ARTV: #1 hits have lost all meaning

[Hebi 13,928]

I've listened to almost every single #1 song and many of them are forgotten and didn't even make sense to hit that spot for some but here we are. People's taste changes all the time (new generations likes simpler explicit songs) and it's been like that since like the beggining, there's just a few #1 that stands out for its message or sound or lenght overall. In a few words, this is nothing recent.

For me #1 songs are a symbol of the current generation of music and that's why they matters

[socotra 3,310]

I personally think the Rolling Stone 100 is a much better metric of what's actually popular because it excludes all passive listening (i.e. radio). i think high-turnover at the top spot and a ton of #1 debuts is just the reality of streaming. streaming's done a few things that changes how people make hits:

- far less pressure to produce an "era"; you can legit just upload an album whenever. no need to do a ton of prep or promotion

- much greater access to music + the "For You" recommendations gives you new music constantly; it's much harder to achieve longevity nowadays cuz people are always getting new songs/albums

- you only need a plurality to get a #1; without radio, it's likelier than not that most people aren't even gonna recognize what the "Top 10" is. For example, a song could go #1 with just 5% of total American listeners giving it a stream. That's just the nature of splintered market where one song can only appeal to so many people.

Take "The Box" for example – super long running song, but if you interviewed people randomly on the streets of LA, how many people would know it? Probably a relatively small segment of the population – younger people who like rap.