Thank you! Personally I'm very disappointed by Top-40...I view music as a medium which has inspired me with confidence, empathy and curiosity.
What's more, music, like porn, should get credit for having bootstrapped open-source data sharing.
It plays a huge role in my life personally. I like to think that certain lyrics and artists gave me back a thirst for spirituality after a dogmatic, puritan upbringing brought me to nausea at the mention of the word. (FWIW, I wouldn't describe myself as a "worshipper"...but rather I've a fresh appreciation for the potentials of meditation and storytelling)
I enjoy curation of Podcasts, and more pointedly...seeking out interviews with people talking about what I want to learn about...this has taken what I love about "edifying music" and does it in a more distilled and long-form format. Allow me to name a few off the top of my head who just ooze wisdom:
Henry Rollins (In his older age esp.) is a profoundly well-spoken and inspirational traveler and writer. I intend to read all his books someday; but for now getting a distilled version of his wisdom from his spoken word or interview on JRE is hugely empowering and inspiring during a workout or long commute.
Jordan Peterson; Big disclaimer here: I don't love his conclusions. Instead, I immerse myself in his thought-experiments, remaining skeptical, smirking at his casual dismissal of activism. I've listened to his audiobook (12 rules) back-to-back when biking to work, it got me asking questions, which reinforced my own pursuits. This is the opposite of apathy, so agree with him or not...he's a voice I like to have around.
Alan Watts: Philosophy, Taoism. I mention this because there's a very interesting trend going on: Philosophical Chillstep; aka rhetoric set to a rhythm. The paranoid might cry brainwashing...I've been critical of that dynamic and I conclude that it's a nice way to get someone's talking points...it's encouraged me to seek out the long-form original versions of the oration.
Zoog Von Rock / Amelia Arsenic of Angelspit: The top commenter mentions punk, so allow me to include these Auzzie-gone-murrican cyberindustrial rabblerousers. What's funny is that I see correlation between some messages in Angelspit's lyrics and aforementioned JP's rhetoric (both consider the consequences of a world that liquidates human quality of life in pursuit of productivity) Edit: Example of some of Zoog's helpful vlogging: https://youtu.be/WYDjNKESS5A
Adam Yang 2020: Obama rode on Facebook. Trump ran on Twitter. I'm watching Yang on Youtube with particular interest...this is a guy with 75 policies...and at rallies there seems to be a sentiment for returning to respecting intelligence and a thirst for leaders who can back up their ideas with numbers. Feeling hopeful, might streetteam l8r.
I hope the author of the article takes notice of him, in fact, because for how formulaic pop-music is...one wonders how long it will be before generating reviews and top-lists of pop-music songs will be entirely automated...