🎙️ Songs That Don’t Suck – Episode 57

📊 Chart Trends, Spanish Covers, and Rock’s Righteous Return

Welcome, fellow sonic seekers! Episode 57 is loaded with everything we love: industry deep-dives, thoughtful music stats, and five fresh songs that restore faith in modern music.

Mark Bradbourne opens with a sharp look at 2023’s listening data and how genres are shifting—with rock and country climbing the charts and hip-hop’s dominance dipping. Spoiler: there’s hope for real music yet.

📈 Streaming Stats That Matter

Sourced from Chart Cipher (with Luminate data) and Chartmetric:

🎤 Genre Breakdown (2023):

Hip-hop & Pop: Tied at 27%
Country: Up from 8% to 20% 📈
Rock: Up from 12% to 19% 🔥
R\&B (9%), Latin (6%), Dance (3%)

🧠 Insight: Hip-hop dropped from 58% in 2020 to 27% in 2023. That’s wild. Meanwhile, country and rock are on the rise—especially bro country, though Mark hopes that fades fast. 🙏

📝 Lyrical & Musical Changes:

Less repetition = fewer “Single Ladies” clones
More major keys = brighter, happier songs 🌞
If that trend continues, 2024 might sound a lot more uplifting.

🚨 Career Odds for New Artists:

Only 0.05% of undiscovered artists leveled up to mid-tier or mainstream.
872 YEARS of music were uploaded to Spotify 🤯

🎧 This Week’s Songs That Don’t Suck

1. Ego – Paige Fish

🎤 Indie-blues meets singer-songwriter grace

Found by Mark’s daughter Jenna (great ear!)
Bonnie Raitt vibes + a silky instrumental feel
Paige writes her own music and it shows—great lyrics and dynamic range
A promising artist with emotional depth

💡 For fans of: Bonnie Raitt, Brandi Carlile, Americana with polish

2. Give It Back to Me – Francis of Delirium

🌀 Melancholy, indie-pop longing done right

Peter Gabriel-style structure (yes, really)
Gorgeous vocal cracks add rawness in the chorus
Emotional swell builds to an evocative drop
Understated power in every note

💫 For fans of: Mitski, Florence Welch, slow-burn indie ballads

3. Tomar El Mundo – Johnnyswim

🇪🇸 Spanish remake of an English favorite

Spanish version of “Take the World” = romantic dynamite
Abner and Amanda’s chemistry shines in both languages
A rare case where translation adds extra magic
Also check the B-side, written for Abner’s parents ❤️

🎶 For fans of: The Civil Wars, romantic duets, language that sings

4. Glitching Prisms – Night Verses (feat. Brandon Boyd)

🎛️ Prog-rock thunder meets Incubus vocals

Instrumental trio + Brandon Boyd = YES
Thought it was new Incubus at first—turns out, it’s just awesome
Complex rhythm, textured guitars, otherworldly vocals
Bonus: Incubus dropped a new track, “Echo” → linked in show notes

⚡ For fans of: Tool, Karnivool, Incubus, atmospheric prog

5. Dark Matter – Pearl Jam

🎸 Grunge revival with verses-era energy

Feels like vintage Pearl Jam—aggressive and alive
Think Go, Animal, Rearviewmirror era
Strong hooks (finally!), classic Eddie snarl
Mark’s spinning this one on repeat—so should you

🤘 For fans of: Classic Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog, Seattle sound

💬 …and I quote…

“Artists uploaded 872 years of music to Spotify—that’s more time than between da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Beyoncé’s Renaissance.”
— Mark Bradbourne

Thanks for tuning in to Songs That Don’t Suck. Mark’s still sifting through the noise so you don’t have to.

Until next week—keep searching for and listening to songs that don’t suck. 🎧🔥

Episode 57 Recap