Bored of your playlist? Check out these smaller artists

If your songs are starting to sound repetitive, and you find yourself skipping track after track, it may be time to switch up your playlist. It can easily seem like the same few artists are dominating the music industry, but these smaller artists are making their mark on the music scene as well.

I found these artists on TikTok or Instagram and they each have their own take that makes them so special. For some, it’s the way they market their music. For others, it’s the moral values they hold strong to in their lyrics. Some of these artists stood out to me purely because I couldn’t get their songs out of my head.

Rachel Croft

What’s interesting about Rachel Croft is that, in addition to creating good music, she also creates her own animated music videos and TikToks by hand. She says in several of her videos that she does this to combat “AI slop” and encourages viewers to support small artists. To do this, she literally took photos, printed images and cut paper herself to put together a unique and artistic music video.

I found Croft’s art by watching one of her animated TikToks to her song “Bittersweet,” and while it was the unique handmade video that drew me in, it led me to search for her song on streaming platforms. If life were a movie, then “Bittersweet” would be the theme song. The chorus builds up to a point that grips your heart and makes you want to dance around the room and sing while reflecting on the melancholic lyrics. It’s a little funky, a little emotional and absolutely cinematic. 

Paige Fish 

If you’re a fan of Kacey Musgraves or Ella Langley, get your cowgirl boots on and go check out Paige Fish. She came across my TikTok years ago, but I rediscovered her recently on a friend’s playlist, so I did a deeper dive and found that she has released a lot of new music since I first heard her name.

The song “Quarter Back” is a combination of country and pop, creating a catchy tune that will play on loop in your head. While this may be the song that introduces you to Fish, let “Wishful Thinking” be the one to convince you to stick around. This song is a bit slower and less upbeat, but rather pensive and a bit melancholic.

Fish released her debut album “Midnight Crisis” on Oct. 2, featuring “Quarter Back” and another one of my favorites by her, “Secondhand Smoke.”

Mon Rovîa

If you’re feeling down about the state of the world but don’t have words to put to the feeling, Mon Rovîa has your back. He went viral for his song “Heavy Foot” and even played it on CBS Saturday Morning’s live music sessions and on NPR’s Tiny Desk concerts. What I like about the song is that it is a form of protest made through art. For a while, he was promoting the song by posting to the “What radicalized you?” trend, saying that human empathy should not, in fact, be considered radical. 

The song points to current events that are frequently in the news. One lyric alludes to the very real fear of school shootings in America. Another lyric points out the greed behind “calling it a war and not a genocide.”

While this all seems pessimistic, I took something else from the song. Mon Rovîa did an excellent job crafting something so beautiful and powerful, and the song has over 22 million streams on Spotify. Knowing that this many people tuned in tells me that not all hope is lost if we can see these issues in the world and want to change it.

Plus, if you’re a fan of folk music such as Noah Kahan and Gregory Alan Isakov, you’ll enjoy Mon Mon Rovîa’s style of music.

Abigail Rose

Abigail Rose came across my TikTok For You page with her and Weston Hunter’s song “Betty’s in the Band.” The second I heard it, I couldn’t get it out of my head. The song places you in the exact mindset of Betty, a member of a touring band who’s a bit of a free spirit. With the perfect country twang, the song reminds me of “In Spite of Ourselves” by John Prine and Iris DeMent and other similar music.

Another song that caught my attention for the same bohemian feel was “Start to Finish.” From the second Rose sings the lyric “the music was Fleetwood / the moment was gold,” I’m hooked — I mean, Fleetwood Mac is the poster child for those with a free spirit and you can feel their influence in Rose’s music.

Rose makes you want to pack up your car and road trip across the country, camping, singing and adventuring without a care in the world. 

Bebe Stockwell

Bebe Stockwell’s songs offer a similar energy to those of Paige Fish, but with her own spin. Stockwell’s voice is uniquely gorgeous. She got famous for a cover of “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes on TikTok, and then for her own song “Want Me.”

On Oct. 9, she released new music. Prior to that day, I could not wait — “Nothing Good is Easy” was stuck in my head weeks before its release.

Jazzing up your playlist

When my playlists started to feel repetitive recently, I turned to these artists for fresh, new music. If you’re like me and have the tendency to listen to the same handful of songs exclusively, then maybe these artists will help you explore the world of music beyond your favorite artists. And who knows -– maybe one of these musicians will become your new favorite.

• abigail rose
• bebe stockwell
• mon rovia
• music
• paige fish
• rachel croft