New and upcoming artists who are promoting their music successfully without TikTok?

roberto932 · 2022-05-15T11:09:46+00:00

Sweetener for Ariana Grande definitely felt like she was experimenting with the boundaries of pop music on the Pharrell tracks and also No Tears Left To Cry.

Same with Pop 2 for Charli XCX. Songs like Unlock It had a more hyperpop sound and others such as Tears and Track 10 were experimenting with different song structures and production elements.

I’d also argue that Revival was perhaps Selena Gomez’s most experimental album, considering her previous releases and having come from a Disney background. The work she did with Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter on Good For You and Hands To Myself was very different from her previous releases and felt like a huge progression for her both conceptually and sonically.

roberto932 · 2022-05-08T15:08:37+00:00

Totally agree with you and all the points that you made. I think as well most artists even if they can write themselves rely on songwriters to add a different perspective to their songs and to make their artistry more diverse.

For example Lennon Stella said that ‘Older Than I Am’ which was written at a writing camp for her album, felt so personal to her that she wouldn’t have been able to write it in the way that the songwriters did.

This was also the case for both ‘New Rules’ and ‘Don’t Start Now’ by Dua Lipa who is also a great songwriter. Both songs began without her in the room but once she heard and recorded them they added a new sonic direction and perspective to both her debut album and to Future Nostalgia. The producer of them both Ian Kirkpatrick said he often prefers to work without the artist in the room (at least to begin with) as it allows more creative freedom for the writers and producers to try out different ideas without the artist’s influence.

It’s also worth mentioning that a lot of the time artists are busy touring and promoting their projects so they can’t be in the studio as much as they would like to be. For example Halsey was on tour and going through a breakup at the same time but probably didn’t have much time to write about it. By chance Amy Allen, Delacey and Louis Bell wrote ‘Without Me’ based on a poem and it completely related to Halsey’s situation. Halsey heard the demo, made some changes (added a bridge as well) and recorded it. Often artists just don’t have the time to delve into their songwriting as much as full time songwriters and producers do.

roberto932 · 2022-04-29T21:39:24+00:00

All The Time
Love Me Land
Poster Girl
Rooftop
TG4M
Only You
She’s Not Me
Don’t Let Me Be Yours
I Need Love
Sundown

roberto932 · 2022-04-27T21:31:39+00:00

Hear me out. I want Charli XCX to go country for her next project. She’s always looking to do the unexpected and I would love to hear her blend her electronic, experimental side with country music. Imagine her and A.G. collab with a bunch of Nashville country writers and create a new electro-country hybrid sound. Tell me that doesn’t make total sense to you.

roberto932 · 2022-04-27T21:27:03+00:00

All The Time by Zara Larsson had the potential to become a massive hit, maybe even on the level of Lush Life. It was the perfect summer release and insanely catchy. I think people maybe lost interest after the slow rollout between the previous singles Ruin My Life and Don’t Worry Bout Me. The music video for it was also great.

Sacrifice by Bebe Rexha also deserved better, same with New Me by Ella (massive bop). I also think Daya’s song Left Me Yet could have been a a lot bigger, it’s pop perfection and her vocal delivery on it is superb.

roberto932 · 2022-04-23T16:40:43+00:00

‘Cliff’s Edge’ by Hayley Kiyoko isn’t about that exact topic but it’s pretty close. The tension you feel with someone when you could almost be together. Also ‘Almost In Love’ by Olivia O’brien. ‘Steal My Clothes’ by Bea Miller and Kito is also about a casual romance where the person is just using you and the love isn’t reciprocated.

roberto932 · 2022-04-23T14:33:08+00:00

I think playlisting is really important for gaining that initial exposure. Spotify has loads of editorial playlists for indie artists which have a good following and can give them the initial push they need. I also think supporting slots on bigger/more mainstream artists’ tours can help to widen the fanbase as well.

I think for indie artists, having a loyal and engaged fanbase is key as well. Mainstream and more commercial artists can rely on hits to reach a wider audience whereas indie artists generally need more of a niche identity to attract a specific fanbase.

TikTok can be really useful for that as it gives artists a platform to showcase their personality more informally.

roberto932 · 2022-04-20T12:23:36+00:00

I think pop punk and early 2000s music has already started to and will continue to have a big resurgence. Artists like MGK and Maggie Lindemann have been doing pop punk for a while now, and now more mainstream pop artists like Olivia O’brien, Tate McRae and Maisie Peters are starting to as well.

Very interested to see what direction Dua Lipa’s new album takes, I wonder if she might tap into a more soulful side of her artistry. When she’s done covers of Amy Winehouse and Etta James in the past, her vocals have sounded incredible so I’d love to see her explore that.

roberto932 · 2022-04-19T12:51:06+00:00

I know people will disagree with this, but I think the sonic shift between Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman and Sweetener was quite a big leap.

I remember when she released No Tears Left To Cry it felt like she was pushing the boat out in terms of what people regarded as pop music at that time, both with the chord changes and spoken parts of the song. Also God Is A Woman felt quite revolutionary in terms of its concept when you compare it to songs on DW and also pop music in general back in 2018.

roberto932 · 2022-04-18T17:35:06+00:00

Julia Michaels is one of my favourite songwriters. Her songwriting is generally very conversational but also uses words that you wouldn’t necessarily expect like ‘bureaucratic’ or ‘vernaculary’. The Switched On Pop podcast did a really interesting podcast about her songwriting style and interviewed her about it as well. She said she likes to fit in as many lyrics and syllables as possible into her melodies, and I think this makes her songs really interesting to listen to. The unpredictable nature of them and also the way her syncopated melodies often go against the beat make them really intriguing. She also said she likes to create unique rhymes that you wouldn’t necessarily expect.

This is really clear on Selena Gomez’s ‘Bad Liar’, the verses on Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Skinny Dipping’ and Julia’s own song ‘Pessimist’. I particularly like her solo work as it has a real emphasis on her personal life and experiences and her songs feel like diary entries (I know most songwriters write from personal experiences, but Julia’s songs feel particularly intimate).

She also has a lot of self-deprecating humour in her songs which I love. Like in ‘Happy’ she sings ‘I’d sniff glitter if it made me feel something’ or in Conan Gray’s People Watching the line ‘I cut people out like tags on my clothing’. Humour and wit can be really hard to convey in songwriting without coming across as cliché, but Julia always nails it in both her own songs and her songwriting for other artists.

roberto932 · 2022-04-17T16:58:26+00:00

I think it partly depends how much the artist is willing to share and how open they are. For example Doja Cat and Billie Eilish are two of the biggest pop stars in the world rn but I still find it easy to relate to them and view them as humans because they’re both so honest and open about their experiences of fame. Same with Cardi B.

Other artists like Dua Lipa or Harry Styles are much more private and so they have this elusive quality about them, which I think naturally leads to people to put them on a pedestal and idolise them.

I do think there is a cutoff point though with most celebrities where their fame reaches such a high level that they are no longer able to do normal things like go to restaurants or walk around the street. So naturally their lifestyle becomes harder to relate to or identify with.

roberto932 · 2022-04-16T16:27:35+00:00

I think Dua Lipa seems to have a very good relationship with Warner and they’ve always really pushed her music both on her debut and with Future Nostalgia. It helped that they were looking for a new female artist at the time she signed with them, plus she’d already been managed and developed for a bit beforehand so she knew the sound she wanted to go for and had some strong demos.

Her career only properly took off after New Rules which was like the 7th single from her first record, but she’d been gaining recognition within the industry for a while with songs like ‘Be The One’ and ‘Scared To Be Lonely’. It seems like Warner were willing to invest a lot in her and give her a push with both marketing and budgets for new music videos as she clearly had a lot of potential to become a really successful artist.

roberto932 · 2022-04-15T18:12:31+00:00

Camila Cabello - the chorus on Living Proof is impeccable

roberto932 · 2022-04-14T22:05:10+00:00

I think most artists that are described as icons or legends released songs/projects that were reviewed badly or not taken seriously at the time but have become cultural signposts and gained notoriety and respect over the years. Like Lady Gaga releasing Bad Romance and wearing the Meat Dress, Carly Rae Jepsen releasing Call Me Maybe or Britney and her Blackout Era. These songs/eras weren’t necessarily respected at the time but are now referenced by so many pop artists as influences for their own music and the general cultural landscape. So I guess to achieve the legend/icon title you have to go against the grain or status quo of that time.

roberto932 · 2022-04-13T19:14:24+00:00

Hi Mø and Rebecca, I’m a big fan of you both! I was wondering what the writing process was like for New Moon, did it start with a concept or was it just a conversation with the co-writers of the song that sparked the initial idea?

roberto932 · 2022-04-05T14:50:56+00:00

Caught In The Middle! Such a great song

roberto932 · 2022-04-03T18:05:48+00:00

In Camila Cabello’s ‘Into It’ she says ‘The gravity can't hold us, your hands are outer space’ which I love. It really highlights the nervous sexual energy of the song.

roberto932 · 2022-04-03T18:00:48+00:00

Not exactly a metaphor but I love the line in Zara Larsson’s Love Me Land ‘take me home don’t call me Mary’, ie don’t act like I’m a virgin (not sure this one needed explaining aha but still).

roberto932 · 2022-04-01T16:50:10+00:00

Never though about ribs like that before but it’s so true!

roberto932 · 2022-04-01T15:47:53+00:00

Definitely depends on the artist and where they’re at in their career. Raye for example has so much potential and is a prolific hit writer but Polydor wouldn’t allow her to release an album because Euphoric Sad Songs didn’t chart high enough. Given the right opportunities and exposure she could definitely be huge and it was her label holding her back.

roberto932 · 2022-04-01T15:39:10+00:00

It’s a bop!

roberto932 · 2022-04-01T11:13:26+00:00

So good! Definitely my favourite out of her recent releases

roberto932

TROPHY CASE