I love this podcast, I have listened to so many episodes. A lot of episodes are evergreen and going back to older episodes have expanded my music knowledge and helped me to appreciate pop culture moments from before my time. The conversations about contemporary pop are also super fun!

Britney Spears is 100% a tier 1 artist. Your reasoning is contradictory and honestly, downright wrong. First, you seemed so bespoken to this idea that the artists themselves, needed to have a form of “ownership”, or “input” in order for their placement on the tier ranking. That is not even part of your requirements. Also, many of these artists were afforded those privileges. Britney was not. And even with the limitations in place, she was able to perform, outsell, and define a space in pop music that has inspired so many artists, more so than many of these other artists that you have ranked within the tier 1 space. Next, she exceeded your requirements with her WORK. Not just her celebrity and public narrative, but her pop work. Which in terms of sales, influence, and iconography triumphs so many of the artists you have ranked in the tier one spot. Look at last year’s VMAs. Her presence and contributions to pop culture and music, is unquestionably present. Also, I feel that the marketing and distribution of merchandise wasn’t brought up enough (during her initial three years). This model of pop star marketing was duplicated for following teen acts for years down the line. Justin Bieber, and Miley Cyrus, for example. I am thankful for the commenters and guests that argued for her rightful placement. In short, I’m disappointed that the 71% of votes, or insight from your guests did not sway your final decision. You got this one wrong. She highly deserves to be one of the top 25, tier one acts.

I’ll be honest, I’d never heard of this podcast before and have no context about its history or its host. I saw that there was a series about Britney Spears and naturally was so excited to listen. However, I could not get past the first 10 minutes. The host DID. NOT. STOP. TALKING. even when a guest was on that he was ostensibly interviewing. This is definitely not the storytelling I was expecting. Sad to say I will have to keep waiting for a Britney documentary podcast.

This is by far my favorite music podcast. I’m the same age as Louie, so our nostalgia is the same and his memories are similar to mine. I love hearing the history of each artist and it’s such a comforting podcast. Thanks Louie!