Can't Get Much Higher

Last week, I went on Substack Live to chat with Mike Pesca about the new Billy Joel documentary, And So It Goes. Check out our conversation if you missed it. And, if you haven’t watched the documentary, yet I recommend that too. It’s fantastic. I’ll be back on Thursday with more standard Can’t Get Much Higher fare.

If you enjoy this newsletter, consider ordering a copy of my debut book, Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves. It’s a data-driven history of popular music covering 1958 to 2025. All three of Billy Joel’s number one hits are mentioned. Can you name them? (Hint: None of them are from the 1970s.)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/subscribe

Before we talk about using data to measure the influence of rock artists, there’s some book-keeping to attend to.

* In last week’s podcast, I crunched some numbers to figure out if Thanksgiving music exists. Spoiler: It does. One of my readers was kind enough to add all of the most popular Thanksgiving songs to a playlist. You can check it out here.

* I spent the last six months researching this piece about ringtones for Sherwood News. Take a look if you get a chance. Though you might remember the ringtone as musical ephemera from the 2000s, it still lurks in odd corners of the internet.

* My friends over at The Pudding just put out fantastic piece about the evolution of the love song. You should check it out.

* Today is the last day of our 50% Black Friday discount for a yearlong premium subscription to this podcast. Premium subscribers get four additional newsletters each month, biweekly interviews, roundups of the most important stores in music, and so much more.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/subscribe

If you’re listening to this from the United States, I hope you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. If you are outside the U.S., I hope you take some time today to be thankful for something, even if that something is this newsletter or a good song. Speaking of songs, I want to turn our attention to a silly little debate that I’ve been having: Is there such thing as Thanksgiving music?

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/subscribe

If you’ve read about artificial intelligence and music in the popular press, you’ve likely heard of at least one company: Suno. A startup based in Massachusetts, Suno claims to be “building a future where anyone can make great music.” How? They allow you to enter a description into a text box — say, “afrocuban jazz song about cats” — and, in a matter of moments, they’ll return two full recordings that fit said description. Impressive? Yes. Somewhat frightening? Also, yes. Legal? That requires a longer discussion.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/subscribe

Earlier this year, the New York Times published a list of the best books of the 21st century. That list had no books about music. To rectify that, I’ve been polling artists, critics, and fans about their favorite music books released in the last 24 years. I’d love for you to fill out the survey.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/subscribe

Every few days, I scroll through the top music apps on my iPhone. Usually, things are fairly status quo. Spotify. Shazam. YouTube Music. All the stuff you’d expect. But occasionally an app catches my eye that had previously eluded me.

That happened this week with a somewhat peculiar app reaching the upper echelons of Apple’s paid music app chart. It’s called “Amen Break Generator (Revived).” In many ways, it signifies both the past and future of music.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/subscribe

I’ve never been a huge fan of Halloween or purposefully subjecting myself to ghostly fear, but today is October 31, so I thought it would only be appropriate if we spoke about what constitutes the ghoulish musical canon, why it is different than the Christmas carols that flood our airwaves at the end of each year, and how it might be growing more popular than ever before.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/subscribe

Before jumping into our history of band name punctuation, I wanted to let everyone know that on Thursday, October 31, I will be appearing in an online event with my former colleague Dave Edwards. This conversation is part of a series called The Smartest People in the Room that features “one-on-one conversations between music industry executives and personalities.” While I won’t claim to be one of the smartest people in any room, I’m really excited for this. In the past, the event has featured the likes of Stewart Copeland, Bob Lefsetz, Gloria Gaynor, and Simon Napier-Bell, among many others.

As noted, Dave Edwards and I worked together at Audiomack for years. As our Chief Revenue Officer, he has deep insight into the economics of how music streaming works and how it can be better. Recently, he left Audiomack to become the SVP of Revenue & Operations at Warner Records. Over an hour, we’re going to talk all things music. If you want to join us, feel free to register by following this link.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/subscribe

Being a songwriter is hard. And I’m not just talking about the fact that writing great songs is no easy task. I’m talking about how the economics around songwriting have made turning it into a career a near impossibility. As I mentioned a few months ago, songwriters don’t get paid upfront for their work. They only get paid via the royalties their songs generate after they come out. In other words, if your song doesn’t sell, you don’t get paid.

While this labor arrangement makes things harder for songwriters, it’s nothing new. It’s how songwriters have been paid for a long time. That said, something has died in the streaming age that has made it even harder to survive as a songwriter. That something is mechanical socialism. And I don’t think it’s being discussed enough.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. For a playlist of every new song that I’ve recommended, click here. For a playlist of every old song that I’ve recommended, click here.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/subscribe

People have been going to concerts for thousands of years, but something about the experience dramatically changed in the last few decades.

As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/subscribe