@Yana Cantalejo

One of the great shifts of the streaming era–aside from getting new sounds into your headphones almost as soon as they're made—is the dissolution of borders between indie and R&B. Mellow but adventurous, the tracks here (many of them self-produced and self-released) have as much to do with the expressivity of soul as the left-field subversions of “alternative”—music that invites you in but still keeps things a little weird and abstract. We update this playlist with new songs every day. If you like something, add it to your library.

Here’s a secret about pop: It doesn’t necessarily mean popular. Instead, it’s a sense of catchiness, a sense of play. And just because it sounds sweet doesn’t mean it’s pandering. Mixing the electronic-leaning side of indie with a new class of jangling, guitar-based (but decidedly un-rock) sounds, here’s a playlist we think earns both words of its title: not mainstream, but certainly not here for a fight. We regularly swap in new tracks, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

Every generation of rap has its rule breakers—artists who push the limits of how hip-hop should sound and feel. From Odd Future to Brockhampton, Vince Staples to Rico Nasty, we’re collecting the best hip-hop from the left of the dial. This playlist is updated regularly—if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

That sound you hear? It’s the sound of the future, and we are beyond here for it. Welcome to Glitch, the definitive, neon-drenched alternate universe for playful outsider pop and PC-adjacent music. Here, we celebrate disruption, distortion and difference. Plug in for the biggest and brightest bops from reigning scene queens including SOPHIE and Charli XCX, plus a download of new rule-breakers whose names you’ll want to drop. Super ironic, always iconic—our editors regularly update this playlist, so if you’re obsessed with a track, add it to your library.

Social media hasn’t just changed how we communicate, but also what we listen to and how we hear it. With that, here’s our up-to-the-minute playlist of tracks making the leap from your social channels into the broader cultural stream. Because there’s no schedule for going viral, our editors update these selections throughout the week as needed, so if you hear something you want to hang on to, add it to your library. If it’s trending there, you’ll hear it here.

Combining sing-songy melodicism, narcotised beats and a kind of tell-all ugliness that takes share culture to unsettling extremes, emo rap represents a shift in hip-hop values—an attitude in some ways more in tune with the self-effacing nihilism of Kurt Cobain than the street machismo of 50 Cent. The songs here can be intense, bleak, even morbid. But it's hard to talk about what emo rap is without imagining what it could’ve been: Within a few years of the sound’s passage from the underground to the mainstream, three of its most prominent faces—Lil Peep, XXXTENTACION and Juice WRLD—were gone. Still, as dark as the music can sound, it’s also a place for soul-searching and cathartic honesty, where hip-hop’s biggest artists and its vanguard alike can wear their hearts on their sleeves. Our editors update these selections regularly, so if you hear a track you like, add it to your library.

Here’s where you’ll find songs from artists who turned their follower counts into fandoms. Hear something you can’t get enough of? Add it to your library.

Your favourite viral songs. Sped up, slowed down, reworked and reimagined—this playlist has something for everyone. Our editors update these tracks every week, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

More and more, viral songs shape and soundtrack our lives, not to mention connect us to the people around us, whether virtually or otherwise. With that, here’s a rundown of some of the most iconic viral tracks of the past few years—the music defining our moment. Our editors update picks weekly, so if you hear something you like, remember to add it to your library.

Great pop has always drawn on the energy of dance music, and great indie has always drawn on the directness of pop. The tracks here—a mix of originals and remixes—chart that hybrid space between the three, finding joy in experimentation and comfort in the mechanics of what makes classic pop tick. These are the artists who know where things have been and are figuring out where they can—and might—go. We update these tracks weekly. If you hear something you like, add it to your library.