cosu_aa

Debuting at #1 used to be a rarity, an accolade that was huge and quite unachievable unless you had high demand. And this was the case even in the early years of the streaming era (2013-2019) But then we entered 2020, and everyone went into lockdown, and all of a sudden, it seemed as though every #1 song began its chart life at the top. The month of May 2020 started a chain reaction that we will probably feel forever. Between May 9 2020 and June 6 2020, the Hot 100 saw FIVE new number one singles back to back - The Scotts, Say So, Stuck Wit U, Savage and Rain On Me. At the time, this was unusual, but now it can be seen as a glimpse of what has become the new normal. In the year 2026, if you have a big enough name and a strong fanbase, with some versions, there's a 90% chance that your single will debut at #1; whether that song sticks around depends on pure luck and hope. But why do you guys think there was such a sudden shift in the rise of #1 debuts from 2020, especially? It was not this severe even in 2019, what happened?

Because the producers of the 2000s aren't that great anymore and are not on the pulse of mainstream music

we used to be so fed

The top 10:

Grammy level ratings but garnering nothing close to Grammy-level conversation....right.

The show has never been this unsuccessful, unmemorable or lacklustre. So where do we go from here? Should MTV/Viacom drop it and hand it over to another company?

The numbers are low because the "hits" of 2026 have not been that interesting to the GP

"......the only one from the 2020 cohort to really stick around has been Billie"

Doesn't change the fact that Radical Optimism was a big step down from both Self-Titled and Future Nostalgia success wise

Every time we drag and make fun of the current set of "new" pop girls/stars, I remember how only 6 years ago, the faces of "Gen Z pop" looked completely different and honestly much worse. Like at the start of 2020, the future of pop looked like - Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello, Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X, Halsey, Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Post Malone, Cardi B (while some of these artists aren't Gen Z by birth year, they were still some of the most popular stars amongst Gen Z) but now all of them have fallen (very much rooting for Dua to have a bounce back) Now in 2026, Gen Z pop looks like Olivia, Sabrina, Chappell, Tate, Sombr, Gracie, the only one from the 2020 cohort to really stick around has been Billie. The 2020 cohort, for the most part, was not a strong enough set for people to be confident and happy about pop's future; a lot of these artists are people who we laugh at now, and as much as we have complaints about Tate or Sabrina, etc., they are better pop stars than Lil Nas X Obviously, the change of guard happens all the time in pop music, but I feel like with Gen Z it has happened in a much more dramatic manner than before. And what makes it funnier is that we can't even be confident that the current set of stars will even last to 2029 yet.

Olivia has been a hit maker for all her career, when Sabrina, Chappell, Olivia Dean got attention they immediately achieved hits, Tate has Greedy and You Broke Me First as well moderate hits like Sports Car and Revolving Door. And now Adela has two songs in the top 10 of Spotify Global. However, Addison who is often compared to these girls in a way that puts her above them has not set the charts alight like the others despite the fact that her album received acclaim from pop listeners and lead to her being nominated for a Grammy. Songs from the album did get attention but that attention didn't last long for any of them to be a long lasting hit, Diet Pepsi went viral for a while but compared to the biggest hits of her "peers", its much less successful. The music isn't completely out of the box or unconventional for current times, so why has she not had the same success?

I prefer Al Gore

I do think black pop girls have it harder nowadays, though....like much harder. The fact that we had more Black women in the mainstream in 2006 than in 2026 is beyond depressing and scary. It seems like no matter what Black female artists do, they will never be given a chance by music fans. And whenever you call this out, you get an influx of people berating you about "fake support" when the reality is, they do literally anything to dismiss these artists whilst embracing the same from other girls. For the white girls, it's a matter of: they'll build you up, and suddenly they'll try and belittle you for playing the game for a bit - e.g. Adela was loved by underground (trademark) music twinks, but the minute she made an album following the influences of her mainstream faves, it's been hated on and deemed bad just for it to produce her two breakout hits.

The reason why Ain't in LA barely has 100M is that streams are the lowest they've been since 2016 (if we're speaking about the top end of the chart), Billie, Olivia, Sabrina, Tate and Chappell all have songs which, when they were new, were big and massive hits that had strong streaming numbers/debuts. Also you must remember Ain't in LA only debuted with 1M streams; it's climbed its way to where it's at. Once it does 2M on a daily basis, you'll see the growth. In terms of "death of monoculture", I feel like people are using this excuse as a reason as to why the industry feels so weird atm, when the truth is 2026 has failed to produce a hit that has really gagged the public for a lengthy period of time - yeah, we've had Olivia's album and HTIMYLM, but compared to 2025 (which was also dry), this year has been lacking. Currently in the Spotify Global Top 50, there are only 18 songs that were released in 2026 - 12 of which were released since May. People have been unimpressed with new music releases for the most part, and many big hitters are MIA. 2027 may see new albums by people such as Taylor, Tate, Beyonce, SZA, Sabrina, Billie, Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Kendrick, and that's without considering which new artists will blow up too, so we may see the chart numbers absolutely skyrocket - hopefully we will. Sorry for the paragraphs

The Classic ATRL link to any old chart discussions seems to have be deleted permanently and kworb is inaccurate sometimes.

Obviously, we're in a very conservative era and have been since 2022/23, but of course, the pendulum exists. When do you guys think it will swing back?

Since it's been rumoured that X Factor UK could be coming back in 2027, I've been thinking about whether a Dream Academy UK version or a show with a similar format to Dream Academy could work for Saturday Night TV, with the public voting at every turn. Personally, I don't think X Factor would work, but based on how popular Dream Academy was, I feel like the British public could be invested idk

Tate and Addison are both heavily inspired by the pop stars of the 2000s whether it's their sound, performance style, looks - yet despite the fact she does it better and get better results for it, Tate gets nothing but scathing attacks from Twitter gays meanwhile Addison could do the same 3x worse and get nothing but flowers and praise?

Who's winning?

COVID was an era-defining situation; the world has never been the same since, but what would the pop music landscape be like? What would the careers of our pop girls look like?

Does this mean that those snippets are 100% real

For the people who claim they read the lyrics already, do those society/empathy lyrics match?

Because hip hop and country get uplifted on Apple Music USA (To the point where I'm genuinely suspicious) . Only there would Yung Miami have a top 10

I just remembered at the end of one of her tour diary videos, a slowed instrumental played and it sounds like its in the same key as bloodline - is that a teaser for never get over me? Play the video at 1.25x speed.