2018 Welcomed a New Fleet of Internet Pop Stars

Forget the pop stars of years past, because 2018’s class of chart-toppers is more diverse, based in subculture and digitally inclined than ever before. Partly because of the new rules on streams counting in chart calculations, many newer musical artists are being born from internet followings and Soundcloud pages. Not only that, but the sound of pop is changing—using more and more elements from various …

How “Now That’s What I Call Music” Became a Juggernaut

Launching 28 November 1983 in the UK (and 27 October 1998 in the US), “Now That’s What I Call Music” has become a bastion of record sales in an ever-changing industry. In its origin nation, the compilation series has now reached its 100th edition. Not to mention more than 120 million records have been sold (and the albums have spent 654 weeks at number one). …