Briton Ed Sheeran became the first solo artist to reach 100 million Spotify subscribers in July. At the same time, his four songs are among the 21 most streamed tracks in the popular platform’s history. Topping the charts? Unspeakable tinnitus your shapeIt has been listened to at least 3.2 billion times on Spotify since its release in January 2017.
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We’ve never had access to music so easily, so easily. On my state-of-the-art phone, I can listen to any song I can think of instantly and for free (if I want) on a streaming platform or YouTube. The possibilities are endless. A human jukebox of Gregory Charles’ caliber couldn’t beat that.
A recent single from Backwash or an old piece from ’70s Quebec progressive rock band Maniege? There is nothing more to say. Looking at the steps By Dominic Mitchell, guest on Saturday Live from the universe ? In no time to say, behold, behold, Julien Sagot. (No, for those wondering, I have never re-subscribed to Spotify. I’m still not interested in supporting misinformation from Joe Rogan and his followers.)
We’ve never had access to so many songs, and the fifth of the 21 most-listened-to songs on Spotify, the world’s most popular digital music platform, is by Ed Sheeran. Along with Toronto’s Drake and The Weeknd, his songs accounted for 40% of the same chart.
Although we estimate that 60,000 new songs appear every day, the same handful of pop artists top the listening charts year after year, with some variations. This leads many observers to say that, as counterintuitive as it may seem, our musical horizons are not being expanded, but rather limited by the overwhelming choices offered by streaming platforms.
Faced with an infinite panoply of musical propositions, we fall back on what we know, on our fixed values. Even though the entire popular music universe is available to us, we love our sandals. According to a 2015 study on music habits, what’s trending in pop music today, whether it’s Harry Styles or Bad Bunny or whatever is causing a stir among our 33-year-olds.
Has online listening made it difficult to discover new music? A London daily was surprised on Monday the guardian, the first in a series of articles on the current state of music. “Platforms like Spotify or Apple Music give us access to the entire history of popular music. But has this access made us lazy? asked critic Alexis Petridis.
These are good questions, as I sometimes ask myself when I’m jogging and listening to David Bowie’s entire catalog in random mode, uninterested in the week’s music releases. Or I’ll go back to my 23 years and album Fever in, fever out By Lucius Jackson, while cleaning my yard in place of an album published in the current century.
Laziness is never to approach my CD collection again, it’s gathering dust in the basement. CD, by the way, celebrates its 40th anniversary this month, even if it’s ready for the graveyard (as Claude Rajotte says). However, it has its uses. Not because I have everything at my fingertips, on a digital platform, but because I have a reflex to spontaneously seek out things that don’t cross my mind.
Man is an impressive bug. He lets mysterious algorithms guide his music selections, and the soundtracks of popular TV shows decide which of the songs from the past will be relegated to oblivion. In 2022, take note the guardianThe most effective way to promote a song is to hope that it gets picked up for a TV show, movie or commercial.
So, thank you Stranger Things, Running Up That HillA modest hit from 1985 by Kate Bush, 2022 has become the most popular song of early summer. Right down the lineA little-known 1978 play by Gerry Rafferty that has a second wind with fans of the series Unpleasant. Among the younger ones, innovation often goes through TikTok, which, nearly 40 years later, has become unbearably popular again. Mr. Telephone Man From New Edition (with the boys from Yes, Yes, Bobby Brown and Bel Biv Divo).
Better to never (re)discover it.
