That's part of what I worry about, because I talk with musicians, and the impression they give me is that they are basically making music to try to get "picked

That's part of what I worry about, because I talk with musicians, and the impression they give me is that they are basically making music to try to get "picked as the winner." IE: We look at what's doing well on the Spotify/iTunes/YouTube/ect... lists and then make our next single look our sound toward what will make it on a high ref list, or we pay someone to do something for us that will get us on a high ref list. Apparently, the first one from their perspective was "kind" of working, and the second worked much better.