AcerBen

Yeah I'm about a third of the way through cataloging my collection on Discogs. It's quite useful when I go charity shopping because sometimes I can't remember whether I've got something already, or if I got rid of it years ago, or if I thought about buying it recently but didn't actually buy it etc. Also fun to create a Wishlist on there. I've got about 3000 on there now. I probably won't ever buy them all but it's useful to know what's out there that I don't have.. and every now and again I'll treat myself on a Discogs spending spree LD

What strikes me is that a lot of these songs are up-beat timeless pop songs that could've worked in almost any era, from a music & lyrics point of view. That really is the key to a real hit. It's not about chasing a trend. The public just want a hooky melody and a catchy lyric. A lot of these songs will still be getting played in 30 years time.

I don't mind when they do like a signed CD or a vinyl or one with a free 7" single or something like that, but when they're doing 5 different types of cassette (which mostly won't be listened to) I think it's taking the mick.

There is the Indie Breakers Chart already https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/indep...breakers-chart/

Yes, I've thought for a while we need new genre charts for new songs only. I'd also like songs older than a few years banned from the Top 100 and a Catalogue Chart started

New Ace of Base boxset https://www.demonmusicgroup.co.uk/catalogue...coloured-vinyl/

LOL at "instrumental of Hung Up". You mean "Gimme Gimme Gimme"?

That Brexit song is neither funny nor melodic.

The video

Bloody good that James Blunt one. The video made me cry so I'm not surprised it's having an impact. Hope it can go on to become a genuine hit.

Keep going?

Yes, really they prove how easy it is to manufacture a group. Now all they need is some good songs. Not every act will succeed of course, but they're more likely to than most of the acts that the music critics tell us to like.

I think the success of Tones & I just proves the point though. The public want pop and the industry is not giving us enough of it. Though she of course is not a manufactured popstar. There's probably not that many singer-songwriters out there like her, but plenty of wannabe singers they can give to Steve Mac or Naughty Boy or whoever.

Yes, it's a shame. There don't seem to be that many new solo proper pop artists making it either. Dua Lipa and Mabel are the only recent ones I can think of. But you only need to look at the descriptions of the "Sound of" artists to see where the music industry is going wrong: Soulful poet unpicking the anxieties of a generation Genre-bending indie-funk quintet Multi-tentacled art-rock polymaths Hypersonic emo-pop for the underrated youth Not everyone wants this nonsense. Some of us just want good, timeless pop songs. Not everything has to have an edge. I don't get why they don't find some pretty blonde and give her a Steve Mac/Ina Wroldsen pop banger, job done.

I disagree. There are already many in the industry calling for "lean back" streams to be down-weighted, and I believe it will happen. Of course they have the information!

Sorry but there has to be more to it than that. He hasn't got 3 of the top 5 best-selling singles of the decade for nothing. Some of his lyrics are a bit cringe but he knows how to write a catchy tune. You can't say his songs are not memorable.

Whilst is it astonishing that he can do a cheesy video like I Don't Care and a slushy Westlife-style ballad like Perfect yet still maintain his credibility, I think really it boils down to the fact the songs are bloody good. He's just very talented, whether you like him or not, sorry!

Although it is great not to have to wait weeks to get hold of a single these days (though tbh I had my ways of "obtaining" them pre-release anyway!), I much preferred the chart in the days of a pre-release build up with the aim of entering in the top 10. The chart seemed to be working quite nicely in the first half of the decade just before the (re-)introduction of OAOS around 2015, where holding back singles worked well for a lot of artists, but it wasn't necessarily the end of the story if you didn't do first week out. It was a happy medium of a chart that was reasonably fast-paced and it felt like everyone stood a chance of doing well. And as someone who is a proper 90s/early 00s pop lover, in hindsight I wish I'd appreciated 2012-2014 more than I did at the time, because it was a great time for pop.

They at least try to go for a bit of a mix by including acts like James Blunt and The Script, but I agree they could actually go further. It's kind of pointless them trying to make the show cool and relevant when most of the audience are probably not following the singles chart anymore. Also not making today's show a Best of the 2010s feels a bit of a missed opportunity. Instead looks like we're going to get quite a few very random songs..

Joel Mitchell & Hannah Sackville-Bryant - wow, that's a good gig for Student Radio Awards winners. Greg James got an hour in the middle of the night when he won one.

Is it fair to say the Christmas songs aren't doing as well as last year? Nice to see that regular pop songs are able to compete

It was on 29th last year I think. Does seem a bit dumb they can't find place for it on NYE not even in the afternoon

Listen I'm not talking about manufactured pop, I'm talking mainstream music in general. That's never been cyclical.

Stormzy shouldn't be on there.. I thought he had his first top 40 hit in 2017. Even if you disregard the whole list of hip-hop/rap/grime acts though, you're still left with very little new pop artists breaking through. Yes those other acts are doing fine, but why aren't labels signing more of them or managing to get those they do sign reach those heights? Why has the pop world become so small and difficult to get into?

Pixie Lott's sort of pop has just gone out of fashion again. But Ariana and Dua still do very well so there is clearly a market for a version of it. But why are there so few new artists of that ilk breaking through in the last couple of years? And if we are looking at a new darker sort of pop like Billie Eilish becoming popular - well why aren't there more of her sort yet either?