Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’, a song written 40 years ago just surpassed a billion Spotify streams. How many songs that are released today will stream big numbers 30 years from now? Certainly Ed Sheeran’s ‘Perfect’ and Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved” but it’s slim pickings. Blame culture, technology, and digital distraction.

But Don’t Stop Believin’ lives forever and it’s rediscovered by generation after generation. A great tune has no time stamp nor expiration date.

It’s easy to follow the trends and throw down a 30 second beat hoping some dimwit moves to it on TikTok. But do you want a 30 second rush or a 30 year journey?

If you look at writers today, they want 30 seconds of viral fame. A short term investment mindset. One and Done. A flash in the pan.

But I believe a new crop of artists are growing that are writing songs for a generation because they are in touch with themselves after losing themselves in the digital world. In world grown cold, artists are weary of the data entranced business.

I see it. I believe. Don’t stop believin’

Check out I Don’t Love You Anymore by Norii. The San Diego based singer-songwriter has released several singles but this is probably the most different. It could find a home on Apple’s Breakup Songs Playlist.

“I Don’t Love You Anymore” is about when I fell out of love with an ex out of the blue. It’s a pop song at its core, but the production takes a page from the old school, wall-of-sound for an emotional gut punch. I think you’ll be really into this one” shares Norii.

Stream it on KOAR’s Indie Invaders Playlist.

Look out for Andi Rella the track Best U Ever Had. It’s reminiscent of Tate McRae which I love.

The 24 year old pop artist hails from New York and draws from Eilish, Jojo, Olivia O’Brien, Madison Beer. She’s performed at venues such as Garcia’s @ The Capitol Theatre and Berlin NYC.

The track comes off her 14 track album Best U Ever Had.

Rella shares, “The song, for me, is cathartic. It’s a sort of moody breakup anthem about a back-and-forth, on-and-off relationship, but it focuses mainly on healing and acceptance. Sometimes we hold onto things way longer than we should because of comfort or history; but it’s important to recognize when it’s time to let go.” The song is well summed up by the last lyric of the chorus “I’m happy with staying in memories, so I’d rather you just remember me as the best you ever had”.

The moment a newcomer has a HIT, everybody wants to crash the party, take a selfie and CASH IN – the songwriters, music producers, and chart topping artists. It’s an open game for the new player, and naively, they let everyone in, and shortly after, they’re squeezed out. Today, this takes the form of artist collaboration and features.

But collaborating is killing artist individuality.

Here is an example. The Kid LAROI is a breaking artist. His track Without You is a hard-to-come-by radio hit. I love the track. Then Miley Cyrus is added to the remix of LAROI’s “Without You”.

The track is just gathering steam. It’s pre-mature for a feature. I barely know The Kid LAROI. He’s a 17 year old that rose up the music ranks in Australia before moving to Los Angeles. I want more of LAROI, but now Miley Cyrus is singing the opening verse. I like Miley too, but maybe not Miley with LAROI. Now, LAROI and Miley are rooted in my mind. Brand association. It’s a marketing mess. The artist is losing individuality that was sacrificed on the alter of audience reach.

And now LAROI has paired up with Justin Bieber for a track titled Stay. This keeps Bieber on the top shelf while LAROI sits in the stockroom, never given a chance to make a first and lasting impression.

I understand the team wants to reach the largest audience possible, but artists’ need more time to develop a face, a brand, a statement before they start attaching themselves to brands and other artists. I hope Olivia Rodrigo is listening.

There are two ways to climb to the top. You can affiliate yourself with others and be a guest at the kings table, or you can dominate and be the king. Eminem came out as a king. He wasn’t releasing remixes with guest vocals by Britney Spears or Nick Carter of Backstreet Boys, instead he aligned himself with Dr. Dre. His name, his brand, his influences were important to him. He didn’t want that tossed for profit, and nobody cashed off of Eminem.

Pop trio Hey Violet released a 4 song EP. My favorite song is Breaking Up With A Friend. It’s a well crafted pop song and sounds like a TikTok hit. Fans of Bebe Rexha will enjoy. The Problems EP, carries the theme of loss and loneliness.

“Going through the process of writing these songs, I always felt like a chunk of me was missing so whether it felt like I was losing my connection with myself, wondering if I ever had it, or being let down by lovers or friends, there’s that general theme of incompleteness” shares Hey Violet.

They were originally signed to Capitol’s 5 Seconds of Summer‘s Hi Or Hey imprint, whom they supported on the Rock Out with Your Socks Out and Sounds Live Feels Live tours. Stream the track on KOAR’s Indie Invaders Playlist.