Same with Travis Scott, Taylor Swift and Jay Z, all selling side-products to artificially boost download numbers. Present-day payola, not yet regulated by any entity, how dare they.

It’s numbers manipulation though, plain and simple. But he wouldn’t if not for viral dance clips and memes (true Internet democracy in action). Sure, Drake finds himself on the top of the charts consistently. Electronic artists - shunned almost entirely by labels, radio and media until Paul Oakenfold worked with Madonna - can now be found on commercials, in airport lobbies, layered under everything from rock anthems to rap’s greatest hits. Now, long shot artists like Post Malone can be considered both. What many didn’t see was how things would change when fans broke out of the trap to craft an identity all their own. You listened to either A or B, pop or rock, hip-hop or country. Hell, even decades before that, no one blinked an eye when rock stars would inhale blocks of cocaine on tour buses or throw televisions out of hotel windows because it drove a specific narrative - it gave people both a train wreck to relentlessly watch and consume while emptying their pockets to keep the dream alive.Ĭhoices were few and far between though. She’d show her face on MTV’s TRL, “coincidentally” come out with an emotionally captivating story via Rolling Stone, and then trickle in a little drama between her and Justin Timberlake to satiate fans’ need for a little chaos. When Britney Spears released a single, the entire world knew it. They’d find a talent, any talent, manufacture a hit song based off of psychological fuckery, and then shove them down the throats of every teenage American to consume en masse. It used to be easy for labels to rocket their artists to the top. It’s an identity crisis long in the making.

Major labels have lost control of what’s considered #1, and it has them scrambling to do away with the old and sign the new. What you’ll see is something going on in music that hasn’t happened in, well, ever.

When you get a spare minute, head over to the Spotify or Apple Music streaming charts.

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