Pop music really is a strange beast of a genre to stay attached to. What is or is not popular almost seems random, and the charts can either stay constant for months in a row or change nearly every day. These trends are just as prevalent in music as they are in culture, but music is certainly where it is the most obvious.

For instance, a popular song from early 2015 was Vance Joy’s Riptide, a song that actually came out two years before it hit the billboard. The same happened for Awolnation’s Sail and even Disclosure’s Latch. Of course it takes a while for a song to become popular, but many songs that never had the initial popularity that most big pop songs do fade away shortly after release. It is interesting to see how the minor songs of the present can become popular in the future.

Another strange trend is a song sitting at the top ten spot for weeks on end, a recent example being the ever-so-popular Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson which was in the top ten for 31 consecutive weeks, over half of a year. There have been dozens of other songs that fit the bill, and despite what people think of them, they definitely retain their positions for a reason.

A lot of the time it feels as if years are split up differently in the music world. The songs from late in the year merge into the same group of music in the start of a new year. Believe it or not, the previously mentioned Uptown Funk actually came out in November 2014. Before anyone realizes it, the popular songs have changed tone and style drastically. Keeping up with music can be confusing due to the abrupt nature of music and the ratings in general.

Music is such a strange part of modern culture that it is a wonder that millions of people keep up with it. Songs come out of nowhere, back from the grave, and leave the public view as suddenly as they arrived. There is only one thing for certain when keeping up with music: absolutely nothing is completely consistent.