Some of the reasons that the ’00s made for some of the best times in music were simple and obvious, such as the cultural impact of trends like grunge, Britpop and pop-punk, and the chance to come of age with the iPod. Others, however, were more subtle, like the maturity of music’s young artists, an increased emphasis on words in pop lyrics (which now seem all but lost), and the inescapability of social media as a conduit to music. With an unprecedented number of musicians choosing to put their art out for public consumption and listeners/listeners making their own informed choices about what they want to listen to, the time was ripe for a cultural renaissance in pop.
