NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Formed in 1994 first as Shrug and then as Polarbear but finally changing their name to  Snow Patrol  due to other bands by their former names, the Northern Irish band became very popular in the early '00s. Their first single " Run " was a hit in the UK. But in America, the band would become famous because of their song " Chasing Cars " when it was included in the  season 2 finale of  Grey's Anatomy .  " Chasing Cars" is the song most people know by Snow Patrol, and most wouldn't be able to associate the name with their hit song. The band continues to produce music, most recently releasing 2018's  Wildness .    TRAIN THIS CHAOS, TURN IT INTO LIGHT . If you've had time to get into Taylor's Version of  Red ,  you may have noticed a feature by Snow Patrol's  Gary Lightbody . Once the Indie Rock band became recognized, the band members started working on pop music, and Lightbody writing for  Taylor Swift  and  Ed Sheeran . The Snow P

Spotify Wrapped probably flooded your social media right last month. Two years ago, I got jealous, so I subscribed to Spotify. Apple Music started Replay in response to that Wrapped jealousy, but I still don't see many people posting their Replay stories on Instagram.  I never stopped listening to Apple Music, though. I have different habits for listening to Spotify and Apple Music, and today I'm going to discuss the differences between those two listening habits. HONESTY WAITS HERE FOREVER .  I started using Spotify last year. I decided to start linking the artist, album, and songs on Spotify if available because it seems that Spotify has more listeners than Apple Music. Last year, I used Spotify mostly for my blog and didn't listen to it much. I listened to Apple Music on my own time, and whenever I was in the middle of writing my blog and needed to listen to a song, I listened to it on Spotify. This year, I listen to Spotify for my blog but I also switched to Spotify at

Time has named Taylor Swift as Person of the Year . She is the first musician to ever hold the title. The musician has certainly permeated into all facets of culture in 2023 as part of what many have called her “Imperial Phase” or maybe Imperial Era?  The biggest artists reach the “Imperial Phase” of their careers before another star rises. There is a part of the American psyche that roots for Taylor Swift--the teen star from Pennsylvania who treated her fans well to a billionaire jet-setting pop star. A big part of how Taylor won the hearts of America--and the world--has to do with fans and music lovers siding with her side of her feud with Scooter Braun . But another part of Swift’s appeal was shattering the glass ceiling which had limited female musicians in the past. Today, though, we're not talking about Swift but rather another Era-defining musician who pioneered the idea of a female-led portion of the music industry. LORD, MAKE ME AN INSTRUMENT OF THY PEACE. In 1997, Sarah

In 2020, MUNA was dropped by their label RCA for “ not making enough money .” The queer-identifying trio had modest success with their first two records,   About U and Saves the World , but they would actually achieve a higher level of success on an indie label. The key to this renewed success was by partnering with an indie rock darling who had come to be known as a “serial collaborator” due to appearing on a range of projects from Paul McCartney to Taylor Swift . Phoebe Bridgers signed MUNA to her label Saddest Factory and functioned as the trio’s A&R person. MUNA quickly expanded their listener base with the hit featuring Bridgers, “ Silk Chiffon .” The song preceded  MUNA’s eponymous album by more than nine months and became the band’s most-streamed song. In March of 2022, MUNA released the second single from the album, “ Anything But Me .” YOU’RE GONNA SAY I ASKED FOR THE MOON. While MUNA is certainly overshadowed by Phoebe Bridgers and her own trio, boygenius , touring

  Some of the best musicians work in Nashville. Country music is famous for some of the best musicianship, and whenever a rock band or pop act wants some of the cleanest tones, they’ll record in Nashville. There’s certainly a community in Nashville that seems to be extending far outside Country music, but at the core is an ill-defined genre that is more of an identity. Unpacking that identity in a post-George Floyd America, though, is tricky. There are at least two popular models Country music is taking: 1) protect the status quo and 2)inclusion and diversity. The first model is rarely overtly racist or trans/homophobic, but when an n- word slip up happens the status-quo warriors are quick to defend themselves with arguments “This is just the way we talk.” This is often met with pushback from the second camp. THE PAINT COULD PEEL; THE GLASS COULD SHATTER. Maren Morris is an artist firmly in the second camp. Much like pop stars Kacey Musgraves and early Taylor Swift , Morris has flirt

  Conan Gray released his debut album, Kid Krow , in 2020. The album entered Billboard’s 200 Album chart at number 5, the highest position for a debut artist in 2020. But artists with such a successful debut rarely come out of nowhere. Gray began uploading his songs to YouTube in 2013 when he was 15. His channel gained many followers for his vlogs about everyday life growing up in Texas; however, eventually he began writing and recording music in 2017. I STILL REMEMBER THE THIRD OF DECEMBER. California-born and Texas-raised on a musical diet of Taylor Swift , Lorde , and Lana Del Rey , Teen Vogue called Conan Gray “the pop prince for sad internet teens.” Republic Records signed Gray based on his online presence and the streaming success of his early singles. The singer performed on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2019 and later opened for Panic! at the Disco’ Pray for the Wicked Tour on a few dates. Kid Krow was promoted by two singles: “ Maniac ,” which “bubbled under the Hot 10

In 2021 the 2015 hit “ Wildest Dreams ” became a  TikTok   trend.  Of course this was in the middle of Swift’s massive project to release re-recordings of her studio records due to her inability to buy the rights to her original recordings. In the spring of last year, she released a massive re-recording of  Fearless , the album that propelled the then teen singer to being one of the biggest internationally-recognized music stars. Responding to the TikTok trend, Swift posted her own take on it with the  re-recorded version , despite the fact that the singer had stated that she would release her version of  Red ,  1989 ’s predecessor and the album that transitioned the singer’s style from Country to Pop, before any of her versions of songs from  1989  would be released.  SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME .  We’re still a few weeks away from the release of the  Taylor’s Version  of  1989 . The album officially marked  Taylor Swift  leaving Country music in full pursuit of a pop stardom that had been