Popular is easy to measure. Good, not so much.

Setting out to make something popular requires only a focus on the crowd and on the moment. Most pop music is popular simply because that’s what it was built to do.

Good work can be good without being popular. And so the two goals aren’t easily aligned.

It helps to begin by becoming comfortable with what good feels like to you. Because conflating it with popular is a trap.

March 2, 2026