BI: “This years biggest hits sound stale”

[ThisGuyTony 29,884]

It's official: Pop fans are suffering through a dry spell.

By this time last year, we had already been treated to a veritable feast of summertime smashes and breakout stars.

Even though we're halfway through the year, most of the hits at the very top of the Hot 100 were produced last year. Brand new music is struggling to gain relevance, let alone hold onto it.

Alex Warren's grandiose power ballad, "Ordinary," is apparently the biggest song in the US right now. But much as its title suggests, "Ordinary" lacks friction, creativity, or any hint of a cool factor — crucial ingredients in the special sauce that propels a warm-weather bop to "song of the summer" status.

"Ordinary" has failed to capture the zeitgeist in any meaningful way; rather, it belongs to the same derivative, gospel-adjacent subgenre of pop that has also spawned hits like Benson Boone's "Beautiful Things" and Teddy Swims' "Lose Control." This is the kind of music you hear a lot in the grocery store and the dentist's office.

This year's biggest hits sound stale

A one-week reign at No. 1 usually signals that a song that can spark curiosity — of course, when it comes to A-listers, tons of people will listen to their new releases no matter what — but may not have the power to hold their attention. The issue is that neither "What I Want" nor "Manchild" offers anything fresh or particularly stimulating. Both songs rehash sounds and themes that Wallen and Carpenter have repeatedly explored.

Political chaos created an overstimulated audience

Pop music has always been cyclical; one could argue that 2025 is simply the ebb to 2024's flow. However, the dramatic political vibe shift has also played a role.

Last summer, Charli XCX declared that "Kamala IS Brat," a lesbian pop star enjoyed historic concert crowds, and Swift's Eras Tourcontinued to gush with feminine joy and friendship bracelets. In January, President Donald Trump's inauguration hastened the arrival of an era that looks and feels very different. The cultural consciousness is now dominated by mass deportation and multiple wars across the world.

"Regardless of people's preferences in terms of politics, 2024 just felt so much more optimistic. That's why you saw 'Brat' and the Kamala effect, and it all created an atmosphere that invited feel-good, confident music, and people just wanted relief and celebration," Badmus-Wellington said. "Now, it's just so distracting, because you have people's rights being violated and threatened, and people are just so anxious in many ways. That's leading back into the overstimulation of constant political noise."

https://www.businessinsider.com/song-of-the-summer-billboard-hot-100-pop-music-analysis-2025-7?utm_source=reddit.com

[Ladle Ghoulash 22,950]

Hence why Abra (and more of the tracks from MAYHEM) should be bigger hits 

[Lextyr97 19,824]

I blame Trump. Why? Idk but I blame him anyways. 

[LG2008 5,079]

Gaga should've released multiple singles atp and idk why she never shoots a bunch of videos back to back so she has some material to keep her eras going. She should have at least 4 or 5 visual albums at this point in her career

Edited Wednesday at 04:54 PM by LG2008

[Hydrangea 6,206]

We need more gaga glam pop and less basic men singing over a tired country banjo moment 

 

[nodandsmile 10,499]

everybody and their mamas released last year, country, Hip-Hop, Pop everything thriving... this year can only be boring in comparison 

[Lucas 26,596]

No lies found, the music industry is probably at the worst it's ever been. It's such a snooze fest, half-assed songs that last 2:30, no music videos, max 2/3 singles, success relies only on TikTok, minimum promo and performances from artists, no risk taking, no creativity, always the same formula, charts are absolutely ****ed up and are no reflection of true hits... BOOOOOOOOOOOORING

[RenegAde 19,120]

Im sure i made a thread about this and got dragged 

[Bronco 10,629]

The charts are dead. Bot farms on streaming, radio irrelevance and the slow death of nightclubbing killed them. 

They bare little resemblance to the real world for most of us. 

[HotLikeMexico 5,149]

I defended Gaga for years but at the point it’s frustrating that since AP, there only like 2 singles and maybe 3 videos if we are lucky per era. 

Edited Wednesday at 05:02 PM by HotLikeMexico

[gagzus 15,828]

I think we need a new recession pop era to be kick started time to get back to the clubs and partying anthems

[Rahrahbitchson 19,472]

And? Start streaming Abracadabra then

[Nycboy 1,090]

I agree that brat summer will go down in the history books but I believe the relationship between music and politics last year was a sheer coincidence. It’s not like Charli planned brat knowing that Kamala was going to run for president… lol. Everything just fell into place at the same time, and the music was already there to soundtrack our life. Brat was popular because it’s a great album and Charli did a phenomenal job marketing it. Let’s not credit it’s success to Kamala/Trump. It’s not like Sabrina released S&S knowing that 2024 would be an “optimistic” year and that her album would fit the mood. Albums take years to create, and she’s releasing another album this year so how do you explain that? Also they’re comparing the BBH100 of this year to last year and I think Charli was barely in the top 10 last year? Is political chaos really creating an overstimulated audience that lead to boring music? Because on my TikTok all I see are people complaining that there isn’t a song of the summer…the appetite is there. Where does Addison, PinkPanthress and Miley fit into this narrative? When Gaga released Mayhem only a few months ago the media wouldn’t shut up about recession music (aka just normal pop) making a comeback…what happened to that narrative? Honestly these takes are so thoughtless. Is it that hard to believe that pop stars just keep making pop music no matter what the political climate is???

Edited Wednesday at 05:34 PM by Nycboy

[gagafan1394 96]

why does this confirm for me that MAYHEM is the best pop album we've gotten this year lol 

[gagafan1394 96]

5 minutes ago, Nycboy said:

 Where does Addison, PinkPanthress and Miley fit into this narrative? When Gaga released Mayhem only a few months ago the media wouldn’t shut up about recession music (aka just normal pop) making a comeback…what happened to that narrative? Honestly these takes are so thoughtless. Is it that hard to believe that pop stars just keep making pop music no matter what the political climate is???

I agree with this. especially about Pinkpantheress, she's having a big come up moment and is continuing to draw big crowds and MORE fans than her boy is a liar pt. 2 moment

Edited Wednesday at 05:35 PM by gagafan1394