PODCAST

Can"t Get Much Higher

Chris Dalla Riva

The intersection of music and data www.cantgetmuchhigher.com

music music commentary

All Episodes

61:41

A bottle of Chris a bottle of Mike...

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2025/08/05

Last week, I went on Substack Live to chat with Mike Pesca about the new Billy Joel documentary, And So It Goes. Check out our conversation if you missed it. And, if you haven’t watched the documentary, yet I recommend that too. It’s fantastic. I’ll be back on Thursday with more standard Can’t Get Much Higher fare.If you enjoy this newsletter, consider ordering a copy of my debut book, Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves. It’s a data-driven history of

15:38

The Most Influential Rock Band

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/12/05

Before we talk about using data to measure the influence of rock artists, there’s some book-keeping to attend to.* In last week’s podcast, I crunched some numbers to figure out if Thanksgiving music exists. Spoiler: It does. One of my readers was kind enough to add all of the most popular Thanksgiving songs to a playlist. You can check it out here.* I spent the last six months researching this piece about ringtones for Sherwood News. Take a look if you get a chance. Though you might remember the

16:02

Does Thanksgiving Music Exist?

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/11/28

If you’re listening to this from the United States, I hope you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. If you are outside the U.S., I hope you take some time today to be thankful for something, even if that something is this newsletter or a good song. Speaking of songs, I want to turn our attention to a silly little debate that I’ve been having: Is there such thing as Thanksgiving music?As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the

16:35

Who Owns AI-Generated Music? I Asked People That Make It

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/11/21

If you’ve read about artificial intelligence and music in the popular press, you’ve likely heard of at least one company: Suno. A startup based in Massachusetts, Suno claims to be “building a future where anyone can make great music.” How? They allow you to enter a description into a text box — say, “afrocuban jazz song about cats” — and, in a matter of moments, they’ll return two full recordings that fit said description. Impressive? Yes. Somewhat frightening? Also, yes. Legal? That requires a

10:54

Can I Get an Encore, Do You Want More?

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/11/15

Earlier this year, the New York Times published a list of the best books of the 21st century. That list had no books about music. To rectify that, I’ve been polling artists, critics, and fans about their favorite music books released in the last 24 years. I’d love for you to fill out the survey.As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. For a playlist

18:42

Immortality in 7-Seconds

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/11/07

Every few days, I scroll through the top music apps on my iPhone. Usually, things are fairly status quo. Spotify. Shazam. YouTube Music. All the stuff you’d expect. But occasionally an app catches my eye that had previously eluded me.That happened this week with a somewhat peculiar app reaching the upper echelons of Apple’s paid music app chart. It’s called “Amen Break Generator (Revived).” In many ways, it signifies both the past and future of music. As a reminder, this is the podcast version of

19:56

We'll Have Halloween on Christmas

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/10/31

I’ve never been a huge fan of Halloween or purposefully subjecting myself to ghostly fear, but today is October 31, so I thought it would only be appropriate if we spoke about what constitutes the ghoulish musical canon, why it is different than the Christmas carols that flood our airwaves at the end of each year, and how it might be growing more popular than ever before.As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains

18:34

This is Our Band Name. Period.

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/10/24

Before jumping into our history of band name punctuation, I wanted to let everyone know that on Thursday, October 31, I will be appearing in an online event with my former colleague Dave Edwards. This conversation is part of a series called The Smartest People in the Room that features “one-on-one conversations between music industry executives and personalities.” While I won’t claim to be one of the smartest people in any room, I’m really excited for this. In the past, the event has featured the

18:52

The Death of Mechanical Socialism

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/10/17

Being a songwriter is hard. And I’m not just talking about the fact that writing great songs is no easy task. I’m talking about how the economics around songwriting have made turning it into a career a near impossibility. As I mentioned a few months ago, songwriters don’t get paid upfront for their work. They only get paid via the royalties their songs generate after they come out. In other words, if your song doesn’t sell, you don’t get paid.While this labor arrangement makes things harder for

16:22

The Ever-Changing Unchangingness of Live Music

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/10/10

People have been going to concerts for thousands of years, but something about the experience dramatically changed in the last few decades. As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains charts, graphs, and pictures that will color your listening. Click here to listen on Apple or Spotify. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

22:40

Needles in Haystacks: The Lostwave Story

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/10/03

Earlier this year, I spoke with Paula Toledo about her whirlwind 15 minutes of fame. Toledo made music in the 2000s that never got too big, and then moved on with her life. The problem? Nobody on the internet could move on. Unbeknownst to Toledo, people online had accidentally stumbled upon her songs and had spent a decade trying to find her.Catherine Sinow, a frequent contributor to this newsletter, first told me about the Paula Toledo saga while working on a different story about how Jessica

17:02

The Hardest Thing for A Musician to Do

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/09/26

In a 2011 piece for the AV Club, music critic Steven Hyden defined a new metric for musical greatness: the five-albums test. An artist passes this test if they release at least five consecutive masterful albums. According to Hyden, very few artists pass this test. The Beatles do. So do Queen. That said, Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones come up short. Inspired by Mr. Hyden, I want to propose a test of musical greatness that is even more stringent: the 40-year test.As a reminder, this is the podcast

19:28

The Great Generational Snob Shift

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/09/19

If you’re reading this newsletter, I have bad news. You’re probably a snob. I don’t mean that as an insult. But you’ve got to be realistic. If you’re getting weekly missives sent to your email inbox about “the intersection of music and data,” then you probably spend more time thinking about the music that you like and what it says about you than the average person. Nevertheless, snobbishness is not some monolith. Grandma’s snobbish musical tendencies are likely very different than your own. This

15:16

Hey Jude, Are Song Titles Showing Up Later?

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/09/12

A few weeks ago, an upcoming writer named Chris Gunther reached out to me with an interesting theory. He claimed that song titles were appearing later in songs. Here’s an example he gave me. The Rolling Stones’ classic “Angie”, released in 1973, starts with Mick Jagger intoning the title. Compare that to Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire”, a piano ballad from 2023. It takes 132 words before Rodrigo reaches her title. Of course, those are just examples. Gunther claims that’s part of a larger trend, though

42:33

Did Frank Sinatra Really Perform at My Grandma's High...

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/09/05

A few months ago, my sister graduated from college. She’s the youngest of our 22 first cousins and the final person to complete her higher education. Naturally, we were very proud and threw a big party to mark the occasion. As the drinks were flowing, my aunts and uncles began recounting family lore. One slice of that lore, stuck with me after the party ended. It was a story my grandmother had often told about how Frank Sinatra had performed at her high school while she was a student.I’d heard this

16:22

We Are Never Getting Back Together

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/08/29

It was recently announced that Noel and Liam Gallagher, the two brothers behind the famed band Oasis, had finally squashed their decades-long beef and were going to reunite. This news set my Twitter feed on fire, nearly ever person that I follow excited by the thought of seeing the two snarky Brits on stage again. “Who,” I began to ponder, “could send the internet into a bigger tizzy over a reunion tour?” Seemed like a question some data could answer. As a reminder, this is the podcast version of

20:34

Personalized Lies

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/08/22

I work for the music streaming service Audiomack. And I do a lot of things at Audiomack, but my broad directive is to deal with data and personalization. The former includes everything from royalty reporting to making sure internal curators can see how their playlists are performing. The latter includes building all experiences — from song recommendations to paywalls — that make our app and website feel like it was made specifically for you.When I talk about my job, I get many more questions about

30:33

Why Archival Releases Fascinate Me (and Should...

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/08/15

I always admire people who write in a way that I know I can’t. Robert C. Gilbert is one of those people. Gilbert runs Listening Sessions, a weekly newsletter that dives deeper into single artists, songs, and albums than I even thought possible. I know he’s good at what he does because he can open my mind to new perspectives on music that I’ve been listening to for years.Since I’m away at a wedding in California this week, I decided to give Mr. Gilbert the keys to Can’t Get Much Higher. He wrote

15:40

Why AllMusic Broke Up with Bryan Adams

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/08/08

Not too long ago, I couldn’t get my writing published anywhere. I was pitching so many stories that it felt like publications were being created just to reject me. Then I pitched a story about the decline of key changes in popular music to Tedium, a publication run by Ernie Smith that explores “the dull side of the internet.” Much to my shock, Smith agree to publish the piece. And I’m glad he did. It went so viral that it not only ended up becoming one of Tedium’s greatest hits, but it led to me

16:44

The Best Year for Album of the Year

Can"t Get Much Higher ·

2024/08/01

I got in an argument last week. As is typically the case for me, it was about an important topic: the best year for Album of the Year at the Grammys. Since my friend and I couldn’t come to an agreement, I figured a newsletter about music and data was the best place to resolve it. Luckily, I write one. We decided the loser owed the other a beer. Data, don’t fail me now! As a reminder, this is the podcast version of the newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Click here to read the newsletter. It contains

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