Let’s face it–the gatekeepers of music aren’t always right. Record companies don’t always release the best singles and radio stations don’t always play the best songs. Some great songs slip through the cracks unnoticed (an unfortunate but understandable reality), but with others you feel like a large sum of money is changing hands for this song to still be on the radio.

But all hope is not lost. It’s true that I don’t have the voice (or the courage) to be a radio personality, and getting a job at a record company seems unlikely, but I can still choose which songs I listen to. But it’s not like you need a degree in pop musicology to know a good song when you hear one. Sometimes it’s just hard to press that BUY SONG button on iTunes when you don’t know if you’ll regret the decision a few weeks later. I wonder how many people are regretting they didn’t push that button for Coldplay’s Viva La Vida in May 2008 now they see it’s timelessness. But maybe just as many are feeling bad about buying Ciara and Justin Timberlake’s Love Sex Magic that was popular for about a week. Now they have it forever and will probably only listen to it when their iPods are on shuffle. 

To avoid any more pain and regret, I’m going to filter through the popular new songs that are released everyday and post my opinions. I’ll note which songs I believe have staying power and also those that should be banned forever from all radio stations. And with iTunes’ new and unfortunate 30% price increase on most songs, I’ll discuss what few newly released popular songs are worth buying. 

Feel free to comment. After all, 

“Music is everybody’s possession. It’s only publishers who think that people own it.”  - John Lennon

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