Pop bands have captivated audiences for decades, from The Beatles and The Temptations to Destiny's Child and One Direction.

Every year, the bounty of pop music grows more and more (my apologies to the 2,637 songs in my inbox as of time of writing that I haven't gotten to yet, out of you don't want to know how many).

If there’s anything that defines music in the 21st century, it’s constant change. We live in an era when your next favorite song could come from anywhere — all over the stylistic map, all over the ...