Social media has paved the way for pop artists to stick around a lot longer, and maybe a little too long? It wasn’t ages ago when the artist had to prove themselves to an audience with songs and performance. Their careers would slowly dissipate if they failed to deliver. Today, we see a plethora of artists that haven’t released a meaningful song in a decade and are still hogging the spotlight. All they need to do is put their face in front of their iPhone and upload it on Instagram and TikTok with a crafty caption.

Let’s be honest, many of these artists that emerged 10+ years ago and who are still taking up media real estate wouldn’t have been around prior to the advent technology. It would have been like “Do you remember that girl swinging nude on a ball? Oh Yeah! I remember, where is she now?”

I understand trying to extend the shelf life as long as possible, but yesterday’s pop artists can really milk the system, more so now than ever.

Katy Perry scored an American idol gig to play music judge for $25 million. Kelly Clarkson spins around The Voice chair for reasonable pay. Moreover Instagram used these artists to dominate the platform to achieve a level of growth.

To succeed in football, a player must deliver. When a player stops performing , so does the career. Whitney Houston rose to fame with songs and performance. When she released mediocre material coupled with disastrous live shows her career began to unravel. If that trajectory continued, she would have been a faded photograph that brought memories of bygone days.

Today, an artist can stay somewhat relevant even when they are no longer on top of their game because of social media, the iPhone camera, and TV deals.

I’m not here to sour on artists that don’t deliver the goods. I have more or less discovered that it’s the emerging talent that have less of the spotlight when the aging artists refuse to leave or just want to hog the spotlight with shenanigans. The spotlight isn’t big , it’s a small. It should shine its light on the players who are performing, not bench sitters who refuse to leave and who photobomb themselves into the limelight with selfies.

Do artist have a moral responsibility to pass the baton to the next generation of artists? Really, one has to ask oneself, when is enough is enough?

Hollie Col shares an up-beat quirky track She Knows. The Australian singer-songwriter wrapped up 2019 with playing sold-out shows across Europe and the UK. The 24 year old has received Triple J airplay, racked up 1 million Spotify streams, and 2 million YouTube views for the track Let Yourself Down. Give it a stream, especially if you’re a fan of indie folk.

Talk about not-the-right timing. Dua Lipa just released her chart topping second album with amazing reviews. The lead off single Don’t Start Now has become a mega hit. Consequently, the UK artist cannot tour to support the new album. Lets be honest, the sting of isolation is more painful for the pop singer because a #1 album with round-the-clock radio play doesn’t come often. Artists make the most of out of the momentum by touring. The handshakes, the radio station visits, and meet & greets are part of the promo cycle. There’s a lot of money on the table with a hit album, especially for a pop artist. What can you do? Dua Lipa will make the best of an untimely situation by starting on her third album.

I came across the track ‘Cause I Was Busing Working‘ by ELKAE. It’s refreshing and unique. Genre? Not sure – maybe electro soul. The singer-songwriter and producer is supposedly grabbing attention in Ireland. The Irish Times and Hot Press named the singer-songwriting “an exciting new force in Irish Music.” The single Conflictus landed on “Spotify’s New Music Friday UK” and racked up blog reviews in the US, UK, Australia and Germany. Give it a stream!

It’s hard to get 5 artists on the same page let alone 9 individual artists, but a Florida act seeyousoon has figured it out. These 9 artists have come together under the banner of seeyousoon and have been releasing tracks that fuse old school hip hop, soul, and rap. The nine-piece collective made their debut with a fun video for the track “Steamy” and they dropped a new track today ICFWT. The act has quickly garnered coverage from tastemakers like The Fader, EarMilk, and Variance Mag. Give it a stream, especially if you’re fan of hip-hop and R&B.