pigeonhole myself into this category of 'sad ballad girl' thing. It's definitely a little different and sort of weird.”
Dove Cameron may have gotten her start as a Disney Channel star, but she’s been focusing on her music career for the past year through her 2020 singles “We Belong” and “Remember Me.” Now, Cameron returns to share the groove-driven track “LazyBaby,” a bass-heavy number inspired by the recent revival of ’80s disco .
Psychadelic soul singer Chiiild returns with another atmospheric jam off his upcoming project Hope For Sale . Describing his aim for the single, Chiiild compares the song’s feeling to “when the week's finally over and you need to take the weight off.”
Celebrating her 22nd birthday, R&B singer/rapper Audrey Nuna shared the chilling track “Space,” marking her first release of 2021. The song offers a way for Nuna to showcase both her moving vocals and quick-witted lyricism over a subdued beat.
Celebrating the fact that they’re the newest signee of Mark Ronson’s Zelig Records label, producer Tiberius B announced their upcoming EP Stains with the shuffling track “No Smoke.” The single’s soothing video is inspired by an accident they had as a teenager, which ended up being a blessing in disguise.
After a handful of her relatable singles attracted a sizeable fanbase, Chloe Moriondo announces her debut album Blood Bunny as the newest signee of Fueled By Ramen Records. The 18-year-old singer announced the impending project with “I Eat Boys,” a charming and tongue-in-cheek tune about pushing back against cat callers.
Texan songwriter Dayglow issued the shimmering track “Woah Man,” the third single from his sophomore LP Harmony House . About the song, Dayglow, the moniker of Sloan Struble, said: “I initially wrote it for a friend who was going through a hard time, but then later realized that I was really writing about myself. In the middle of so much change, growth, and responsibility, I found myself feeling a lot of pressure.”
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Where Are the Douyin Generation's Pop Stars?
Last month, I was scrolling through my feed on Douyin, the version of TikTok accessible on the Chinese mainland, when I came across a "Top 10 Douyin Songs of 2021" compilation. Produced by a music company I had never heard of, I was skeptical that it was just a marketing ploy. Nevertheless, I let the video play.
To my surprise, I recognized every song on the list. Also to my surprise, most of the comments on the video were highly critical: "Catchy songs never last," read one. "Douyin updates trendy songs so fast, they're gone before I can even learn how to sing them," another user added.
The idea that Douyin has deprived China's Generation Z of truly classic songs is not a new one . In online discussions , music fans born in the 1980s and 1990s frequently reminisce over the so-called golden age of Chinese pop music. Lasting from the late 1980s to roughly the emergence of the fresh-faced boy band TFBoys in the early 2010s, it was a time when pop idols produced stone-cold classics in an endless battle for chart position. Admittedly, everything looks better when viewed through nostalgia's rose-tinted glasses, but these wistful fans are onto something. China's music industry is in the midst of a dramatic decoupling from traditional distribution channels, one that's reshaping how we experience new music.
In contrast with music-streaming platforms like QQ Music and NetEase Cloud Music, where full songs are still the primary product, music is never more than part of Douyin's backdrop. Good music is still indispensable to the app, even if the platform has rendered it more disposable and anonymous than ever. A song's adaptability — its ability to work with a wide variety of videos and their associated visual effects — is just far more important than what it aims to express.
Take "Give You Four Seasons," for example. One of the titles listed by the above-mentioned "Top 10 Douyin Songs of 2021" video, it started as a gentle love ballad. Its Douyin version, however, added concentrated drums, making it more likely creators would choreograph a dance to it. And choreograph a dance they did: A number of influencers have set the song to a dance that shows off their rippling ab muscles.
These drumbeats and seemingly unrelated thirst traps work to shift viewers' focus away from the song itself and on to video creators. The app's famous algorithm also pushes users in this direction. Search the names of top songs on Douyin, and the app will often auto-fill suggestions like "dance" or " finger dance ." Dance tutorials also tend to rank near the top of search results. In this way, Douyin engineers condition creators to produce the imitative, competitive content they want to see.
In response to Douyin's growing influence over the music market, music labels have started turning to data analytics in the hopes of finding the secret formula for producing a viral hit. Their findings suggest that Douyin's algorithm favors songs with simple, memorable lyrics and repetitive tunes, which all have a "brainwashing" effect on users. Armed with hard data, small- and medium-sized music labels now produce music according to user preferences, as opposed to what artists want to express — a practice that crystalizes the contradiction between music as "art for art's sake" and as a programmed means of entertaining the masses.
The lack of enthusiasm for actual songs, even ones that are generally well-liked and reviewed, puzzled even Douyin's music team, according to interviews I conducted with employees at ByteDance, Douyin's parent company. The only reason they could give is that users' musical tastes are fickle. Absent any answers, the platform's music team has since abandoned its efforts to inject their musical preferences into the algorithm and has gone back to recommending music solely based on data or as part of commercial deals with labels.
Meanwhile, the competition to make the next trending hit is only escalating. According to domestic media reports and interviews with music industry insiders, if a song does not go viral within three days, the label immediately stops promoting it. It's a cruel rule, but it has nonetheless become the norm for music companies. Over time, repetitive tunes and simple lyrics — or even no lyrics at all — have become increasingly common, and songwriters and recording artists work as if on an assembly line.
K-pop is redefining music marketing in the U.S. - The DePaulia
"All of the work that the artists put in from their trainee days until they debut is something admirable," answered Jorge Solis, a member of TCN Pulse, a K-pop organization at DePaul. "To see the work they put in for each dance, each song, is something that attracts [fans]."
Korean popular music, also known as K-pop, is a music genre that has garnered a growing global fanbase for its emphasis on creating an entertainment experience that goes beyond just music.
"People are attracted to the music, [and] dance performances," said fellow TCN Pulse member Kylie Mikunas. "Sometimes the meanings of the songs are very important as well and K-pop creates a sense of community."
In addition to the entertainment experience, Audrey Redifer, the president of TCN Pulse, got into K-pop for different reasons.
"I was also drawn to the marketing and the business side of the industry," Redifer said. "It's so complex and calculated."
As a marketing major, Redifer was fascinated by the integrated marketing techniques used in K-pop.
"I rarely see other people that care more about the companies than the [musicians]," Redifer admitted.
While it may be uncommon for K-pop fans to be more interested in the companies than the artists, the music industry at large is paying close attention to the non-music side of K-pop. Integrated marketing techniques such as photo cards and other CD inclusions drive physical album sales. Variety shows highlight the talents and charms of each group, and eye-catching choreography creates memorable performances.
The global music market has had its eyes set on the mass appeal of K-pop for some time. While a few international labels have tried to emulate the K-pop style, like Simon Cowell and his "UK-pop" or the London-based K-pop group KAACHI , none have been able to achieve the same level of success as true Korean pop groups.
Universal Music Group is tackling the "K-pop style" differently than Cowell and KAACHI. It is going straight to the source to create a new chapter in music history by bringing K-pop to America in a whole new way.
In February, the Big Hit Labels YouTube page released a video announcing a "strategic partnership" between music industry titans Big Hit Entertainment and Universal Music Group.
Watch: Sara Bareilles stages a pop music comeback in 'Girls5eva' - UPI.com
April 6 (UPI) -- Peacock released a trailer for their upcoming comedy Girls5eva Tuesday. Sara Bareilles , Renee Elise Goldsberry, Paula Pell and Busy Philipps play members of a '90s girl band making a comeback.
Four of the members of Girls5eva reunite 20 years after their heyday. In the trailer, Dawn (Bareilles) realizes that Girls5eva's lyrics sent negative messages to young girls. Advertisement
The Girls5eva song about jailbait is a satire of Spice Girls songs. However, Bareilles said she and her costars have to sing their hearts out.
"To take it seriously as a singer and as a performer is a part of like the magic trick of it all," Bareilles said on a recent Television Critics Association Zoom.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt writer and producer Meredith Scardino created Girls5eva . Tina Fey , Robert Carlock and Jeff Richmond also executive produce and promise more humorous music throughout the season.
Getting the band back together isn't as easy as Dawn hopes. The band faces resistance from executives and passersby.
Scardino said the theme of Girls5eva is women empowering one another. As teenagers, a record producer assembled Girls5eva. In the present, they are taking control of their legacy.
"They didn't choose each other back then, but I think when they come back now they'd choose each other now," Scardino said.
Britney Spears' 'I'm a Slave 4 U': How It Changed Pop | Billboard
This week, Billboard is publishing a series of lists and articles celebrating the music of 20 years ago. Our 2001 Week continues with a look back at the era of Britney Spears' pivotal self-titled third album, and in particular its head-turning lead single and music video, "I'm a Slave 4 U."
By the time 2001 rolled around, Britney Spears had a tight grip on the pop music world. Then barely out of her teens, the singer and dancer set herself apart as an entertainment force to be reckoned with, thanks to two Diamond-certified, chart-topping albums, three commercially-successful concert tours, and legions of dedicated fans.
At the forefront of Spears' takeover was an intriguing personal duality ; she had a commanding, tantalizing presence, yet charmed audiences with her Southern sweetness and sass the moment she stepped off stage. It's no coincidence that this magnetism mirrored one of her inspirations , Janet Jackson, who she'd " looked up to since [she] was a little girl." Much like Jackson, Spears' on-stage abilities and influence on the generation of pop stars since her prime has transcended race. Given Brit's hold on pop culture during her heyday, there was no escaping the gifts she had to offer: Even if you couldn't connect with her, you'd be lying if you said you couldn't see a star.
Spears continued to raise her own bar sonically and stylistically, and her first three albums, released in back-to-back-to-back years, couldn't have been a better character arc. If 1999's... Baby One More Time showcased her girl next door likability with a schoolgirl uniform and pigtails, and Oops!... I Did It Again (2000) found her slowly chipping away at her perceived purity with videos featuring chair-straddling dance solos, then Britney (2001) was the culmination of those bubblegum-wrapped eras bursting once and for all, as she proved she really was "not that innocent."
Britney 's lead single "I'm A Slave 4 U" (originally intended for Janet herself) carries a thematic double-entendre. During MTV's 2001 "Making The Video " episode for the song, Spears said it's about being "enraptured" by intoxicating music. However, it was more widely-perceived to be about the pop artist's enrapturement with an intoxicating person . After all, the track oozes sex, from the then-20 year old's lustful moans and breaths to its scorching Neptunes beat, which is reminiscent of the come-hither rhythms from Vanity 6's "Nasty Girl."
Many were introduced to Britney Jean Spears in 1993, when she was cast in the revival of The Mickey Mouse Club. After the show was canceled in 1996, she returned to Louisiana to try her hand at being a "normal" teenager, but felt unfulfilled and wanted more . After sending a recording of herself singing Whitney Houston's show-stopping "I Have Nothing" to any and every industry contact she could find, Spears signed a recording contract with Jive Records in 1997, later working with Eric Foster White over the course of a month to craft her distinctive, baby-like tone.
Her voice, image and songs were meticulously manufactured to fit the label's ideals for the All-American pop princess, which the industry expected her to uphold. This manipulation (especially as she matured and the public's attention shifted to that maturation) led to a gradual shedding of their idea of who Britney was. With sugary pop hits like Mandy Moore's "Candy" and Christina Aguilera's "What A Girl Wants" dominating the culture at the turn of the century, it's easy to see why "I'm A Slave 4 U" changed the tides -- it was a move away from what we were used to hearing not just from the Louisiana native, but from the pop music that took over airwaves and TRL at the time.
Fans collectively lost their s--t when the song's Francis Lawrence-directed video was released at the end of September, a month before the album arrived in full. In it, Spears and company occupy an empty bath house, eager to get down and party up. Clad in a hot pink crop top baring her famously toned midriff, she hits a Brian Friedman-choreographed , bellydance-influenced routine with precision. Each frame is hotter than the next, literally, as the pop star glistens with sweat, eventually ending up drenched as the scene wraps with a much-needed rain shower. Ever the performer, Spears stares piercingly into the camera throughout much of the video, giving a look that would strike fear into the Parents Television Council -- and excitement into young boys and girls around the world.
While her previous musical endeavors and performances showcased her abilities as a rising phenom, it was "I'm A Slave 4 U" — thanks largely to its video and VMA moment — that spotlighted her swan dive into palpable sexual power, uncanny self-confidence, and artistic control. Simply put: she was a grown ass woman now.
Where to Watch Official K-pop Music Videos Online? - OtakuKart
Each K-pop group comes back with an official music video. K-pop music videos have gained a lot of attention due to their storyline, electrifying visuals, and spellbound scenes. Within a minute of a music video's premiere, they get thousands of views and likes. So, have you ever wondered where to legally and officially stream K-pop music videos online?
There are different streaming means such as YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music for international fans, among which YouTube is the most popular one. Local fans, however, stream on Melon (Melon is only available in South Korea), Soribada (Korean Music Portal), Naver (South Korean search engine owned by Naver Corporation), and Genie (A south Korean company that produce and distribute music content. It is the second most music streaming service in South Korea).
Music videos on YouTube are available to watch on high quality, and most K-pop music videos have subtitles. Streaming the K-pop music videos on the mentioned websites helps the groups rank higher in the official music charts of South Korea. This, in turn, helps boost the chances of K-pop groups winning the year-end music awards.
You can even watch the official K-pop music videos on the 1theK channel. 1theK is one of the most popular Korean streaming channels owned by Kakaro M. They have tied up with various agencies, and thus while searching, their channel comes up first. This is because 1theK gives tremendous exposure to the music videos as fans of different groups follow the channel. For instance, agencies like Woolim, Wm, and Dream T, etc.
You can watch official K-pop music videos on a personalized website or app of a particular K-pop group. For instance, the official music videos of well-known k-pop groups like BTS, SEVENTEEN, TXT, Enhyphen, GFriend, etc. Under the entertainment agency, HYBE Labels can also be watched on the app called WeVerse . These views will be counted in the charts as well. Other K-pop groups such as Stray Kids , TWICE , BLACKPINK , etc., have their music videos on their respective agencies’ official websites.
Fandoms of K-pop love figures. There is always a competition of breaking the record of "Fastest Music Video to Achieve 100M views in YouTube" among them. There are certain steps to follow to pile up the views so that the streaming platform does not mark you as a BOT. The steps are as follows:
These are all the steps that need to be followed while you are streaming or watching your favorite K-pop group’s music video. The steps are mostly for Youtube. For other streaming services, there are not any such rules or restrictions.
K-pop music videos are one of the most anticipated and most viewing videos on YouTube. These music videos are the reason K-pop groups gain their popularity. Each K-pop music video generally has a theme to follow, such as girl crush, retro, temptation, etc.
Are you a pop music expert? | Stuff.co.nz
In Spotify's 2020 Wrapped, among the top 10 artists on repeat in Aotearoa were pop superstars Justin Beiber, Taylor Swift, Drake and Eminem, with homegrown SIX60 taking out number one.
This autumn, our music loving nation gets a front row seat to experience the journey of our own homegrown hopeful singer-songwriters in the reimagined Popstars television reality docu-series, making a big return after its 1999 debut - which launched TrueBliss.
Each act will be mentored by this year's Popstars panel including global pop star Kimbra, Zed frontman Nathan King and R&B crooner Vince Harder. The industry professionals, along with special guests and music royalty will share their expertise throughout.
As Kimbra told Stuff recently, there is no place for the perceived nastiness of similar TV shows. "It's different this time," she insists, explaining how the resurrected version isn't about pointing fingers and sniggering at other people's expense. "We don't believe in humiliating people."
This year the Popstars musicians will be encouraged to find their unique voice while singing a mix of popular cover songs and original tracks.
The candid, authentic confessions, challenges and performances that once captured our nation's hearts are set to do so again in what promises to be a riveting season that delivers even more extraordinary musical talent to Kiwi airwaves.
Myanmar's online pop-up markets raise funds for protest - ABC News
Online, many have found a safer, more substantive way to show their defiance against February's military takeover — virtual rummage sales whose proceeds go to the protest movement's shadow government and other related political causes.
Facebook users have taken to the social network to sell off their possessions, advertising that all the money raised will go to fund the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, formed by elected members of Parliament who were blocked from taking their seats by the coup.
The committee styles itself as the sole legitimate government of the country, rejecting the ruling junta as without legal standing. In turn, the junta has outlawed the committee and declared it treasonous, threatening to jail not just its members but anyone supporting it.
Formed from scratch shortly after the Feb. 1 coup, the CRPH needs money to carry on its organizing activities inside the country and diplomatic efforts abroad.
Even as the authorities keep narrowing access to the internet, lately limited to a relatively small number of households with fiber broadband connections, deals are still available.
Last week, one young woman was offering her collection of K-Pop music and memorabilia, especially of the band Exo. Anyone interested had to show her a receipt for a donation to CRPH, and the item would go to whoever gave the most.
"It is not very pricey but difficult to collect. If you show me your CRPH donation slip, choose anything and I will give it to you," his message read.
One group of friends advertised their collection of novels, poems and motivational books, with proceeds again going to the democracy fight and delivery "when everything becomes stable."
And it isn't just goods that are being hawked. Services are also on offer to help bankroll the struggle.
Pino Palladino, pop's greatest bassist: 'I felt like a performing monkey!' | Music | The Guardian
B y his own admission, Pino Palladino is not a man much accustomed to giving interviews. "Very reticent," he nods during a Zoom call, his accent speaking noticeably louder of his childhood in Cardiff than his current home in LA. "You know, there was a time when I was featured in all sorts of musicians' magazines, and then I just thought to myself, 'Move over, there's people out there that actually need the publicity.' Not to blow smoke up my own arse," he adds hurriedly, "but really I just didn't want to see or hear from myself."
For a musician who seems to have turned up everywhere over the last 40 years, Palladino has remained a remarkably anonymous figure outside of musicians' circles. Indeed, he somehow contrived to spend 14 years as a member of the Who without really losing what he calls an "invisible stance". He certainly stands out in photographs of the Soulquarians, the experimental collective assembled by D'Angelo for his legendary album Voodoo, the solitary lanky Welshman among a crowd of African-American musicians including Questlove and the late J Dilla – but you would still struggle to recognise him in the street.
"It took people 10 years, 20, to really get the first album we made, Voodoo, but I absolutely knew it was unique and really special – I was probably more aware of it than the rest of them, because I'd been working for a long time. I knew this kind of thing didn't come around very often."
How 1974-era LA transformed music, movies and pop culture in ‘Rock Me On The Water’
It struck Brownstein that Lear’s groundbreaking shows like “All in the Family” arrived on TV just as movie classics “The Godfather” and “Chinatown” hit theaters and the Los Angeles music scene of Joni Mitchell and the Eagles flourished on the radio and in record stores.
“I remember thinking on the way home, like, wait a minute, this was also happening at the same time,” Brownstein says. “And what became increasingly clear to me, as I read a lot of the work that had been done, was that books have looked vertically at each one of these dynamics, whether it’s the change in television, music, then movies.
“But there really wasn’t anything that explored how they all occurred simultaneously,” he says. “And what were the forces that shaped all of them, and how they interacted with each other.
The just-published “Rock Me On The Water: 1974: The Year Los Angeles Transformed Movies, Music, Television, and Politics” tells the story through deep research and more than 100 interviews Brownstein pieced together.
“For Los Angeles, those 12 glittering months represented magic hour,” Brownstein writes in the prologue, and the case he makes in the book is solid.
At the start, of course, Brownstein, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a CNN political contributor, didn’t know 1974 would end up the year of his focus.
“I knew that this change didn’t all occur in a single year,” he says. “This is obviously a multi-year process. So I literally sat there with legal pads — I still have them somewhere upstairs — and kind of listed the movies and the albums and the TV of each year from like 1970 through 1975.
“I felt ’74 was both when most of this relevant stuff happened, but also it was kind of the apex in the sense that ’75, in a lot of different ways, is when the current begins to go in another direction,” Brownstein says. “It was just a year of incredible pop culture mastery and achievement, but also, it was the last year before this starts to slip away.”
Another chapter looks at the winds of change that would blow aside Hollywood auteurs such as “Nashville” director Robert Altman in favor of blockbuster wunderkinds such as Stephen Spielberg, who was making “Jaws.”
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