When Producers Become the Headliners
Pop music has always depended on producers, but the traditional hierarchy is changing. For decades, the singer was the public…
Pop’s New Visual Language: Ultra-Low-Budget Aesthetics
For decades, a major pop release was supposed to look expensive. Music videos relied on elaborate sets, large crews, cinematic…
DJ Beba: Building a Borderless Sound From Rock, Pop, and Electronic Energy
DJ Beba is an emerging German singer, songwriter, producer, and musical shape-shifter whose catalog resists easy classification. He blends the…
Algorithm-Proof Pop Artists
For years, pop music has been moving toward optimization. Songs often get to the chorus faster, intros have become shorter,…
The New Post-Copyright Era in Pop
Copyright is not disappearing from pop music. But some artists are experimenting with a very different idea of what ownership…
Favorite Type of Music in Each State
What’s your favorite type of music? Mental Floss recently broke out the data in each state so you can see…
Erin LeCount Is Making Dark, Intelligent Pop That Deserves a Bigger Audience
Some emerging artists sound like they are searching for an identity. Erin LeCount sounds like she already found hers. The…
Chloe Qisha Looks Increasingly Like a Fully Formed Pop Star Waiting for the Bigger Break
Every few years, an emerging artist arrives who does not particularly look or sound like someone learning how to become…
Jason Isbell’s Lawsuit Against Suno Marks a New Front in the AI Music Fight
Singer-songwriter Jason Isbell is leading a group of musicians in a lawsuit against AI music generator Suno, arguing that the…
Baby Nova Is Building the Kind of Buzz That Can Turn Into a Pop Breakthrough
Pop careers rarely arrive fully formed. More often, there is a period when the audience is growing, tastemakers are paying…