The Playlist of the Future: Who Survives?

By Cindy Grogan

I watched an interesting thing the other day on YouTube: a dude who’d done a deep dive into Spotify to suss out the pop/rock artists he predicts will still be popular in 2100, about 75 years from now. The criteria? They haven’t released any new music in at least 30 years but are still tearing it up on the streaming side. He dug into numbers and settled on four bands that would likely still be popular at the start of the next century (Boomers, feel free to insert your Zager and Evans reference here).

His picks? The Beatles (no shocker), The Police, Nirvana, and Queen. The common ingredient? He cites their “youthful exuberance” as the secret to the staying power of their music.

For some context, 75 years ago it was 1949. At that time, artists topping the charts included Perry Como, the Andrews Sisters, and Doris Day.

So along those lines, I’d like to submit four bands/artists of our generation that I think will still get the people in silver jumpsuits smiling, dancing, and singing along.

THE RAMONES

One of the beauties of punk was its simplicity, and The Ramones fully embraced that. Listeners of the future can be as sophisticated, wired-in, or coolly connected as they want to be. But when they hear the opening of “I Wanna Be Sedated” or “Blitzkrieg Bop” their Lizard Brain will respond. Because even 75 years from now, Lizard Brain will make you want to pogo.

The Monkees began as a TV version of The Beatles, so the songs originally crafted for them were catchy as hell. The guys in the band were no slouches in writing and performing their own songs and had a very respectable music career sans other writers and studio producers. However, my guess is that their early chart hits like “I’m A Believer” (Neil Diamond), “Pleasant Valley Sunday” (Gerry Goffin), and “Last Train to Clarksville” (Boyce and Hart) will forever remain ear candy. Even if ear candy comes in a futuristic capsule form.

STEVIE WONDER

Wonder has many tracks, like “Living for The City,” that originally appealed to the more thoughtful, socially conscious side of 20th-century listeners. But we can’t overlook the many sheerly exuberant songs he did back in the day, starting as far back as his time billed as “Little Stevie Wonder.” Joyful tracks like “Fingertips,” “I Wish,” “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and “Isn’t She Lovely” will be playing through 22^nd-century earbuds, guaranteed.

THE BEACH BOYS

Even if the car is a flying one, the appeal of aimlessly driving it around the streets of a floating city on a Saturday night will remain eternal. Nobody captured Teen Culture quite like the Beach Boys. And as climate change continues to impact us in the future, memories of harmless days of sun, surf, and sand will prove even sweeter. At the bottom of it all are the genius melodies and arrangements of Brian Wilson; like Mozart, those will remain eternally pleasing to future ears.

Now, it’s your turn. Put on your space goggles, gaze into the future, and make your best guess: what pop/rock artist, band, or song(s) will still resonate with music lovers 75-plus years from now? (And sorry: if you say The Captain and Tennille, we can’t be friends).

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This post was previously published on CultureSonar.

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