I’m disturbed by the annual Top Ten lists. In many cases, they’re comprised of music I’ve never heard, if not acts I’ve never heard of. And there’s a distinct focus on pop, what is in the Spotify Top 50, and hipster music that is loved by a small slice of the public. Meanwhile when you look at what is selling tickets it is completely different. Pop doesn’t dominate clubs, it’s almost completely absent. And clubs is where live acts start their journeys, where they build their careers. And these are careers that last, that are not dependent upon hit singles.

They’re not sexy for the press, because there’s no flash, no theoretical universal story that appeals to all.

There’s no rock on these lists, nothing that appeared on the Active Rock chart. These acts tour year after year to big bucks, they have dedicated fans, are you telling me that not one of them made worthwhile recorded music this year?

And even though the country is now driven by country, there’s a dearth of music from that genre too. Sure, Zach Bryan is occasionally listed, but let’s be clear, Zach didn’t break from the press, as a matter of fact the press were last, Zach broke via word of mouth long before he had a track in the Spotify Top 50. Zach was selling arenas and could have sold stadiums before the press truly acknowledged him.

The music scene is incomprehensible. Those at mainstream media outlets seem to have forgotten the pre-MTV era, where hits were not everything and lyrics dealt with more than love. Of course there are critical darlings, hip acts akin to those of yore, but most people have never heard of them and most people never will.

As for Sabrina Carpenter… Are we really treating her with gravitas? Teen star makes a pop album with the producer du jour. This isn’t “Jagged Little Pill,” another album made with a not as big teen star with a hot producer, but you’d think from the hosannas it is.

This is a shi*tty way to grow the business. The recorded music business is insular, based on an old model, and the media plays along. Oftentimes massaged tracks made for mass consumption when it’s the authentic and edgy that resonates, there’s a reason Chris Stapleton is the most revered act in Nashville. And in case you missed the memo, Chris Stapleton is a rock act, and plays stadiums himself. The public loves Stapleton, they love country, but since it almost never penetrates the top of the Spotify Top 50 it is ignored.

In case you missed it, we are living in the early sixties in the recorded music world. The lightweight artists that were wiped from the map when the Beatles came along. They are dominating the chart and many people are dismissing music as a result. Music is not hot. Sure, it’s a business with a lot of consumption, but there’s no superstar making everyone pay attention. The last time we had that here was with Adele, over a decade ago.

As for Taylor Swift and BTS and the rest of K-pop, they’re niche acts. Very large niches, and doing boffo at the b.o., but if you’re not interested, you’re not interested and never will be.

People respond when I write about politics and streaming TV. They are hot, they are where the action is, there are issues to be debated. What is there to say about most of the acts in the Spotify Top Ten? NOTHING!

Now “The Guardian” did a Top Ten folk music list. I listened, some very interesting stuff that I’ve never heard of and almost no American is familiar with. But there is a scene there, with dedicated musicians unconcerned with the usual metrics of streams and charts.

Turns out mainstream music criticism is as out of touch as the mainstream media, and derided by the public as a result. The press doesn’t tout an act that breaks or surges on TikTok, the public does.

The system is broken.

And most Americans have no idea what to listen to when it comes to new music.

But never a negative word is heard in the halls of the major labels or major media outlets. It’s a world of constant hype, everything is groovy.

Thank god for the artists that don’t play this game. They are forging their own path and the public is reacting, at venues, irrelevant of the charts.

There are two trains running. And one is being completely ignored.

But that’s the one true music  fans adore.