olivia rodrigo sets a record

“drivers license” by @Olivia_Rodrigo breaks the record for the biggest single-day streams in US Spotify history, with over 6.145 MILLION. pic.twitter.com/P4ntbJJbJz

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) January 13, 2021

this song is also #1 globally

does this mark a shift in the industry or is it a random hit? it's not an OBVIOUS on-trend 'biggest ever' song, anyway. she's 17 yo and a likeable star on high school musical the musical the series and this is her debut single although she wrote a song for the show before.

silly analysis: verses: phoebe bridgers, chorus: taylor swift, bridge: lorde

it's pretty good

will spotify start getting dominated by young female angst-pop songwriters? who do they replace?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmDBbnmKpqQ

Pretty food song, I like its twists & turns. (I don’t really go for that style of singing, but I know many do.)

*good, not food

Half the interest in this track from the media seems to be the 'who is she singing about' schtick since it's probably her co-star Joshua Bassett, who's set to release HIS single today, which doesn't seem like it'll be very good - I'm expecting a girls aloud vs one true voice type battle for billboard #1 that launches one career but not the other

Was she big in the US as a tv/movie star prior to this single? I might be too old now, but I’m not hearing why this song would be so wildly popular without some star power behind it. It sounds so bland to me. The only thing that made my ears perk up is the bridge and it sounds lifted from a Lorde song.

Oh I see abcfsk also compared the bridge to Lorde, I’m not hearing Phoebe Bridgers or Taylor Swift in there, but I’m not a fan of the latter so maybe that could explain why this is a blindspot for me.

she's the star of high school musical the musical the series so she's a disney teen star certainly, but this does seem to be a bigger debut than usual for one of them. unlike the previous few generations of disney teen stars though she's not on disney's label for her music, which is very likely to her benefit.

I see it shares writing credits with the producer, Dan Nigro, who also co-wrote and produced “so hot you’re hurting my feelings” and “the door” with Caroline Polachek and “When I’m with him” by Empress Of. I thought those were great singles, so I might need to give this another chance, because I didn’t hear anything special in my first couple of listens.

Xpost: I see. Maybe it made a bigger impact based on viewings of High School Musical via streams on Disney+ during quarantine? Idk it’s not that I hate popular things is that I’m struggling to hear the “thunder” in here. When songs like say Lorde “Royals” or Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” made it to #1 I could clearly hear why they were so popular despite not being a huge fan of the latter.

Idk I’ll give it another try tomorrow with fresh ears... see if something finally clicks and I get the “why?”

it hasn't charted at #1 yet on billboard it's just at #1 on all the streaming charts i think. seems like it has a good chance though. i don't really have any idea exactly how popular hsm: the musical the musical the series is, but surely it's big with teens if it can propel her to stardom like this. my guess is the 'who is she singing about' schtick abcfsk mentioned is a big driver of its success too

definitely feels like a version of phoebe bridgers polished for maximum pop appeal, or last year's taylor albums except blander. not really surprising that something like this could be such a hit, between lana/billie/taylor etc. in the last few years. hardly an exciting debut single though yeah, it's a pleasant ballad but i don't see myself coming back to it ever.

I’m seeing compilations of tiktoks and I can say empirically that the actual hook of the song is the bridge since it’s the one people used the most.

I’m also kind of hearing the Phoebe and Taylor thing now, the chorus is annoying me after hearing it 20+ times in a row in a compilation.

I think I’m getting the popularity of it now. Gen Z hit songs for the past couple of years have been very rhythmically catchy - I assume because you can make tiktoks dancing to them- and this is more of a ballad for Gen Z to make tiktoks uglycrying to the song. I guess in that context the song does feel refreshing and it’s likely we wont see a musical trend here. I don’t know how to express this in an interesting form but it did feel like most of the dancing in 2020 was done via tiktok and it’s getting stale and this song is a cathartic breakup from that.

i think pop has been trending this way for a while actually so it's probably a sign of more to come

With no clubs or concerts, it would have made sense for all pop in 2020 to be more introspective. I guess the trend will continue for another while but hope the 20’s get back to dancing soon, because I have no patience for this sort of ballads.

The bridge is really good (I guess it is Lorde-y).

More on the Spotify angle: https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9511182/olivia-rodrigo-spotify-hit-success

Many opinions from tsj https://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=29752

[5]s OTM

it's fairly plain imo

as for the significance of its somewhat eye-popping charting achievements, this is basically on par w/ ariana grande debuting in the top 10 w/ "the way" the greater part of a decade ago. the hot 100 is pretty weak currently and streaming/sales are so consistently misaligned w/ airplay these days that debuting at/near the top is quite a bit easier now than it used to be

dan nigro did quite a few songs w/ sky ferreira also

xp I don’t follow how this comment relates to the song’s massive streaming performance(?)

(fwiw, the track impacts the Hot 100 next week)

yeah it won't be on the hot 100 until next week but it will obviously be #1

idk i guess i am unfairly downplaying the song's performance somewhat. it just seems weird to me that a bunch of millennials' and gen-xers' ears are apparently perking up at a not-very-remarkable song by someone they'd never heard of just b/c it's getting streamed en masse by tiktok zoomers partly due to some e-drama. this isn't to say the song won't have lasting/broader appeal or that the machinations setting her up for success are inherently illegitimate, but, like... the number of ppl who felt the need to weigh in w/ a blurb on that tsj link is dumbfounding

completely unrelated to the actual topic at hand but the way that popcrave account always writes MILLION and BILLION (along w/ PLATINUM and even GOLD) in all caps is always so funny to me. like, some of the numbers they post are legitimately not remarkable at all but the emphasis always makes it seem so dramatic and earth-shattering. i want them to start writing THOUSAND like that

i guess part of why i felt compelled to compare it to "the way" was just b/c of grande's stature at the time (i had never heard of her before i saw that song high up on the itunes charts)

its the most interesting thing happening in pop at the moment i guess since its a quiet time of year and people are bored

Who knows if it's a harbinger of anything, but I think it's still worth noting its success as a story, because streaming has been so dominated by specific male-heavy genres, even as a few female mega stars have been the exception.

https://chartdata.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/eoig54gweaeesjt.png

And yeah, it's a quieter period on spotify, but the song has also peaked higher than any other song on spotify before.

It's also fun to see where someone who loves phoebe bridgers ends up as a pop idol.

There are a lot of familiar things in this that call to mind everything from the aforementioned influences to Florence + the Machine to Mumford & Sons. I'll have to ask my kids what they think, because I am sure they have opinions.

“driver’s license” is fine, but the important thing is that it’s five million times better than gen z’s other favorite ballad “without you” by the kid laroi

Xxpost: that’s the chart for most streamed artists, not most streamed singles. I don’t think Olivia Rodrigo will be or even is right now in the top 10 streamed artists of 2021 despite being a #1 streamed song.

I don’t know if there’s a chart of most streamed songs of 2020 but I’d bet Dua Lipa, Doja Cat, Tones & I, Megan & Cardi and maybe the Lady Gaga & Ariana collab are in there

I mean for comparison: the Olivia Rodrigo song is near 100M streams right now which is very impressive considering the amount of time but “Dance Monkey” has 2B streams and even with that massive amount of streams you don’t see Tones & I on the top 10 most streamed artists.

I’m not saying “Driver’s License” doesn’t have a chance to get to 2B streams, I’m saying is not enough to be a top 10 most streamed artist of the year.

https://newsroom.spotify.com/2020-12-01/the-trends-that-shaped-streaming-in-2020/

top 5 songs on spotify last year:
“Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd
“Dance Monkey” by Tones And I
“The Box” by Roddy Ricch
“Roses – Imanbek Remix” by Imanbek and SAINt JHN
“Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa

top 5 artists on spotify last year:
Bad Bunny
Drake
J Balvin
Juice WRLD
The Weeknd

across all platforms including video, the top 10 streaming songs last year were (via nielsen):

1. Roddy Ricch, “The Box” (1.32 billion)
2. Future featuring Drake, “Life Is Good” (1.035 billion)
3. DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch, “Rockstar” (863.95 million)
4. The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights” (821.12 million)
5. Jack Harlow, “Whats Poppin” (788.74 million)
6. Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion, “WAP” (732.7 million)
7. Megan Thee Stallion, “Savage” (612.03 million)
8. Lil Mosey, “Blueberry Faygo” (593.01 million)
9. Tones and I, “Dance Monkey” (570.48 million)
10. Doja Cat, “Say So” (562.38 million)

for comparison to more traditional metrics, here's the top 10 radio and digital download titles via the same source

airplay:
1. The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights” (3.81 billion)
2. Post Malone, “Circles” (3.51 billion)
3. Dua Lipa, “Don’t Start Now” (3.14 billion)
4. Harry Styles, “Adore You” (3.07 billion)
5. Maren Morris, “The Bones” (2.46 Billion)
6. Maroon 5, “Memories” (2.45 billion)
7. Gabby Barrett, “I Hope” (2.40 billion)
8. Lewis Capaldi, “Someone You Loved” (2.28 billion)
9. Lewis Capaldi, “Before You Go” (2.07 billion)
10. Doja Cat, “Say So” (2.02 billion)

downloads:
1. BTS, “Dynamite” (1.26 million)
2. The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights” (580,000)
3. Gabby Barrett, “I Hope” (351,000)
4. Tones and I, “Dance Monkey” (339,000)
5. Megan Thee Stallion, “Savage” (336,000)
6. Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion, “WAP” (300,000)
7. Jawsh 685 x Jason Derulo, “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” (299,000)
8. Blake Shelton Duet With Gwen Stefani, “Nobody But You” (288,000)
9. Post Malone, “Circles” (281,000)
10. Maroon 5, “Memories” (264,000)

so yeah the top songs are overall still quite male-dominated but not to quite the extent that the top artists lists tend to be

(those are us-only stats, not worldwide)

https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9512983/olivia-rodrigo-drivers-license-number-one-hot-100-debut/

Many opinions from tsj https://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=29752

― abcfsk, Friday, January 15, 2021 10:35 AM (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

i don't recognize any of the writers except Katherine which shows how long it's been since i read TSJ lol sorry contributors who are reading this post

I think Alfred was another, no?

yep!

We had a successful recruitment drive in December.

finally listened to this song, streaming numbers v impressive and beguiling for such a boring song

So now there’s like, an answer song? (I don’t know who any of these ppl are): https://variety.com/2021/music/news/sabrina-carpenter-drivers-license-olivia-rodrigo-skin-1234889998/

Big feelings and nowhere to go: how Gen Z reinvented the power ballad

Olivia Rodrigo’s global hit Drivers License is the epitome of new-school pop songwriting, where sexuality is complex, emotions are specific and bombast is traded for intimacy

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/feb/19/olivia-rodrigo-drivers-license-gen-z-reinvented-the-power-ballad

The sequel is out:

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2021-04-01/olivia-rodrigo-new-single-deja-vu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cii6ruuycQA

I like it, but the vocal similarity to Lorde is more distracting on this one... also not feeling the distorted beat so much.

i actually like it better than "drivers license," which i never really warmed to

'i hate to think that i was just your type' is a good line

it's like a polished, major label version of like, 00s indie pop, which at least feels a little distinctive but fitting in with broader trends. i like it more than "driver's license" for sure

she's clearly going to continue to be huge

I still don’t get it and I find her very un-charismatic. I’ve seen her a dozen times already and I can’t remember her face once the music video is over.

The beat gives me 2000s Dave Fridmann feels.

(Wasn’t Billy Joel referenced in another Zoomer anthem recently? Is he having a moment?)

https://pitchfork.com/news/olivia-rodrigo-details-debut-album-sour/

I liked the placeholder title (*O*R) and artwork a lot better:

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/c2448614-0667-485d-b116-49a3187d7dcf.2e50766d10ee999d1be0fbc156e0f069.jpeg?odnWidth=612&odnHeight=612&odnBg=ffffff

that's channel purple

i don't really know where else to post this, but my daughter is into American Idol and so i watch it with her (and enjoy it! not trying to pretend otherwise) and i was just gobsmacked at the number of 15-year-olds who walked in and auditioned this season by playing a *good* song they wrote and performing it flawlessly, often on piano but sometimes on guitar. there are a whole army of Olivia Rodrigos on the way, i think.

good! bring 'em on

"(Wasn’t Billy Joel referenced in another Zoomer anthem recently? Is he having a moment?)"

oh maybe, I seem to regularly see him referenced on twitter by people younger than me without the derisiveness he justly deserves, so that would explain that.

this alternate (Target) artwork is godawful!

https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/GUEST_c4984bd5-b5ac-4c4a-afbe-b8c0ce840257?fmt=pjpeg&wid=700&qlt=80

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgOl2bdevqM

this one's pretty good, hope she can keep things up for the album. my only complaint is the last chorus needed to be a bit longer!

I think it’s awesome, best one yet!

She’s on SNL this weekend.

I had not heard Drivers License until this week and goddamn that is a teenage anthem.

she needs to cover new ground lyrically lol

for the sake of balance i'll say i like "deja vu" more w/ each listen

It’s funny/cute how each song strategically has one (1) swear word.

The chorus of this new song hits some 1995 sweet spot for me, man…

(and the bridge into washed-out verse, before it all comes crashing in again, is a great move)

I mean when you say "1995 sweet spot" do you mean something more diffuse or do you specifically mean this is like "You Oughtta Know," which it is, and Rodrigo directly says she wants the album to be like Jagged Little Pill

I wasn’t thinking about album specifically (but I like this better than that!)

The melody does remind me of something specific from around that time, but I can’t put my finger on it…

I like almost nothing better than "You Oughta Know," I put it on after listening to "Good 4 You" and goosebumps all the way down my spine just like in 1995, jesus

Has anyone heard any other stuff by this dude Dan Nigro – the indie rocker turned popsmith who’s co-writing and producing these tunes?

much prefer "good 4 u" and its Juliana Hatfield moves to anything else she's released but I wish this style of vocal affectation would disappear

yes ilxors have heard dan nigro's songs w/ sky ferreira two of which placed in our year-end polls iirc xp

plus another year-end finisher w/ caroline polachek "so hot you're hurting my feelings" (v good)

personally have also heard the conan gray singles (not good)

Gotcha, thx (xxp – Juliana Hatfield is a good reference point, btw)

She sounded good on SNL! Yeah, she can sing.

The band was a little lackluster… I guess Dan Nigro was the scrubby guy she hugged at the end (judging by this pic of him).

Nigro says since working with Grey, his inbox is filled daily with new artists' pitches -- but Olivia Rodrigo immediately captured his attention. He quickly went on her Instagram and found a clip of a song called “Happier,” saying, “I just got the chills and I was like, ‘Oh my God, her voice is insane.’ I literally DM’d her that second and was like, ‘Hey, I think you're amazing. We should make music.’”

I don't see that as creepy. She was applying for a job that he accepted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiaCdUACJp8

sounds like "Misery Business" to me

I don't hear it

this new track is fucking excellent

It's stupid good... like maybe the best song in this style I've ever heard. (After a weekend of listening, I have the subjective data to upgrade it from my initial "this is cool" assessment to "this is truly great.")

"good 4 u" was made 4 me

second #1

https://i.imgur.com/ty8C7Vo.jpg

album is pretty good! a very solid pop-singer-songwriter debut. she indeed really could use more lyrical range though lol

highlights are "brutal" with its elvis costello interpolation and "jealousy, jealousy"

My CD arrives tmrrw!

OK, listening online now... "1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back" is sure one for the songs that sound like other songs books, LOL

swift & antonoff are credited on it for the "new year's day" rip

Haha, yeah just looked that up.

they should have credited costello though for "brutal"

which EC song does that "interpolate"?

(I'm hearing the above-discussed Alanis similarities more in the context of the full album)

she indeed really could use more lyrical range though lol

haha - by the time you get to "Happier," it's almost like a parody of a breakup album ("We broke up a month ago..."). I like a good waltz, tho

pump it up xp

"Jealousy, Jealousy" is indeed a cool jam

This is pretty much what I was expecting – some solid songs, some ok songs – though maybe a little restrained overall... I wish they swung for the fences a little more, and got even more enjoyably straight-faced cheesy.

(though I can apparently barely write a coherent sentence, so who am I to talk)

omfg "brutal"

yeah that's the best new track

As for the rest: the relentless of the hysteria is its own attraction.

i wish the whole thing was like "brutal"

same, it *rules*

I found this to be kind of a chore and turned it off before the end

"Traitor" and "Happier" are basically the same song, no?

I like "Favorite Crime" a lot...

Kid played me "Brutal," sounds like Elastica.

Someone sent me this, which I suppose is meant to support Murgatroid's comparison above:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB-rn6f--XY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMEiL3lLRqg

I love how teenage this record sounds.

The run from Brutal to Good 4 U is *chefs kiss* but it’s got way too many ballads at the end. They’re good ballads! But it needs more upbeat, louder tracks

Yeah, that’s kind of what I (clumsily) was trying to say

I wonder if they rushed it a bit, to capitalize on the success of Driver’s License(?) It feels a track or two short, like they could have recorded one more banger but were out of gas…

(Of course, this could also just reflect the limitations of a young artist who’s still developing her voice, etc. It was originally supposed to be an EP and they fleshed it out, which tracks with the overall feel.)

all of the above

it definitely feels a bit rushed. and as good as they are I can't picture any of the album tracks becoming hit singles

Millennials listening to Olivia Rodrigo today pic.twitter.com/3FzN5k2Qv8

— Ben Yahr (@benyahr) May 21, 2021

“Brutal” is such a jam

I’ve also come around to “Deja Vu” being a truly great song… Its lyrics are so “on the nose” that I think I didn’t give it proper credit at first, but that’s exactly what makes it work.

(It’s also really smart how the opening verse sounds like it’s the narrator talking about doing these various things with the guy herself—but then the final line of the verse twists that around, and introduces the theme of the song.)

it's the best of the singles by far imo (haven't heard rest of album yet)

It's probably just the Taylor Swift influence, but "Deja Vu" feels so Nashville in the way it lays out its metaphor, the structure of its lyrics.

"deja vu" is the best single yeah and one of the best on the album

Olivia sets a few new records: "Good 4 U" debuts at #1 on the Hot 100, making Sour the first debut album in history with two singles to debut at #1; as well as the first debut album to generate two Hot 100 #1's before the album hits the Billboard 200.

Is "good 4 u" the first song written/produced in a pop-punk format to hit #1 on the charts since, like, the 2000s?

nah 24kgoldn "mood"

Or that juice wrld song that interpolates yellowcard

2021's hottest stars actually both very cold pic.twitter.com/l5CgFFf1sK

— Caitlin Rose (@TheCaitlinRose) May 24, 2021

that song only got to #2, i think xp

https://www.npr.org/2021/05/21/998842657/olivia-rodrigo-sour-drivers-license-debut-album-review

Lowercase girls tend to fly under the radar by design, but once you start looking you'll see them everywhere. For one thing, they've been all over the streaming charts in the past few years: folklore, evermore, "thank u, next," girl in red, mxmtoon, dodie, beabadoobee, how i'm feeling now, "drivers license," "deja vu," "good 4 u" — to name just a few recent, femme-forward musical phenomena that wouldn't even think of imposing the tyranny of capital letters on the listener's imagination.

But lowercase girls have been there forever, in the back rows of classrooms and the corners of parties, daydreaming, doodling, stockpiling vivid details and observations in the marble notebooks of their minds — waiting for the precise moment to launch them like a carefully crafted dart that punctures everybody else's apathy and proves just how sharply she has been paying attention. Some of the best of them never grow out of it. ...

That was marvelous, thanks.

finally, people are seeing and appreciating the former star of two Disney TV shows

xxxxxxxxp I don't really think of "Mood" as pop-punk(?) – but I'll let 2011nostalgia be the judge

I had Mood in mind when writing that but it doesn’t go as full-on pop-punk as good 4 u does. So maybe it counts? Maybe it doesn’t? I dunno!

More records: good 4 u has bigger week on spotify globally than drivrs license or any other track

good 4 u is so excellent and I wish more of this sounded like that. Also I was surprised to see Jam City credited in the production notes!

i was a little surprised too, but he's been showing up in pop production credits a bit more lately, like he was on the (quite good) troye sivan album a few years ago, on a conan grey song (with dan nigro, like on this album), and a few other places over the last few years

weirdly i just found out he played on david byrne's american utopia too

the Dan Nigro thing is amazing too - like, how many of the most perfect songs of the past ten years can he have credits on?

I feel like the hypothetical missing track should come between Favorite Crime and Hope Ur OK… that transition feels particularly soft, and the album could use a final energy bump toward the end.

That said, it’s still a front-to-back listen to me… and I guess better to leave it feeling a little light than beef it up with a weak tune!

.@Olivia_Rodrigo has three songs in the top 10 of this week's #Hot100.

She becomes the first artist in history to chart three concurrent songs in the top 10 all from a first LP.

— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) June 1, 2021

Anyone else read this, about fans gaming the charts?

https://www.stereogum.com/2149730/bts-butter-hot-100-billboard-chart/columns/sounding-board/

Relevant graf:

Here’s the thing, though: “Butter” is not the most popular song in America right now. Billboard figures out its charts through some arcane combination of streaming, sales, and radio play. “Butter” made it to #1 almost entirely based on sales of discounted digital singles. “Butter” did get a lot of streams, but it didn’t get as much as any of the three most popular songs from Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album. At radio, the biggest song in America right now is “Leave The Door Open,” the retro-soul soul ballad from Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s Silk Sonic project. There, “Butter” isn’t even a factor.

Fans spending money to buy a new release is not gaming the charts. Including free download codes with concert tickets or hats and counting them as an album sale... now that's gaming the charts.

"Of the 39 titles that went to No. 1 last year [2018], at least 18 were sold as part of ticket or merchandise deals." https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/09/business/media/billboard-charts-bundles.html

i did read that stereogum column and definitely agree w/ it, tho he could have gone into much more detail about what these organized stan groups are actually doing nowadays, which is far worse than 'oh the group just sold a lot'. ftr a fan purchasing dozens of copies of the same digital file, then doing the same for each of its remixes, instrumentals, clean versions, etc. etc. etc., contributing to an organized fund of other fans doing the same, meticulously ensuring that not too many copies are ordered per transaction so they'll all 'count' + so forth... IS 100% 'gaming the charts'. like, let's be real, these ppl absolutely would not be engaging in such blatantly wasteful behavior if not for the prospective charting benefit for their 'faves'. yes, more obsessive fans have purchased multiple copies of their favorite artists' releases for a long time, but recently it's gotten to the point where some weeks the MAJORITY of a top-selling title's unit sales are coming from mass-purchasing behavior, which has absolutely never been the case until recently. i honestly do not understand how billboard is not extremely alarmed by the prospect of their flagship chart's significance being diminished to the level of an online poll, as more and more of the chart's top 10 and #1 'hits' nosedive off the list within a month of their debut. whatever gets traffic, i guess!

and honestly, it is almost entirely their own fault, as they've been weighing digital sales far more strongly than their actual (paltry) relevance in the marketplace for years. they started doing this, i suspect, because it seemed 'weird' to them (and interested parties in the industry) that the white pop artists enjoying their advantage in airplay were still frequently being outperformed, because of streaming, by songs w/ comparatively little exposure -- so even tho the unit sales were pathetic, why not give a little extra help to those artists who can still rank well on itunes, i suspect the thinking went.

other factors contributing to this mess: an entire ecosystem of chartwatchers and stans (obviously there's substantial overlap) generating increasingly elaborate (and rather accurate) predictions of forthcoming billboard charts by aggregating publicly available data, then publicizing these forecasts to surprisingly large audiences on social media (twitter accounts adjacent to, like, @chartnews and @popcrave and such). organized stan groups can and do watch these quite carefully to get a sense of what charting outcomes are feasible, then react accordingly (streaming parties, mass-buying, etc.). labels are also well aware that hyper-engaged fans are more than willing to piss their money away by these means, and have thus increasingly offered digital downloads directly through artists' websites to enable fans to purchase as many units as they'd like. (a typical digital download store will only let a user purchase one copy.)

oh sorry i meant @chartdata -- @chartnews is the original that the former account ripped off (and never acknowledged in its media interviews (lol))

i worked adjacent to billboard for a few years & conversed in meetings on a few occasions w/ the ppl (which is like 3 dudes) who run the charts & they take their jobs as stewards of music history very seriously -- it's possible there is meddling from above them at the corporate level that effects the charts but i think that mostly manifests itself in how the charts are presented to the public (paywalls, obtrusive ads etc) as opposed to "we're going to let BTS fans run the charts for traffic." i mean, the rest of billboard does grovel for every crumb of BTS traffic they can muster, so i do understand the suspicion, but in my experience there was a sort of church & state relationship that inoculated the chart team from the rest of editorial there. and that was under a far less journalistically minded leadership than billboard's current owners, i think.

i'm not sure how much of that church & state dynamic is out of some moral obligation to preserve history, honestly, and how much of it is simply because the tabulation of the charts is extremely complicated, and involves various sources/interests that go beyond just billboard (i.e. nielsen). and i think that's really what the issue is here -- changing the way the charts are tabulated is less flipping a switch and more like building an entire new subway line. and dealing w/ stan armies is similar to, like, companies trying to combat ransomware -- the hackers are always going to be quicker, more creative and more nimble than your large institution is able to be. and the stans are essentially engaging in a form of social hacking. billboard can plug one hole (i.e. curtailing the impact of ticket & merch bundles) and another is going to open up. it's a reactive instead of proactive dynamic and the reaction from the charts is always going to be a laborious process given how complicated the tabulation math is for even a single chart

I've seen some of Olivia's stans (aspiring stans?) on Twitter recently, like when she did an "AMA" thing – it struck me as almost cute/quaint that (despite her success/profile) she would have fans using her pic as their avatar, calling her queen, and the whole bit. I guess because she has such an unassuming, "girl next door" image... she's far from a fearsome diva. But I guess every artist deserves a stanbase (for better or worse).

the charts in America are so weird to me, all your different formats etc are so confusing!

Breihan writes, "Organic popularity, once the driving force behind pop music, barely feels like it exists anymore." But before the current era (and especially in the pre-digital days), the charts were driven largely by record companies and radio stations; isn't it better, in some ways, that actual fans have more control than they used to?

The real difference is that the *result* of a big radio push is that a song could become *broadly* popular, familiar to anyone who regularly listened to Top 40, whereas a fan-army mobilization to juke the charts does nothing to extend a song's popularity beyond the artist's fan base. It used to be that anyone could tune into a Top 40 station for an hour and get a pretty good sense of what's ruling the Hot 100; perhaps that's no longer as possible as it once was.

boy do we miss mediation

online stans are fucking psychotic and that kind of anti-social behavior shouldn't be rewarded in any way shape or form.

i understand that this might not be practical, but whoa my god.

meanwhile politely complaining about the new billie eilish song on a message board is very good actually, and should be rewarded with money

I just can't get my head around being so invested in the continued success of global superstar millionaires that you'd spend hundreds of dollars for every single release to push it to the top of the charts. I guess I can understand the appeal of championing an underdog artist or new act and wanting to push them to more visibility with an organized campaign or whatever, but stuff like the BTS army just baffles me in terms of how much money people throw into these campaigns. I'm sure the millionaires who are such ubiquitous global pop stars that they have a McDonald's meal named after them will be just fine, even if Jack Doe in Nebraska doesn't buy fifteen copies of the physical EP and eighteen copies of the same digital single.

Anecdotal (and I may have mentioned this on another thread once), but I was in a Barnes & Noble once and this girl, around sixteen or so, came in with (presumably) her mother. Apparently BTS had just released a physical single or EP or something (it was in one of those oversized cases that they all seem to be released in) and she bought every copy the store had, which I think was 14 or 15. She ran three separate transactions, split between her and her mom and different credit cards (again, presumably something to do with making sure they count). I love music and physical media more than I should myself, but I can't wrap my head around loving any artist enough to buy that many copies of the exact same release.

yeah it's insane.

stan culture is bad regardless of artist AFAICT

Not disagreeing with you Simon, just using BTS as the example given the recent discourse.

And to be clear, I'm not disparaging young fans and people genuinely into pop music. That's fine. It's just the amount of money they must drop on this that stuns me whenever I read about these campaigns. Maybe I'm building a straw man here that doesn't exist, but I do worry about younger, more impressionable fans getting pressured into spending more money than they should/actually have to keep up their true stan status.

I love the grain in her voice... Olivia may be more "limited" of a singer than, say, Billie (in terms of technique), but her voice is so perfect for the big rock ballads and rave-ups that she writes/sings.

(sorry to keep reviving; I'm still bumping this CD on the reg.)

you can tell she's ex-Disney and there's something of the musical theatre in her delivery but it's not a bad thing for her like it often is - little moments like the sarcastic laugh on "good 4 u" or the exaggerated exasperation of "God... it's brutal out here" really elevate this from good songwriting to great pop performance

Exactly - the drama fits (and she no doubt borrowed some of that theatrical expressiveness from Taylor, as well).

I imagine these songs will be really fun to do at karaoke

gonna try that soon, I hope (at a friend's house)

xxxp "like a damn sociopath" and "Ican'tstanditohgodIsoundcrazy"

these are the moments that really make the album for me. songs are good, lyrics are tiresome (admittedly, i am a middle-aged man, they are not for me) but those little moments have drawn me in.

there are plenty of other ex-disney pop stars who don't have anywhere near her charisma

Feeling inspired by @Olivia_Rodrigo ☀️ 

Original photo by Brett Lloyd for Purple Magazine pic.twitter.com/gRIfWlgfxI

— Kyle MacLachlan (@Kyle_MacLachlan) June 8, 2021

there are plenty of other ex-disney pop stars who don't have anywhere near her charisma

― ufo

Multiplying by 0 is still 0.

Jk

Opened this thread to confirm that song is a cover of Misery Business

The song is structurally similar and with similar rock leanings but melodically they're not really and good 4 u doesn't have that hooky riff. Even as a Paramore fan though, I've come to realize I've probably underrated misery business, what a song - "I REFUSE I REFUSE I REFUSE"

I hear only a faint similarity in the chorus (“Good 4 U” is a far far better song, IMO).

I guess I should be more diplomatic and say that the Paramore song is not in a style that I can connect with / enjoy.

It's remarkable how much more pleasant I find the SNL live video of "Good 4 U" than the studio version (at least on YouTube). Sounds like human beings singing and playing instruments in a room. Good power pop tune.

Courtney thinks she owns the concept of a prom queen with smudged eye makeup, f'ing excuse me?: https://pitchfork.com/news/courtney-love-accuses-olivia-rodrigo-of-stealing-hole-album-cover-concept/

they should have credited costello though for "brutal"

― ufo, Thursday, May 20, 2021 9:52 PM (one month ago)

This is fine by me, Billy.
It’s how rock and roll works. You take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand new toy. That’s what I did. #subterreaneanhomesickblues #toomuchmonkeybusiness

— Elvis Costello (@ElvisCostello) June 28, 2021

pretty cool response, can't think of too many in his generation who would've handled it the same way

Just listened to "Brutal"--anyone who thinks that's plagiarism of "Pump It Up" is completely out to lunch. I could easily believe it's nothing more than a coincidence.

I mean my first thought when I heard it was "that's Pump It Up" but it's also a pretty simple riff

I mean, I'm sure at least Dan Nigro has heard the song before and the riff does seem like a quote or homage but that's not a very strong case for plagiarism on its own imo.xp

The song reminded me of "Cannonball" and "Connection" before "Pump It Up," tbh.

it's absolutely close enough to "pump it up" that costello could have sued if he'd wanted to & so it was pretty surprising that they didn't credit him as a precaution, especially in the current legal environment around writing credits

anyone else watch the sour prom thing? it was pretty cool, better than I expected

Finally hit me the other day that the driver license bridge is the melody of the "na-na nanana" playground taunt which is why I've been connecting with it so hard, something about the way she sings of the relationship like it's a taunt in and of itself, combined with this massive emotion makes for the perfect elixir of unreasonable love and the real thing

I thought "Pump It Up" within 5 seconds of hearing it and agree with ufo.

Solid response by EC, tho.

about being surprised they didn't preemptively credit him, I mean.

xxp add it here!: Songs that incorporate the "nan nanny boo boo" melody

it's absolutely close enough to "pump it up" that costello could have sued if he'd wanted to & so it was pretty surprising that they didn't credit him as a precaution, especially in the current legal environment around writing credits

Oh, I agree that court cases have been won over less and an acknowledgment would have been decent.

If Elvis Costello was going to sue over Pump it Up, he would have already sued Escape Club for "Wild Wild West" and U2 for that terrible "Get On Your Boots" song. Granted both of those borrow more from the main melody as opposed to the lead riff like the Olivia Rodrigo song.

Haha, I thought about mentioning "Wild Wild West".

The song reminded me of "Cannonball" and "Connection" before "Pump It Up," tbh.

The two riffs consist of the exact same chords (B5-Bb5-A5) changing at the same times. "Brutal" just starts with four eighth notes on B5 rather than two quarter notes. There's no question that it's the same idea but there is a valid question imo as to whether people should sue over one repeated bar with three power chords falling by semitones.

Yeah - and after Blurred Lines, the bar is pretty low for “could have sued if they wanted to.”

I thought the "Blurred Lines" settlement was ridiculous but come on they clearly nicked the tune

It was a verdict! And it didn’t even really involve the melody (AFAIR), it involved the “feel” of the song.

they nicked the groove and wrote a different song on top of it

a classic songwriting method

Got to Give it Up is on my party playlist and pretty much every time it comes on someone says "wait is this Blurred Lines?" which I think gets to the essence of it

I just always felt that it was weird that Blurred Lines was the one that got him sued, as opposed to Magic which clearly nicks from Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up without any credit, but I guess that's what happens when the Gaye estate is a lot more litigious than the Mayfield estate.

It’s how rock and roll works. You take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand new toy. That’s what I did. #subterreaneanhomesickblues #toomuchmonkeybusiness

Perfect response, but also consistent with his own history. EC has pointed this out in his own concerts for many years by quoting his sources in his songs or seguing his songs into covers of his sources. With "Pump It Up," he frequently quotes "Subterranean Homesick Blues," and something like "Brilliant Mistake" usually quotes "Tangled Up in Blue" - in each case, the only thing that's different is the words, emphasizing his song's chordal and melodic roots to the source. He's frequently written or spoken about this too, particularly in the liner notes of his Rhino reissues.

that's really a really refreshing from an older artist

Another thing "Brutal" reminds me of--feel-wise, if not totally musically--is Courtney Barnett stuff like "Pedestrian At Best".

^That’s really funny; I’ve been trying to “sing” Brutal in my head the past day or so, and keep singing that song instead (I just listened to the CB album last week).

Oh wait, not that CB song—the one about swimming.

This supports the points that ufo (and others) have been making about "just-in-case" songwriting credits, but it's really surprising to me: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/olivia-rodrigo-adds-taylor-swift-st-vincent-jack-antonoff-co-writes-to-deja-vu-1193659/

We're talking about a few shouted lines, the melodic similarity seems so minimal. It does not seem good for creativity for songwriters to be running scared (IMO, but other songwriters/artists have made similar comments).

It only happens/matters when your record is a smash hit though. So it seems like a good policy to write what you want and then chip off the percentages once there's a big pot of money and everyone comes calling.

I think this is great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FaCO7pNx08

ok actually giving paramore a credit for "good 4 u" is the biggest stretch yet lol? like is there any sort of similarity at all beyond pop punk with the same chords in the chorus because that is not worth a writing credit

they did that now? ugh

My conspiracy theory is that Olivia Rodrigo is an industry plant with the purpose of pushing the boundaries for songwriting credits by making it even more acceptable to sue over moderate similarities in songwriting, instead of outright rips, in this post-Blurred Lines world.

Also, just want to add that there is a guitar tag in there that is a ripped-straight-from-the-pages-of-a-1995-Guitar-World rendition of Welcome to Paradise by Green Day. You think I'd get a finders fee from Reprise if I turned her in?

it sounds to me like the same chords in the chorus with the same melody sung over it with a similar cadence (in the beginning). it does diverge after the beginning. it sounds so clear in the mashup that I don't understand how people feel this is breaking new ground (but maybe this mashup makes drastic changes to either song that I don't recognize). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB-rn6f--XY

my first thought when i heard that song was hey this sounds like misery business... sounds way more like misery business than that other song sounds like pump it up

maybe this is just bound to happen for a pop star that mines all these different eras of rock music instead of r&b/rap/pop/disco/whatever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX7a2p5_JsM

The Taylor Swift/Paramore mashup coulda been a hit

great video

Yeah, I thought that was very well done. It initially persuaded me that the songs were more similar than I was perhaps willing to admit, but then confirmed my suspicion that their similarity isn't particularly exceptional.

i'm sure a billion people have said this already but every time i hear her post-driver's license singles out in the wild, i'm surprised anew at how much better her post-driver's license singles are than driver's license

Me too. I never want to listen to "Driver's License," I always want to listen to "Good 4 You."

Driver's License grew on me, but yeah, most of the songs on the record are more interesting than that one, esp. the singles

the "like a damn sociopath" bit is maybe the musical moment of the year for me...

that 10-min. video is really well done, good stuff.

The thing about "like a damn sociopath" is -- I mean, it's felt, it hits, to an extent, but to some extent I'm too old for it -- the song ISN'T about a sociopath, it's about somebody who's in love with you and then isn't, which is a foundational part of teenage life -- of course if you're the person no longer loved you're gonna see it as a lie and a betrayal -- "you said you'd love me FOREVER but that was not actually a FACTUALLY CORRECT STATEMENT" -- a signal that something is actually badly wrong with the soul of the person who no longer loves -- but, like, I can't inhabit that feeling, all I can do is observe it being well-captured and to some extent dimly remember a time in my life when it would have made sense

a song so great, it can contain the line "Your apathy's like a wound in salt" and still be the best song of the year!

maybe you're just emotional

xxp i just think it sounds cool when she yells it

I am totally not in a demographic to like her music but "Good 4 U" is a jam and I (not so) secretly love it whenever I am out and about in public and it gets played.

Nobody posted this yet and it only "dropped" last week so...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGUy2UmRxJ0

Every generation has an "I'm Eighteen" I guess...
I am an old man and I think it sounds like Elastica which is fine with me.

Courtney love claiming she stole the cover art concept from Hole is some pathetic stuff

That's a real three girl rhumba right there.

Nobody posted this yet and it only "dropped" last week so...

It’s a good video!

The thing about "like a damn sociopath" is -- I mean, it's felt, it hits, to an extent, but to some extent I'm too old for it -- the song ISN'T about a sociopath, it's about somebody who's in love with you and then isn't, which is a foundational part of teenage life

Conversely, since my partner pointed it out, I have a hard time imagining the teenager who found a therapist for her ex and bitterly observes his new automotive purchase and career success. Makes sense that it was co-written by a teenage girl and a middle-aged man. Catchy tune, though.

Maybe teenagers who are Disney stars are really like this idk

This is a good performance (below). Her Tiny Desk Concert goes up tmrrw, and tour tix go on sale Friday (I briefly entertained the idea of checking out the seats, but this Austin City Limits crowd reminded me of who her actual fan base is, and... nope, ha ha.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_rYWBle1_4

I was surprised at the venue she's playing here: it's a big venue but it's not the stadium you would expect for a chart-topping global superstar.

i think it's really quite rare to go straight to playing arenas, even for pop acts who have been as successful as her right out the gate, so not surprising that she's just starting at the next step down. she also only has half an hour of material

That seems reasonable. I remember when Adele played the Riviera in Chicago after 21 came out. Seems crazy in retrospect.

Yeah, I was pleased to see that OR is playing the Greek Theater here (a venue I enjoy). I'm reaching out to a guy a know with a preteen daughter to see if they're going, maybe I can tag along...

she talks about that here with phoebe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18UGudtPZHE

Her Tiny Desk Concert was filmed in a DMV office; nice gag!

man, could they have pushed her guitarists further off to the sides on Austin City Limits? they're not even in the straight-on shot, they're off in the shadows.

it's weird! and it feels icky.

Ended up trying to buy tix for one/either of the Greek shows (my pal & his family were in, if I could snag 'em) – it was a frustrating/depressing experience. Cool idea for her two play two shows at a smaller venue, but the scheme clearly couldn't support the demand for Time's "Entertainer of the Year."

(If my number had come up in the "Verified Fan" lottery thing, it may have gone differently. Right now, I could buy "AXS Premium" tickets for a mere $1,099 each – not including fees, that's where they get ya)

yeah I signed up for the Verified Fan thing and was notified that I'm on the waitlist last night so I think the only thing this Verified Fan service does is notify you ahead of time that you have no chance in hell of getting a ticket, saves me the time and minor stress of trying to get a ticket come 10am on Friday morning

She has a longform "Road Trip" thing on Disney+ with some nice performances (new arrangements / instrumentation) in picturesque settings.

The doc is also sprinkled with "in-studio" clips from the Sour sessions – including the moment when Dan Nigro (purportedly) hits upon the "Brutal" riff; Olivia starts improvising a melody/lyric; and (in the next clip) they record the finished song the next day. (This action is kicked off by some mini angst around needing one more "upbeat track" for the album.)

(Nigro says "I'll go home and listen to some Elvis Costello" – just kidding)

She's doing "Seether" on tour:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1hniLIF7IU

(content warning: rapidly flashing lights)

(also: severely '90s fashion)

Trying to place this into my own time frame, I decided it would have been like Debbie Gibson covering "Leader of the Pack" on her first tour.

I think your math is off... 1987 - 28 = 1959

(that's assuming you're going for that level of precision, lol)

OMG, she's also doing "Complicated":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFS1XL3ns5w

I feel like I am being personally targeted.

My math was just "teenage singer performs "feisty" female-identified song that was popular a few years before she was born", in which case I'm three years off.

Gotcha! Under the precision approach (which makes the passage of time feel even more extreme), it's like Gibson doing the Shirelles' "Dedicated to the One I Love."

on the ground report from the stage crew in Portland:

I've been working for 11 hours now...doors are in 30, we have 2 trusses to fly, drop silks to re-basket...and she's still rehearsing.

This is what occurs when it is the first show of the tour...

Debbie Gibson covered the Five Satins' "In the Still of the Night" (orig 1956) in 1989.

I uncomplicatedly love that Rodrigo is into "Seether"

if it wasn't clear, my c&p above is as much a tribute to Rodrigo's work ethic as it is the crew's

XP A real head would have covered "All Hail Me".

What I love about the “Seether” / “Complicated” covers is that yes they were big hits (and she’s a big hit artist, after all), but also they sound like her “voice” (or at least a voice not unlike hers)—if those songs didn’t exist, and she wrote & recorded them for her next album, it would feel natural. Playing old covers could have seemed too obvious and “on the nose,” but instead choosing those particular songs somehow feels like an ingenious fleshing-out of an aesthetic, it’s so perfect.

(Also, while 90s/Y2K nostalgia is obviously big right now, it doesn’t feel like she’s chasing trends as much as embodying them.)

I know it's not Team Dresch but "Seether" wasn't a pop hit in the way that "Complicated" or "Driver's Licence" were pop hits, was it? Actually seems like an interesting choice.

no, seether was a niche modern rock radio hit, 'complicated' was a pretty massive pop hit.

let me know when she does a letters to cleo song

"Seether" was also a big MTV "hit"

Sounds like Alanis showed up at Tuesday night’s show, and they did “You Oughta Know.”

between bringing up Avril a few weeks ago and Alanis on Tuesday, she sure loves her Cancon icons

I like that she's using the fact that she only has like a half hour of songs as an excuse to deliver history-of-rock education to her teen fans instead of just turning in a short set

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmvQXHoCoDM

Guess it was inevitable

(Cringe factor of that video is a solid 8.5)

Jabba and Leia vibes

I think it's cool she's offering her forthcoming single in CD single format (in addition to 7")

reasonably priced as well! fully expected to see it be $10 for the CD too.

haha, i just lol'd at "Jabba and Leia vibes" before realizing it was me who wrote it.

i am so funny! (and mean.)

I mentioned that line to a few folks IRL at the time (citing you as "someone online"), and it got some good laughs.

tbf, i am someone online

anyway, i am flattered of course

back on topic: pretty stoked to hear new music from OR. i don't feel skeptical that she can do it again, though i feel like that would be a reasonable way to feel (and i have felt that way before in what feel like similar-ish circumstances).

When I saw the title, a tiny part of me hoped that it was a Sebadoh cover.

New album, Guts, out Sept. 8

(Is it just me, or is there a slight Pettibon influence in this t-shirt design: https://store.oliviarodrigo.com/products/guts-cd-vampire-t-shirt-boxset)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlPNh_PBZb4

Song is good! I had (wrongly) predicted it would be a banger; was misled at first into thinking it was a ballad... and it turned out to be a hybrid deal.

It reminds me of a Jim Steinman joint – especially when it kicks into that final section.

(I was afraid the “vampire” lyrical conceit would be corny & overdone; but if anything, it feels a little underdeveloped… and the “sold me for parts” line feels like a weirdly mixed metaphor? Maybe you’re meant to think of body parts…)

The little mall-EDM drop is a perfect bit of sonic branding

She sings “dream crusher” in the clean version. That’s pretty good, I thought they’d just drop out the f-word.

"Vampire' is great, can't wait for this album

V good song

The added urgency of the drums towards the end seals the deal

I made a thread for the new album (big achievement, I know): Olivia Rodrigo - Guts (Sept. 2023)

As great at Guts is, there’s something about going back to Sour… it just has that OG emo flava. Like your favorite band when they were young and just blowing up. I guess I “appreciate” it even more now, in a way…

(Listening to it also gives me a “time-and-place” sense memory of the summer of 2020… which is obv a weird moment to feel any type of nostalgia for.)

Whoops… I’m being told in my earpiece that the album came out in 2021. My sense of time is messed up!

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/olivia-rodrigo-guts-tour-reproductive-rights-fund-4-good-1235614854/

“The fund will directly support community-based nonprofits that champion things like girls’ education, support reproductive rights and prevent gender-based violence,” continued the “Vampire” singer, noting that Fund 4 Good tables with resources for fans will be set up at all of her Guts tour stops.

Rodrigo also reminded fans that a portion of the proceeds from her ticket sales will go toward the Fund 4 Good, as well as the National Network of Abortion Funds in North America. “Thank you so much for supporting this cause that I care so deeply about,” she added. “I can’t wait to see you all on tour.”

Your move, T-Swizzle.

Opening night of her tour sounds like it was pretty cool (here's a somewhat floridly written review).

(Points off for the writer coyly hinting at a potential hidden message in song sequence... it displeases me for the spectre of Taylor to seep into every corner, as if it's always a necessary angle... no offense, Josh! :-P)

he said he saw a dad with a ‘Dad Idea, Right?’ shirt on.

Levelled-up Dad, right there.

What in God’s name do you people hear in this generic shitmusic? Just the blandest pop music I’ve heard in quite some time with high school poetry lyrics. Granted I’ve only heard the “You’re a… dreamcrusher” one and “Get Him Back”, but still. WORST CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED ARTIST EVER OF THE DECADE EVER.

Those capital letters are cute

Go Girl!

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/olivia-rodrigo-hands-out-condoms-morning-after-pills-guts-tour-1235851618/

In a social media post, a fan who attended the St. Louis tour stop shared a photo of two emergency contraceptive pill boxes. On top of them was a purple, square sticker that read, “Funding abortions? It’s a good idea, right?” seemingly a reference to Rodrigo’s song, “bad idea right?”

In addition to providing contraceptives at her shows, the singer-songwriter also has National Network of Abortion Funds tables set up at each tour location.

...or not.

https://variety.com/2024/music/news/olivia-rodrigo-abortion-funds-not-allowed-distribute-plan-b-condom-1235943079/

Organizers tell Variety that after widespread media attention, local abortion funds were told Thursday afternoon that they were no longer allowed to hand out free emergency birth control pills and other reproductive health resources at the concerts.

According to three sources at local abortion funds, that decision came from Rodrigo’s team and was relayed over Slack by the National Network of Abortion Funds, which partnered with the pop star to set up booths at each of her North American tour stops. Jade Hurley, the communications manager for the DC Abortion Fund, says the NNAF said Rodrigo’s team preferred they no longer pass out lubrication, condoms and Plan B because “children are present at the concerts.”

“The reality is that youth have sex, and youth need access to birth control and emergency contraception,” Hurley tells Variety over the phone. “What we’re doing is completely legal in all 50 states.”

A representative for Rodrigo did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.

Robert Smith joins her on stage at Glastonbury for ‘Friday I’m in Love’!

Saw the replays of the performances with Robert Smith. She is really delightful and has such a great live voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDTlUtrzeFI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ePiW95yGKE

https://www.nme.com/news/music/olivia-rodrigo-had-a-great-glastonbury-doing-shots-with-robert-smith-and-raving-to-pulp-3875456

https://www.instagram.com/p/DLiGSKmtRa7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

This is the one with shots and a Cure shirt:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLa5nRjC-Sv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Or maybe not, it's in the NME link.

Wow, Robert's voice sounds great. I don't know why I was expecting less, but he sounds strong and clear and terrific.

You should listen to the new album if you haven't, he's very much still got it! (Recent tours also confirm this.)