for now, here are my favorite song discoveries atm. also, let me know if there are any specific types of articles you’d want to see from me. i’m thinking of posting some full playlist breakdowns soon!

“FIND GOD (ft. dominic fike)” — kenny mason, dominic fike

dominic fike is one of my favorite artists ever, so i’m always a sucker for a new song featuring him. but even beyond my fike bias, this one pulled me in immediately. the guitar strums at the beginning set up the song perfectly, and i love how naturally it moves between kenny mason rapping and dominic fike singing. it feels relaxed, but still has this momentum that keeps it really engaging. this was my intro to kenny mason, and now i definitely want to listen to more.

“shiny penny” — oranje space

the chorus is so instantly catchy, and the whole song has that easy indie-pop feel that makes you want to keep replaying it. it’s laid-back, but there’s still a little bit of yearning underneath it, which makes the song feel more emotional than it first lets on.

“second sleep” — magdalena bay

magdalena bay has one of the most distinct sounds i’ve come across recently, and i’m so happy i found them. their music always feels like it exists in its own little universe: ethereal, strange, futuristic, and a little magical. “second sleep” has such playful production, with all these little synth textures that make the song feel like it’s constantly shifting. definitely listen if you haven’t already. also, the cover art is sick.

“designer” — tokyo tea room

this song is so dreamy, but what makes it even better is how the light drum beat keeps it grounded. it still has that floaty, atmospheric feel, but the rhythm gives it enough structure to keep it moving. the vocals are soft and hazy, and the whole track kind of melts into itself in the best way.

“desperado” — mac miller

i was listening to macadelic and this one immediately stood out. the electric guitar at the beginning gives the song such a strong opening, and i love that it comes back at the end too, almost like it frames the whole track. mac’s delivery is so clear and deliberate here, and the way his lyrics cut through the production makes the song feel sharp, but still so smooth.

that’s all for now! see u soon :)

p.s. i’m still trying to get better at describing music, so if anyone has good articles, writers, or tips for articulating music analysis better, send them my way.

- m

“dákiti” — the marías
original: bad bunny

the marías are definitely one of my favorite bands, and their soft, dreamy sound makes pretty much everything they perform feel angelic. i also love bad bunny, so hearing them take on one of his songs was such a fun crossover. they make it feel slower, smoother, and a little more hypnotic, while still keeping the song’s original charm.

“friday i’m in love” — phoebe bridgers
original: the cure

i found this cover ages ago and it’s still one of my all-time favorites. phoebe’s voice is so calming and completely steers the song in a new direction. when i listen to the cure’s version, it reminds me of that dancing-around-your-room feeling you get when you have a crush and everything feels upbeat, exciting, and new. phoebe’s version makes me think about love in a softer way, like when someone slowly becomes a vital part of your life and makes even the most mundane moments feel special.

“linger” — royal otis
original: the cranberries

this is such a perfect indie take on one of the most iconic love songs. i love how present the guitar is in this version. even though the original has a lot more going on production-wise, the simpler sound makes royal otis’ cover feel even more intimate.

“phoebe” — malcolm todd
original: audrey hobert

i remember falling in love with audrey hobert’s who’s the clown? and then being floored when i found out she was malcolm todd’s sister. the fact that they’re siblings makes this cover 10000x better. he adds more of an indie rock sound to it, especially with the stronger electric guitar, and it makes the whole song feel so fun and full of personality.

i love exploring new covers, so comment some of your favorites down below!

- m

so technically, it has never been easier to find new music.

but most of my favorite music discoveries have actually never come from an algorithm. they have come from my friends. like when someone sends me a song and says, “i feel like you would like this.” or when a friend puts me onto an artist they have been obsessed with. or when someone makes a playlist and it feels like a tiny little window into their brain.

there is just something different about getting a song from a real person. it feels more intentional, personal, and less like a platform pushing content at you. that got me thinking about spotify. spotify is already so good at predicting what we might like.

but what if it did more to help us discover music through people?

spotify already lets us share music, but sharing still feels kind of random

spotify already has a lot of the foundation for social music sharing. you can send songs in-app. you can make collaborative playlists. you can share songs to instagram, text, tiktok, and basically anywhere else. you can also see friend activity on desktop, which i personally think should be a way bigger part of the product but that is a rant for another day. but even with all of that, sharing still relies on one thing: you already know who you want to send the song to.

and i think that creates an interesting gap.

right now, music sharing is usually reactive. you hear a song, think of someone, and send it to them. which is great. but what about when you want to get recommendations from someone new? or when you want to get into a genre but have no idea where to start? or when you want to share your taste with someone who is actually looking for it?

spotify gives us songs and people give songs context.

people still discover music through people

spotify’s algorithm is useful because it understands behavior. it knows what we play, skip, save, replay, and add to playlists.

but music taste is not just behavioral. it is emotional and social and a big part of how people express themselves.

sometimes i do not just want a playlist based on what i already listen to. i want to know what my friends have been obsessed with lately. i want to know what song someone plays on their walk to class, before a night out, after a breakup, or during a long drive. i want the recommendation to come with a reason.

because a song recommendation is rarely just about the song. it is about who sent it, why they sent it, and what it says about their taste. that context is what makes it stick.

my idea: spotifriends

i kept thinking about what it would look like if spotify made human music sharing feel more intentional.

so my idea is called spotifriends.

basically, spotifriends would be a social music discovery feature where users opt in to exchange music recommendations with another listener. kind of like a music discovery pen pal, but inside spotify. instead of only getting recommendations from spotify’s algorithm, you could get recommendations from a real person who loves the genre, mood, or artist you want to explore.

so if i wanted to get more into house music, spotify could match me with someone who is really good at curating house playlists. if someone wanted better workout music, they could get matched with someone who makes elite gym playlists. if someone wanted to discover more international artists, they could be paired with someone who already listens across different regions and languages.

the point would not be to replace spotify’s algorithm. the point would be to add a more human layer to discovery.

how it could work

when you opt in, spotify could ask what kind of music you want to discover.

maybe you choose:

• indie pop

• r&b

• underground rap

• house music

• folk

• workout music

• international artists

• songs similar to a specific artist or mood

then spotify could also ask what you feel good at recommending. because i think that part is important. people do not just want to receive recommendations. they also like feeling like they have good taste.

someone might be amazing at recommending 2000s r&b. someone else might know every sad indie song ever made. someone else might be the go-to person for movie soundtracks, late-night drive songs, or niche local artists.

spotify could then match people based on what one person wants to discover and what another person likes recommending. the match does not have to be serious or permanent. it could just be a short weekly exchange.

something like:

“send three songs you think everyone should hear once.”

or

“recommend a song that got you into your favorite genre.”

then, when you tap share on a song, spotify could add an option like:

recommend to a spotifriend

you could send the song with a short note, like:

“this is one of my favorite songs for a late night drive.”

or

“this is the song that made me get into this artist.”

the other person could listen, save it, react, or send something back.

and instead of the songs disappearing into a chat, spotify could automatically turn the exchange into a tiny shared playlist. at the end of the week, both people could save it, keep the match going, or get paired with someone new.

why i think this would be fun

i think this would work because it taps into something people already do. people already send songs. people already make playlists. people already want to be known for having good taste.

spotifriends would just make that behavior feel more intentional.

for listeners, it could make discovery feel less overwhelming. instead of scrolling through a million playlists, you get a few songs from someone who actually knows that sound.

for the person recommending, it gives you a low-pressure way to share your taste with someone who wants it.

and for spotify, it gives people another reason to come back. not just to listen, but to continue the exchange.

it could also give spotify a different kind of taste signal. spotify already knows what people listen to. but this could show what people are proud to recommend, what songs create conversation, and which human-curated recommendations actually lead to saves. that feels much different from just tracking skips and streams.

it would need to stay music-first

obviously, any user-to-user feature would need to be designed carefully.

i do not think spotify needs to become a social media app and i definitely do not want it to (trust me, we have enough already).

the best version of this would be structured and music-first. less “open-ended dm” and more “guided song exchange.”

spotify could keep it safer with anonymous or first-name-only matching, report and block options, age-safe matching, limited prompts, and the ability to end a match whenever.

the point is not to create another inbox, but instead to make discovering music from real people feel easy and low-pressure.

the simplest version

spotify would not need to launch some huge social feature right away. the simplest version could just be a weekly song swap.

you opt in. you pick a few genres or moods you want to explore. spotify matches you with one person for seven days. each person sends three songs with short notes. at the end, you get a shared mini-playlist and can decide if you want to keep going or get a new match.

that alone would test the bigger question: can spotify make human music sharing a real part of discovery?

music discovery should feel human again

spotify is already amazing at helping us find songs we might like. but music has always been more than a recommendation engine.

it is emotional. it is social. it is one of the easiest ways to say, “this made me think of you” or “you need to hear this.”

algorithms can predict taste, but people create meaning. and i think spotify has an opportunity to bring more of that meaning back into discovery. spotify already lets us share music.

now it could help us find more people worth sharing with.

this is definitely a different kind of article than what i usually write, but a little fun fact: i studied business + ux design in college, and i’m currently trying to navigate the music tech world, so i’ve been thinking a lot about new product ideas in the space. would love to hear what you think of this one and whether you would actually use a feature like this. also don’t worry, i’ll be back soon with more song recommendations asap :)

- m

1. “same LA” — tiffany day

a super fun electropop song that instantly gets my mood, and heart rate, up. it’s fast-paced and addictive, but i also love the idea behind it: living in the same city as someone, maybe even close by, but feeling like you’re in two completely different worlds. it reminds me of that weird feeling when you drift apart from someone and suddenly it feels like you’re living separate lives. if you haven’t listened to this album yet, definitely give it a try. it’s so fun.

2. “MALASNOTICIAS” — alvaro diaz, latin mafia

this came on shuffle and i’m so happy i found it. everything about this song is beautiful. the beat is strong, but my favorite part is when it switches into the piano section. even though it feels like a completely different vibe from the rest of the song, it works so well. that part is so heartfelt and transforms the song into something way more memorable.

3. “hold you back” — emotional oranges

i had to include another emotional oranges song because they are absolutely incredible. their voices are so smooth, and the production complements them perfectly. the beat is easy, warm, and ridiculously satisfying. this band is awesome.

4. “frame of reference” — drug store romeos

super dreamy, and the lead singer’s voice is so soft and comforting. the production makes you feel like you’re floating, which is always my favorite kind of song. i definitely need to explore more of their music.

5. “human nature” — michael jackson

my family and i went to see michael this weekend for mother’s day, and i was surprised by how many songs i recognized considering i’ve rarely listened to michael jackson on my own. one song i was somehow unfamiliar with, despite how popular it is, was “human nature.” it immediately stood out to me during the show, especially when the crowd started singing the chorus together. that is usually one of my favorite parts of any concert. there’s something so powerful about hearing a room full of people sing the same words at the same time, and it’s one of the biggest reasons i love music so much :)

have lots of new friends on this substack, so i hope you all enjoy! as always, leave any song recs in the comments, i’m always trying to discover new music.

- m

and my favorite part is when that moment doesn’t just make the scene better, but actually changes the life of the song. music in television and film is incredibly powerful. it can revive older songs, introduce artists to entirely new audiences, and give a song a second life it may have never had otherwise.

“running up that hill” by kate bush was already iconic, but stranger things introduced it to a whole new generation unfamiliar with her music. “left hand free” by alt-j became the unofficial summer anthem of outer banks. “murder on the dancefloor” by sophie ellis-bextor skyrocketed into millions of streams after its unforgettable feature in saltburn.

that is one of the coolest things about movies and tv. a soundtrack can completely make or break the world of a story. i feel a little like jesse from pitch perfect when i say this, but creating movie soundtracks might be my dream job.

which brings me to my issue with the summer i turned pretty soundtrack.

don’t get me wrong, i love a taylor swift or olivia rodrigo pop song as much as the next person. but at a certain point, the soundtrack felt so focused on using already-popular songs that it became weirdly forgettable. it felt like the non-negotiable for every song was that it had to already be sitting somewhere on the top 100.

and because of that, so many of the music choices felt incredibly on-the-nose.

the clearest example is when “lacy” by olivia rodrigo plays after belly finds out she was cheated on with a girl named lacie. i love that song, but in this scene, the choice felt almost too obvious. instead of adding another emotional layer, it basically just repeated what was already happening on screen. it made the moment feel predictable instead of devastating.

that is not to say popular songs can’t work in tv because they absolutely can! one of my favorite examples is lorde’s “green light” in new girl. it’s a very popular song, but the placement feels intentional. as nick and jess finally realize they are in love with each other, the song captures that exact feeling of trying to move forward while knowing someone is still everywhere. it does not feel like the show picked the song because people already liked it, but because no other song could have done the job better.

and that is what makes the difference. the best music placements deepen a scene instead of simply decorate it. they make you feel something you maybe didn’t even realize the character was feeling yet. they make the song and the scene inseparable.

that’s what i wish the summer i turned pretty had leaned into more. the show is built around nostalgia, first love, heartbreak, jealousy, and growing up. it had the perfect opportunity to create those “what song is this?” moments. instead, the soundtrack often felt like it was relying on songs we already knew how to feel about.

music supervision should not just be about picking the biggest song. it should be about lyrics, production, mood, timing, and emotional specificity. because one perfectly placed song in a tv show or movie can completely transform how we hear it forever. it can also give an artist a seat at the table that they may not have gotten otherwise.

so yes, i will always love a dramatic pop needle drop. but i think there is something even more exciting about a show introducing us to a song we didn’t know we needed yet.

with that being said, i’d love to know: what’s your favorite song featured in a tv show or movie, and why did it stick with you?

-m

4. “doors” — noah kahan

   i was SO excited for this album release. noah kahan always finds a way to make songs that are catchy even when they’re dealing with the most somber themes. this one really leans into the feeling of being unseen no matter how hard you try. not surprised this is one of the most-played songs from the new releases, it immediately pulled me in.

5. “easy love” — west 22nd

   if you haven’t listened to west 22nd yet, you need to get on the wave. every song feels like an indie masterpiece, and this one is no exception.

   until next time

   - m

this one pulls you in immediately. the drums come in strong and don’t let up, which makes it such an easy song to get into. it feels light at first, but the lyrics are actually pretty heavy, and i think that contrast is definitely what makes it stick

“frío” — omar apollo

i’m definitely not great at my spanish (very embarrassing for someone who spent five months in madrid), but it doesn’t make the song any less incredible to me. if anything, it makes it better. there’s something really special about connecting to a song without needing to translate it line by line. it reminds me that music is meant to bring people together, even when you don’t share the same language

“what’s up” — malcolm todd

i feel like i’m always discovering new songs from him. his sound is extremely consistent, but it works. the guitar is always solid, and his bridges are usually the best part. shower shoes is such a good album, i keep going back to “lovebird” and “mac”

“carry on” — jungle

this song is SO FUN and instantly puts me in a better mood. it’s kind of dreamy and light and just makes me excited for summer. jungle never misses with production but this one especially feels so easy to listen to

“saved” — khalid

i’ve been revisiting older khalid songs and found this gem. it reminds me of a late night drive in warm summer weather. it’s calm without being boring, and there’s something about it that just feels easy to sit with

“altagama” — rusowsky

super light and fun. it honestly feels like a breath of fresh air, just really easy and optimistic. (also fully possible i’m misreading the vibe because of my very questionable spanish, but i’m choosing to believe this is what it feels like)

“12:30” — kardinal bloom

this feels like indie in its purest form. the guitar really carries it and gives it that slightly nostalgic sound. i think it reminds me of the backseat lovers ??? definitely one to keep in rotation

i’m still figuring out how i like to talk about music, but for me it usually comes down to one thing done really well, whether that’s production, a bridge, or just a distinct memory i have associated with a song.

would love to hear what you guys pay attention to when you’re listening, or what makes a song stand out to you :)

- m

“what do you love about music”

“to begin with…everything”

— almost famous

i grew up as a musical theater and choir kid, so being obsessed with music has always been part of who i am. but when i got to college, i left this major part of myself behind. once i started business school, it felt like i should be spending all my time in consulting clubs and business orgs, trying to figure out how to navigate the corporate world.

now, as a senior looking back, i wish i made more time for the things i actually loved. it sounds obvious, but “do the things you’re passionate about” is genuinely good advice, and i think i finally understand why so many people advocate for this.

music has always been the constant for me. every day, for better or worse, i put on my headphones and start my routine. i fall asleep to music playing on my laptop. whether i’m having the best day, a horrible day, or just an average one, music is always there. i tie songs to phases of my life, make an absurd number of playlists, and sometimes feel like in another life i was on the road managing a band (and occasionally singing backup).

as i think more about my professional future (eek graduating is scary), i know music isn’t something that’s ever going to leave my life. if anything, i’d love to find a way to bring those two worlds together in any way i possibly can.

so this is my attempt at that. a place to share what i’m listening to, learn more about music, and connect with people love music just as much as i do. i don’t really know exactly what this will become, and i don’t have the most niche taste (i love a good h&m pop song), but that’s kind of the point. i just want to explore it all and share what i love along the way.

– m