Episode 101

Welcome to Songs That Don’t Suck, with your host, Mark Bradbourne. – What’s up friends? Welcome to Songs That Don’t Suck. My name is Mark, I am your host, and every week I listen to hundreds and hundreds of newly released songs. And this week I’ve got a few things I wanna talk about before I get into the first tracks of the year, because we’re gonna talk about season three of Songs That Don’t Suck. We’re gonna talk about some shitty things that Spotify is doing, and I wanna compare my notes to some music journalists notes as far as 2024 was concerned.

So let’s get into it.

Now, for the state of the podcast for season three, I feel like with two years behind us, we’ve settled into a pretty good groove. I’m not planning on making any huge format changes this year. I feel like I really like the way the podcast is structured, but the only challenge that I have, which I think I now have a solid plan for to overcome, is when I have the week where the music sucks, where I can’t find songs that I feel are worthy of your ears. Now the last two seasons, there have been at least two weeks each year, I think that I couldn’t find any songs that I really liked. And when this happens, I go into a bit of a panic mode ’cause I have to get creative. I have such a short runway between when the new music is released to the day that I publish. So it’s Friday when the new music comes out. I’m reviewing music Friday, Saturday, Sunday, I record, and then Monday, the podcast comes out. If I can’t come to a determination for songs, it’s panic time. So I was thinking about this, and a couple of times last season, if you’re a long-time listener, you may have caught me mentioning the idea of starting a second podcast. And that podcast was going to be based on classic albums. And I got to thinking about it, I’m like, man, that’s gonna be a lot of work to manage two podcasts, honestly. So I think the best plan is to actually use that idea as substitute episodes for when the new music is not up to par. So I’m gonna happily announce that the idea of classic albums that don’t suck will make its appearance this year when we have really shitty music weeks. Awesome, I’m looking forward to that. I hope you are too. It’ll be a fun retrospective of some of the iconic classic albums of all time. I’ve got a very long list that I’m starting to do research on to formulate those podcasts. So I basically have them in my pocket, and they will be ready to go.

So I also close every episode, if you were a long-time listener, by saying that you need to go out and support these artists. Now, what do I actually mean by that? Because it’s far more than streaming their music. Streaming music isn’t enough. We have to buy their music. Physical media is important. And the more and more I think about it, the idea of renting art really bothers me. So we have to get out of this mindset, we have to go purchase it. This year, I also encourage you to go out and see these bands that I turn you on to when they play shows in your town. It’s important, go buy their merch, either through their website or at the shows. Then wear the merch and interact with their social media posts and then tell your friends about them. All of these things help us support those artists that we really, really like. And I did that a lot last year. I plan to do it a lot this year. I hope you will join me in that endeavor.

Now, before we get into the best of 2024, I want you to bear something in mind. The idea of Payola is alive and well. Now, if you’re not familiar with this concept, back in the early days, music labels would bribe DJs to play songs to gain fans and listeners. It was underhanded and it was illegal. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not happening anymore, even though it’s been banned. It’s mutated. Spotify has what they call discovery mode, which allows artists and labels to forgo payments in favor of having higher value in the algorithm. So when you feel like a song is getting pushed to you, this is probably the leading reason as to why. They’re paying for exposure, but it goes deeper than discovery mode. There is the idea of sponsored songs and native advertising where tracks that appear in playlists as if they were naturally selected, when in fact their placement was purchased. Through all of this, it makes music discovery more difficult because you’re being pushed these songs that the industry wants you to hear, just the same way that Payola did back in the ’50s. And it’s not necessarily based on what you might like. The laws around Payola have to be updated is all I can kind of come up with. So that all artists have a fair shake. It’s based on actual fandom. It’s based on good music and not just who has the deepest pockets or honestly, who can forgo royalties. So as I started to look at the best of 2024, it was very hard for me not to question who played with the algorithm and who actually earned it.

And while we’re on the topic of shady shit that Spotify is doing, Spotify is also using the concept of ghost artists to shape listener habits. Journalist named Liz Pelly initially posted an article on Harper’s called “The Ghost and the Machine” and she’s quoted saying this, quote, “What I’d uncovered was an elaborate internal program, Spotify, I discovered, not only has partnerships with a web of production companies, which as one of their former employees put it, provides Spotify with music we benefited from financially, but also has a team of employees working to seed these tracks on playlists across the platform. In doing so, they are effectively working to grow the percentage of total streams of music that is cheaper for the platform. The program’s name is called Perfect Fit Content or PFC. The PFC program raises troubling prospects for working musicians, but it also raises worrying questions for all of us who listen to music. It puts forth an image for, I’m sorry, it puts forth an image of a future in which as streaming services push music further into the background, it normalizes anonymous low-cost playlist filler. The relationship between listener and artist might be severed completely,” unquote. Now, apparently after a year of testing this PFC, it was presented to Spotify’s editors as one of the company’s ideas to make money. And according to this former employee who was interviewed, like a couple months later, a new column showed up on their kind of analytics dashboard that editors use to track internal playlists. And the dashboard is where they could see like plays, like skips, saves, things like that. But right at the top of the page, editors could see how well each playlist used music commission to fit certain playlists/moods with improved margins. And that’s how PFC was described internally. Man, it just breaks my heart. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Spotify just is really selling its soul to the devil and not serving the art. It’s being run by being counters and accountants rather than people who love music. And it’s sad because I don’t know that there’s much we can do to turn the tide at this point because companies like Sony and LG have stopped producing CD players and DVD players and Blu-ray players. The only thing being produced right now are turntables in any great number. So it’s like we’re all renting our art. We’re kind of handcuffed to this big dog on the block and we are at its mercy. It’s troubling. But I’m sure throughout this year, I’m gonna be talking about this because I’m sure more and more of this really, really gross stuff is gonna come to the surface.

So let’s take a quick look back at 2024 from the music industry’s perspective. All of the major music media people released lists and I never expect to have a large overlap but it’s always fun to look and see like what I found versus what they say is the best of the year. Because we all know they listen to this podcast and the problem is they can’t make the tough picks like I can because I don’t monetize my podcast. I don’t allow advertising on my podcast. It’s just me and the music. So here we go. Rolling Stone will start there. They released their top 100 songs of the year. There was a 4% overlap because I can do that math ’cause it was four songs on the top 100. Hoziers’ Too Sweet, Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things, Nada Surf’s In Front Of Me Now, which I thought was awesome that they put on their top 100 and Black Crows Wanting and Waiting. So four good ones that I had on the podcast but really glad to see Nada Surf included in that. New York Times released their top 25, not one song. The Guardian over in the UK released a list of 20 songs and we shared one song shockingly and it was Claros, Sexy to Someone. NPR released their list, 124 songs. We had three songs that were the same. Fawn’s Track, Hey, Kukule, which was a cool find this year, a little progressive rock thing going on. Claros, Sexy to Someone makes a second appearance and Iron and Wines All In Good Time, which featured Fiona Apple was on NPR’s list. Time Out Magazine released a list of 25 songs. We had Two In Common, Maggie Rogers Don’t Forget Me and Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things. And then lastly, I mean, I could go on and on but the last one is Paste Magazine. They released 100 best tracks of the year and Claros, Sexy to Someone was the only one we shared. So, chalk up another year of having superior taste to the industry professionals. This does not shock me and it shouldn’t shock you if you’re a long time listener.

But with that, let’s go ahead and get into the new music for this year, shall we?

The first song this year is I Hate Myself by the Darkness. Yes, the Darkness are back with a ripper of a single. To me, as I’m listening to this, it screams Meatloaf. The guitar riff, like that chunky, nananananananananana. There’s a sax solo in here, super catchy bouncy chorus. Like it’s all Meatloaf, it’s 70s camp, it’s great. Justin Hawkins lead singer is in full voice, as he should be, he’s an amazing rock vocalist. And the whole track just makes you wanna move. I was driving around today and just listening to this and I’m sure my car was bouncing and it looked ridiculous from the back end ’cause it’s just one of those tracks. Now, the darkness have been putting out music since their big hit back in 2003, which was I believe, I think called Love, but they just haven’t recaptured the mainstream’s audience or their attention in the same way. But honestly, I could see this track potentially bringing them back to light if the algorithm in charge pushes it to the right people. It’s a banger. Here’s a taste.

The second song this week is Flower Power Madness from Royal Republic. This is Campy Funk. It’s got smart lyrics and I’m just like, give it to me. This is so good. But there is something really familiar about this track that I just can’t put my finger on it. It is evading my brain and it’s driving me nuts. But just like the last track from The Darkness, this one absolutely forces you to move. It’s just kind of pushing energy out in buckets and it’s really taking no prisoners from that sense. There’s a great lyric in this song. Every time I hear it, I just have to sing along. The singer is like, somebody call a doctor, this beat is fucking sick. And I’m like, and then right after that is this amazing little bass lick solo thing before the chorus slams back in. The whole thing is, it’s just a great, great groove. So check out a little bit of Flower Power Madness.

The third song this week is Rainbows from Dead Pony. Now, there is an industrial edge to this as I’m listening to it. It reminds me a little bit of Nine Inch Nails, but then the vocal comes in and completely throws that to the side. And it’s like this really fresh pop sound that has this industrial edge. It’s really cool. This is the kind of stuff that I love to find from a week to week basis. It takes some of the best things from the past, kind of reinvents it, throws it in a blender and makes it their own. It’s things like this that I think push real music forward. Now, there are some production things here with the vocal, which are reminiscent of some of the more modern pop stuff, like auto-tune things here and there. But stylistically, it fits on what’s being done. And I think it’s done to great effect here. So check out a little bit of Rainbows from Dead Pony.

The fourth song this week is If You’re Gonna Swing from Ace Monroe. Now, you know it’s hard for me to resist a great all-American rock band who are carrying the standard for what I feel is rock and roll. Well, meet Ace Monroe. I’m gonna throw them on the rock and roll bus with bands like The Bites, Dirty Honey, The Band Feel, all those bands that I’ve mentioned in the past that are putting out new rock, this is it. It’s great stuff. Great rock riff, gritty vocals, great chorus. What else do you need, right? Like this is rock, this is what I want. Now, the first song where I discovered these guys over the break was a song called Bad News off their last album in 2023. But as luck had it, this new song, If You’re Gonna Swing came out in anticipation of the new album that is coming out in 2025. So either way, you were gonna hear from them this week, but I’m glad it was the new song as I like to push out the new music. So here is a little teaser of If You’re Gonna Swing.

The fifth song this week is One More Time from Cait Leary. Now, listening to this, for me, it feels like a slightly rockier Go-Gos, but if you think about it, the Go-Gos started as a punk band before the producers got ahold of them and turned them into kind of the pop rock princesses that they became. Now, had they not done that, would this be closer to what the Go-Gos’ sound would have evolved into? Who knows? Either way, this is a great find. Great vocal, although I was forced to go check out more songs from Kate because the effect that had been added to the vocal, I always fear that when vocalists and producers do this, they’re kind of using the effect as a crutch, but the other tracks that I found had a clean vocal and it’s good, she has a great voice. So this track, it was a stylistic choice and not a crutch, so it was awesome. So check out a little bit of one more time.

That is it for this week. I have some favors to ask of you. Connect with me on social media. You can find me on Threads, Instagram, Facebook, and Blue Sky. If you are so inclined, you could join our Discord community. It’s a space where we can chat about music and you can connect with other listeners and share music that you find. You can find that link on the website, songsthatdontsuck.net. Also on the website, you can find links to all of the songs that I’ve mentioned today on all of your favorite streaming platforms. You can also send me feedback and make recommendations. There’s also a spot to subscribe to a newsletter and if you want, you can buy Songs That Don’t Suck merch to support the podcast. Don’t forget, if you would please like, review, and subscribe to the podcast on your preferred platform, tell your friends, all of these things help the podcast grow. As always, thank you for listening and, as always, go out and support these artists. – Thanks for listening and until next week, keep searching for and listening to songs that don’t suck.