On Sunday night at the Grammy Awards, Olivia Dean won Best New Artist.
For those of you who read my smut pieces (Sound. Music. Unique. Talent.) back in September, I was already waving my arms about Olivia Dean and trying to get radio to really see how special she is as an artist.
Not screaming from the rooftops, obviously. That’s not her vibe.
More like a firm but calm tap on the shoulder followed by, “hey, pay attention. This matters. Call Gary Spangler and tell him you want to add this — then ask him about all the restaurants he owns.”
Introducing Relaxed Soul Pop
Let’s move past the overused word “vibes” which I just used two paragraphs ago. What we’re seeing with Olivia Dean, and now Sienna Spiro, is refreshing. Also an overused word in beverage commercials.
For years, pop — also a type of beverage — has been engineered for speed. Faster hooks. Shorter intros. Everything optimized for forward momentum.
At one point, we were pitching up Miguel’s “Sure Thing.” Why were we doing that again?
Our lives are noisy right now.
We’re debating ICE. Whether we’ll even have an election. Who should or shouldn’t be playing the Super Bowl halftime show — and why Turning Point USA apparently needs one of its own.
Meanwhile, half the country is quite literally thawing out from being covered in a different kind of ice.
Everything is loud, arguing for attention, or creating distraction.
People are exhausted. They’re scrolling with tension.
Olivia Dean and Sienna Spiro aren’t loud. Sonically, they’re a break many of us need. These artists have multi-format airplay potential because of how their songs sound in a world that doesn’t know what to feel.
Pop programmers hear melodies. AC programmers hear something more interesting than another Maroon 5 song. AAA programmers hear musicianship and the chance to play someone without a man bun.
Why Now?
Three forces are converging.
1. TikTok Burnout Is Real
The platform that once democratized discovery also taught creators to chase immediacy to win the 12-second audition.
Which, to be fair, is about how long some PDs listen to a demo. So what’s old is new again.
Listeners are returning to music as companionship, a word I’ve been told I lacked in my demos.
2. A 10-Year Cultural Cycle Is Doing What Cycles Do
Here’s the part that matters to programmers because consultants told them it matters.
Music moves in cycles. Or so I’m reminded every time I open a trade publication and see someone reference the Guy Zapoleon music cycle.
Ten years ago, Adele dropped “Hello.” Ten years before that, Norah Jones. Before that, Michael Bublé. Before him, Michael Bolton. Before him, Kenny G.
As an aside, much like Samson, I sometimes wonder if Michael Bolton or Kenny G would lose their powers if they cut their hair.
Every couple of cycles, the pendulum swings from maximalism to intimacy. Radio doesn’t create these cycles but the good PDs know how to spot them.
KYLD and KMVQ are already two songs deep into Olivia Dean. KBFF leads the nation on Sienna Spiro.
Two out of those three PDs know exactly what they’re doing.
3. Young Artists With Grown Records
Here’s the return of the mother-daughter cheat code. These are young artists making music that feels seasoned (seasoned tests well with the 40+ set).
Older listeners hear craft. Younger listeners hear authenticity — something I was also once told I lacked on the air.
One of my famous Phil-Osophies: The first time something happens, it’s an incident. The second time, it’s a coincidence. The third time, it’s reality.
We’re well past three songs. And now we have multiple artists proving the viability of this sound.
Who’s Leading
Olivia Dean. Her Grammy win plants a flag in the ground.
It gives some programmers permission to relax. To maybe do something radical… like play three songs from the same artist. I know. Dangerous talk.
Maybe you want to wait a couple of minutes before you play another Olivia Dean song (if you caught that, you’re not part of the problem).
But be honest. Top 40 radio would be better off taking a chance on a third Olivia Dean record than watching Doja Cat rack up her third or fourth miss of the past year.
Sienna Spiro. She’s not a one-off. I said it, and I’ll die on that hill. If you missed that joke, you’re probably too busy playing Doja Cat.
Who’s Next?
If you want to be early on purpose rather than late by accident, the next two artists in this vein that matter are Kayla Kross and Sienna Rose.
(apparently there’s something about the name Sienna that works).
“A Little Thing Like Love” by Kayla Kross and “Into the Blue” by Sienna Rose are the Mandy Moore and Jessica Simpson to Olivia Dean’s Britney Spears and Sienna Spiro’s Christina Aguilera.
Both songs have more streams this week than six different tracks currently sitting in the airplay Top 30. So either radio is missing what matters, or labels are pushing what doesn’t.
Both are bad, like putting Band-Aids on bullet wounds.
Phil-of-the-Future Prediction
Over the next 12 months, this relaxed soul-pop sound becomes radio’s safest “risk.”
Not safe in the sense of bland. Safe in the sense that it works. Safe in the sense that it doesn’t violate listener expectations.
Stations that understand this won’t sound louder in fact they’ll sound softer which will make them harder to beat.
And maybe — just maybe — this is finally the career reboot of Sade and Kenny G I’ve been waiting for.
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Phil Becker is a weekly music columnist for Barrett Media who has built his career at the intersection of creativity, strategy, and operations leading brands, marketing, and content teams across more than 200 radio stations worldwide.
Known for being ahead of the curve, he was the first to integrate social influencers into broadcast brands, launch station apps years before his peers, and pioneer AI air personalities before anyone else in the world.
With leadership roles at Clear Channel, Citadel, Cox Media Group, Alpha Media, and international ventures—as well as owning and operating stations—Phil blends entrepreneurial vision with operational discipline in the messaging and marketing space. He also hosts the Phil-Osophy podcast.
