Spotify have accomplished a lot this year. They actually made a profit, Avicii's 'Wake Me Up' became their most streamed song Eever and who could forget their beef with Taylor Swift?
But now they're on to bigger and better things - creating new music genres, or so it seems. Metropopolis. By way of explanation the streaming service describe it as: "A sophisticated, indie-leaning, and undeniably catchy cousin of mainstream pop - Metropopolis was everywhere in 2014, thanks to artists like Charli XCX, Bleachers and St. Vincent."
Now, we're not denying that pop music is infectious and wonderful at the best of times. In fact, Charli XCX is on the top of my "songs to sing in the shower" list and I still find myself humming away unashamedly to 'California Gurls' by Katy Perry.
But calling St Vincent an artist of this 'metropopolis' genre is slightly absurd. She's opened shows for the likes of Arcade Fire and supported The Black Keys. Sure she's a fairly niche artist, with undeniable art rock rhythms and she's more likely to be hunched over her guitar than parading her booty-shaking skills. Where a majority of pop artists feel at home in the studio with the odd audiotune nip and tuck, St Vincent comes alive on stage.
We love Charli XCX in all her bubblegum-pop glory, with songs about guys that suck and 'Boom Clap' as our chosen summer tune. Dress it up how you want but she's a popstar and there's no denying it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that either, but trying to identify a musician with a style they probably don't themselves seems to lack reasoning.
As for Bleachers, they are undoubtedly indie. Heavy-hitting pianos, edgy production arrangment, experimenting with lo-fi sounds and self-confessed unapologetic lyrics consume their tracks. To be blunt, the term 'pop' is short for 'popular music'. Whilst there's no denying the band's media approval, Bleachers are not well known enough to be deemed popular music.
Indie-leaning pop music already has a name and it's been around for ages; indie pop. I'm not sure how much I'd trust Spotify's opinion on musical genres that stray from mainstream. After all, Pitbull featured in their Top 10 songs of 2014 and that's saying something.
