It’s that time of year when we take a solid look at all things music for 2024. We can’t believe just how fast the year has gone. With a new President Elect, a new Senate and House, so much has gone on this year that it’s really hard to keep up on all of it. Though all of the drama, floods and fires, music remained the one good thing that we could cling to. Now more than ever we have had an out-pouring of solid music from the major labels to the small independent record companies. It’s now a time when we take stock of all that has happened and finally start making our list and checking it twice to see what really shined the brightest in 2024.

The major labels were off to their usual tricks while picking their favorites and leaving the rest by the side of the road. Recording artist Sabrina Carpenter was one of the biggest standouts in 2024. She followed the path along with her record label of releasing one single after another and had some many out there at the same time that it was hard to keep track. She followed the Taylor Swift model of pushing out as much music as you can and most of it worked in her favor. Speaking of Taylor, aside from her political projections, she also had another banner year. In the male vocal category, Teddy Swims seemed to have taken much of that attention from the pack. He is most certainly a fine vocalist, and it was nice to see that he got the attention he so deserved. There is still a lot of growth from Teddy in his very bright future.

Country music made some big stars in 2024. One artist that came from out of the blue to become a real solid star was Shaboozey. The single “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (American Dogwood/Empire) turned out to be one of the biggest and brightest in 2024. He is up for a number of music awards from the Grammies, CMAs to New Music Awards as well. Post Malone showed up on the Country charts in a good many places. He also teamed up with his new best friend Blake Shelton for “Pour Me A Drink” (Big Loud/Mercury/Republic) that soon became a real favorite at the Country format.

This was also the year of crossover Hit singles. Record labels have come to realize that one format may not be enough for breaking singles at radio. Dasha proved to be a big winner in this as the song “Austin” (Warner/WMN) took flight breaking from Country, Hot AC to even Top40 with some big results. Morgan Wallen also made big moves moving from Country to Top40 & Hot AC with a number of his singles. It’s amazing to see just how this guy came from “dead to red”.

Independent artists abound again in 2024. Eileen Carey took a few to the top of the charts and is now on the move with “On The Rise”. DPB had another banner year as he made bold moves from Top40 to AC40. He now has “Wonder Bells” (MTS) out and about for your listening holiday pleasure. Newcomers Andrew Moore and Hooch took the charts by storm and they still have massive movement for their debut single “Tyrant” (Moore Music) that is absolutely brilliant. All you have to do is to take a close look at the many indie artists and bands on our charts from pop to country to see how well so many of them have done this year, it’s rather impressive. It is also that time of year when we get set and ready for our annual New Music Awards. At any moment there will be an open ballot on the New Music Weekly Website. This will give all of our subscribers, readers and the general public, an opportunity to list your favorite artists and bands for 2024. You can also pay tribute to your favorite New Music Weekly radio stations, program and music directors and many industry folks that helped to shape the charts and music throughout the year. We want to encourage all of you to get out there and help “rock the vote” by listing your favorites. This will help to ensure that we give everyone a fair shot at receiving the attention that so many out there deserve. With any luck we will have the final list of nominees by our very next issue. Last year we had a record response and this year we expect an even bigger showing.