Hey, I'm Brittany Loose, and you're listening to It's been a minute from NPR, a show where we talk about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident.

And today, we're looking back at all the great music from

2023. In my humble opinion it was a great year for music and my guests

they think so too.

Music is better than ever.

Better than ever!

That's a big claim.

That's Nate Sloane, one of the co-hosts of the podcast Switched on Pop.

He and his co-host, Charlie Harding, are some of the brightest

minds in music journalism today. I sat down with both of them to talk about the big trends

this year and to learn what albums are at the top of their own charts.

Nate, Charlie, welcome to it's been a minute.

Thanks for having us. Brittany, so great to be here.

Oh my gosh, so happy to have you all here.

I personally have enjoyed this year in music, but also I feel like there's been some big shifts

and big trends that have been cresting this year that are a little different than what we've seen in the past couple.

But before I go on and on about what I think, I would love to hear what you both think were the biggest trends that you saw happening in pop this year.

Nate will start with you. What was catching your ears?

I think one of the biggest things that Charlie and I noticed was the importance of celebrity in the world of music in 2023.

I mean this year was ruled by two people Taylor and Beyonce and their celebrity was like a

lunar eclipse that just blocked out the sun for so many other artists and cultural

moments something is happening on the charts that we have so many other artists and cultural moments.

...