How Concord’s Roster of Progressive Pop Producers Is Evolving Mainstream Music

This year, a host of electronic producers has pushed the boundaries of pop music towards the far-flung margins of internet culture.

After a standout Coachella 2026 performance, French producer Oklou co-produced the dreamy “Final Feliz” for Karol G’s August album No Me Arrepiento de Sentir Tanto. Missouri-born sibling duo Frost Children released their own record Tweaker and produced on Kim Petras’ 2026 album Detour and on the most streamed track from its recent deluxe edition, “Need For Speed.” Meanwhile, Norwegian artist Aksel Arvid executive-produced PinkPantheress’ Fancy That? and its remix project Fancy Some More? including the massive “Stateside” remix with Zara Larsson, which reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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At the same time, Jane Remover played their biggest show to date at New York’s Terminal 5 in late September, Kyle Shearer co-wrote Slayyyter’s 2026 smash “DANCE…” and Underscores had a breakout year opening for Charli xcx, an artist whose own albums Brat and Music, Fashion, Film had major contributions from longtime collaborator A.G. Cook and his P.C. Music crew.

Together, these producers make music at the intersection of internet culture and pop, forming a scene and sound widely referred to as hyperpop. But well before hyperpop was topping the charts, Concord Music Publishing was making moves in the space, signing and developing all the aforementioned artists and other adjacent writers, producers and acts now pushing mainstream pop forward. (As of Sept. 1, Concord has formally merged with BMG.)

“We didn’t necessarily look at it as a scene,” BMG’S senior vp of A&R publishing Jeremy Yohai says of building this of-the-moment roster. “We looked at it as individual artists who were pushing things forward sonically and aesthetically and doing something different. That’s what’s attractive to us.”

The Concord/BMG A&R team, which includes Yohai, senior director of A&R publishing Bradly Palmer and senior director of A&R research & publishing Matt Megan, began signing these artists around 2021, as producers rose from the froth of the internet in the post-pandemic era and the long-gestating hyperpop genre — pioneered in the early and mid-2010s by artists like SOPHIE and A.G. Cook — came to the fore via acts like Charli xcx and 100 gecs.

Concord’s long-term investment in the sound is now paying off, as its artists influence the broader direction of dance-pop and mainstream pop by collaborating with global superstars while continuing to push the genre’s boundaries with their own work.

“The wins these artists are having show that they’re making progressive pop music that fans are really gravitating to and that mainstream is catching on,” says Yohai. “They are playing headline shows to thousands of fans, getting booked for massive festival sets and are now being chased by major record labels.”

Concord’s focus was less about trend hopping and more about being excited by individual artists with a fresh sound and clear longevity, which isn’t always assured in the TikTok era. “The folks we signed had songs that we thought would transcend the movement; who would still have careers in five years,” says Megan.

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Beyond marquee collaborations and chart successes, music licensors have also looked to instill projects with this fresh sound. Among the wins for Concord are Oklou’s work co-composing the score for the upcoming animated feature In Waves, which will be distributed by Netflix. (This score will also include a collaboration with Underscores.) Frost Children’s glitchy “FLATLINE” was featured on the EA Sports FC 24 soundtrack, while A.G. Cook scored this year’s mockumentary The Moment, starring Charli xcx.

Given how new and nontraditional these artists are, getting these kinds of placements often requires Concord’s A&R team to act as translator for the synch team responsible for marketing this music to film, television and video games. “A lot of times we’re like, ‘Okay, think of Underscores as like, a very cool Britney Spears record mixed with K-pop made by a trans woman in her basement,’” says Yohai. “‘Think of Frost Children as today’s Icona Pop and think of Jane Remover as the indie rock version of Playboi Carti.’”

Given how varied these descriptions are, the benefit is that while these artists are all connected under the progressive pop umbrella, they’re also different enough that they don’t compete, allowing each act to thrive within the Concord ecosystem. “Each of these artists is operating in their own space,” says Megan. “They have their own specific worlds they’ve carved out, and they’ll continue building these worlds over time, so I don’t worry about oversaturation.”

In an industry that’s historically chased trends rather than anticipated them, Concord’s early investment in hyperpop represents a different model: identifying singular artistic voices before the mainstream catches up, then positioning them to shape it. “We did make a financial investment to these artists that, for many, allowed them to focus on making music full time,” says Yohai, “but I’d like to think our investment is beyond financials — it’s about the support we’ve brought both creatively and strategically.”

While this model isn’t necessarily replicable beyond just signing exciting artists, Concord’s success in this realm exemplifies the payoff of betting on far-out sounds. “A lot of people thought some of these artists were too progressive or too underground, but we saw the potential and believed in the scenes they were developing online and their cities,” says Yohai. “They were pushing pop music forward, or just in a different direction.”

“We’re really excited about the singularity of an Oklou and an Underscores,” adds Palmer. “We sign them because we think they contribute to the world of music in a way no one else does, and that’s always the goal.”