The Tiers

  • Tier 1: Icons

    This is your legendary, untouchable, timeless pop star, one that has an unimpeachable arsenal of generation-defining hits, cultural touchstones, and has been or was relevant for decades, transcending anything trendy or of-the-moment. These stars are often mononymous, are known clearly by people who didn't necessarily grow up during their peak or who don’t generally interact with pop music, and are universally-considered icons. You cannot tell the story of pop music history without referencing them.

  • Tier 2: Megastars

    This is someone who had a massive impact over at least a decade+, whose hits are still widely recognizable even if they have receded somewhat for those who didn't grow up with them. No matter where they are in their careers, they can still launch massive tours, probably in arenas, and most lay-people understand they had a meaningful impact on the genre. They are JUST below Tier 1 in terms of untouchability, but they are still highly influential and widely-revered.

  • Tier 3: Mere Superstars

    This tier breaks down into two distinct sub-categories. The first is pop stars who had a huge moment, perhaps 1-3 albums over less than a decade that spawned numerous hit singles, but the moment was somewhat short-lived and after one super hot era, they have receded in public consciousness to a large degree. The second is budding pop stars who have been very successful of recent, are showing a lot of promise, but are still early in their ascent and building to a critical mass.

  • Tier 4: Working Class Pop Stars

    There are two major sub-categories here. These are either your flash in the pans OR what we call “Blue Collar pop stars” – the B team of pop. The former category are artists who had one fleeting, very big moment but never delivered more (more than a hit single though – more like 1-2 big albums and 3-5 hit singles) and are somewhat forgotten. Blue Collar pop stars remain in the conversation without ever having a culturally saturating moment.

  • Tier 5: Everyone Else

    These are most prominently your one-hit wonders OR artists who had buzz but never really broke through. One hit wonders are people who really only had one (or maybe 2) hits and not much else, including no critical renaissance (see: Niche Legends below) or cult career. No Hit Wonders are people who had buzz but nothing happened, outside of perhaps a very small, culty (often gay) fan base who is constantly obsessed with how underrated they are or unfairly they are treated.

  • Niche Legends

    These are folks who never really broke through as pop stars in the traditional sense beyond perhaps 1-2 hit songs, but are widely-known and respected critically and amongst pop fans and have sustained a credible, quietly influential, small-scale career over at least 6+ years with an extremely dedicated cult followingre

  • Influencers

    This is for people who may be featured on the podcast as critical to the Pop Universe but are not really artists in the traditional sense. These are producers, songwriters, possibly music business folks, etc who play enough of a role in pop that they may warrant an episode, but are obviously not rankable in the traditional Pantheon structure.