HeyPeterman

Pop/Rock Artists to Watch in ‘09

Here are my predictions for some artists that are going to dominate the pop/rock music scene this year:

• Kelly Clarkson - Her first single, “My Life Would Suck Without You” just broke the record for the largest first-to-second week jump (#97 to #1) in Billboard history. Expect this album to be as big, if not bigger, than her monumental sophomore album, Breakaway.

• The Fray - First single, “You Found Me”, is doing very well so far. I got a chance to preview their self-titled new album. It’s no How to Save a Life, but it’ll definitely allow them to expand their territory in the Rock scene. Look out for “Never Say Never” and “Say When” as possible follow-up hits.

• David Archuleta - Sony is really slacking off with this AI winner. His self-titled debut album is so packed with radio-friendly tracks that almost every song has the potential to be a hit. If his label works harder, he could definitely become huge this year. Tracks to check out: “My Hands” and “Touch My Hand”.

• The Veronicas - First single “Untouched” would not have been my choice track to break this Australian duo into U.S. territory, but it’s nonetheless been performing very well on radio. My choices for future singles: “Hook Me Up” and “Someone Wake Me Up”.

• The White Tie Affair - This band is VERY SLOWLY making its way up Top 40 with their debut single, “Candle (Sick and Tired)”, which also would have been my first single choice. Sony has been very patient, however, and I expect them to blow up this summer with their electro-rock dance track “The Enemy”. Other potential hits: “If I Fall”, “The Way Down”, and “The Price of Company”.

• The Script - “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved” should be this band’s first single to impact Top 40 radio. It has already been heard on various TV shows and with the right promotion it definitely has a lot of potential to be a massive hit.

Other artists to watch out for: Black Eyed Peas/Fergie, Lily Allen, Nick Lachey, James Morrison.

Should Twitter Change Its Premise?

When Twitter launched in 2006, it asked users the question, “What are you doing?” People were given 140 characters to respond. These days, you will be hard pressed to find a Twitter user who consistently follows the original premise of the website. As I looked back to my Twitter front page just now, I noticed that only 1 of the 20 tweets shown answers the question “What are you doing?” The rest are either links to blogposts, random comments, or @Replies. Twitter has essentially evolved into a news feed/IM application.

So the question I ask you all is, “Should Twitter change its premise?” Most of you are probably asking yourselves, “Why does it even matter?” Well, to the current Twitter user, it doesn’t. It’s more of a technicality that could possibly help to draw-in new users who are unfamiliar with the brand. A question like “What is up?” is more open-ended and would help new brand users to understand what exactly Twitter is.

What do you guys think? Should Twitter change the question it has been asking its users to answer for years?

(Note: Sorry about the lack of spacing between paragraphs. For some reason Tumblr won’t allow me to add more spaces. Might have to switch to a new blogging site)