Graduation is around the corner and so we needed a playlist of the best graduation songs, because a great playlist makes life better for just about everything.
Anticipation is in the air. There's an excitement that summer is within our grasp. But there's also a sense of transition. It's graduation time and many of us or our friends are moving on to bigger and better things. To deal with the mixed bag of emotions, we created a playlist of the best graduation songs that speaks to friendship, nostalgia and moving on to whatever life has in store. Dry your eyes, hug your friends and give a listen. It's not goodbye...it's I'll see ya later!
Jordin Sparks- One Step at a Time Nothing like inspiration and a great pair of heels...
Skillet- Say Goodbye A tearjerker. For sure.
All-American Rejects- The Last Song "As I leave, will you be the someone to say goodbye As I leave will you be someone to wipe your eye My foot is out the door and you can't stop me now." Good grief. Will someone pass the hankies?
More of our best graduation songs for inspiration and friendship...
Vitamin C-Graduation Song Rod Stewart-Forever Young Taylor Swift- Never Grow Up Jimmy Eat World- The Middle Green Day- Good Riddance Kimya Dawson- Tree Hugger Eve 6- Here's to the Night The Nixons- Sister Cracker- Friends Beatles- In My Life Sarah McLachlan- I Will Remember You Tim McGraw- My Old Friend Chris Isack- Graduation Day The Velvet Underground- She's My Best Friend Drivin' N Cryin'-The Friend Song The Weepies- Can't Go Back Now Nada Surf- When I Was Young Israel Kamakawiwo'ole- Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World Lynard Skynard- Freebird Coldplay- Yellow Alphaville- Young Forever (check out the Jay-Z remix too!)
UPDATE: We've added to our list with a new post and instant playlist of our favorite NEW graduation songs and some that weren't included on this list! Just click the link :lol:
Who's the luckiest 12 year old girl in the world? Yeah, it's probably Camryn! In fact, she may just be THE luckiest girl in the world since she'll be opening for One Direction! She may be young, but she's already toured with Greyson Chance, AllStar Weekend, and Cody Simpson, and she just found out she'll be touring with... 1D. Camryn will be opening for One Direction at the following shows:May 22 — Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT May 24 — Patriot Center, Fairfax, VA May 25 — Izod Center, East Rutherford, NJ June 8 — Viejas Arena, San Diego, CA June 9 — Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas, NV June 10 — Comerica Theater, Phoenix, AZ
Not only is she lucky, but turns out, she's a super-nice girl and down-to-earth. We chatted with her on Twitter (be sure to follow her @camrynrocks) and she's just as excited as about the One Direction Tour as we are! We also caught up with her by email to find out the inside scoop, and we've got her latest video posted below, check it all out!
When did you first realize that singing was a gift and talent you should pursue? I have always had a passion for singing, ever since I was about three years old. But I really didn’t know that it was what I wanted to do until I was 7 and entered my first talent show. I loved being on stage even though I was completely terrified!
Who are your influences? Music-wise, I have several and they are Demi Lovato, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, and Beyonce. They have such amazing voices, ranges, and aren’t afraid to be who they are.
Do you play any instruments? Well, I started to play guitar, but I didn’t really like it as much. I’m learning how to play drums and so far I love it!
Tell us about being on tour? How long did you tour with Cody Simpson and Greyson Chance? We toured for about two months and it was my first tour!! I was so excited and everybody was so nice and welcoming, so it made it easy for me to adjust to that new life style.
Is touring as much fun as it seems like it would be, and anything backstage that we wouldn't know about? Touring has its fun times and its really hard times. But I love to tour – it’s so much fun, that at the end of the day the bad things don’t really seem all that bad. After tour, I did talk to Cody and Greyson a little bit, but it’s hard with work and traveling. Our schedules are really different, so its hard to keep in touch. We did hang out any time that we could. But again, it was hard with all of the traveling. Greyson really likes silly string, so he would always spray everybody at the most random times. Cody is very shy, but as soon as he hits that stage he comes alive.
Do your parents or siblings go on tour with you? They come when they can, but if I’m not gone for too long then they don’t come. If they don’t come, I normally see them on weekends.
You tour a lot… are you able to go to school or do you have a tutor? I’m home-schooled, but I go to a school as well. So if I’m on tour, my teacher can come with me, but if I’m at home I can go to school with a few other kids who do the same thing.
What is the best concert you’ve performed and why? What makes a great night? My best shows were out in Asia because I had so much more experience and I used that to its fullest. What makes a great show is having a wild crowd, a ton of energy, and to push yourself to the limit. But the most important thing is to have fun with what your doing!
When did you find out about the 1D concert? And your reaction? I found out yesterday!! I was so shocked and excited!! I didn’t know how to control myself I was so excited! Honestly, I am a big fan of One Direction. I think their music is really good.
We hate to ask, but have to: do you have a favorite One Direction band member? Yes, but I have two tied for number 1 in 1D -- Harry Styles and Zayn Malik!
How many times have you seen 1D in concert? Any scoop about their shows? I have seen them once before and their concert was amazing! I don’t want to give anything away so you will just have to find out for yourself! But what I can tell you is that it’s going to be a great show.
Who is your dream duet with? I’m not sure I have so many artists that I would love to collaborate with, it’s hard to choose just one.
How come you always get to tour with guys?! Any girls you would like to tour with? I’m not sure why!! That’s a great question! I would love to tour with any of my idols.
Camryn's latest single is "Set the Night on Fire" and we are sure she will she will just do that while she's on tour. Take a listen, and let us know what you think.
Camryn's new album is in the works, but in the meantime, catch her on tour with One Direction. And, Camryn, thank you SO much for taking time out of your incredibly busy schedule to chat with us. It's been wonderful hearing about your glam life and tours, and we wish you the best of luck. Have a blast and send us some pictures, we can't wait to see some from behind the scenes!!
Teen music apps to get your summer grooving.... With summer fast approaching, bikinis ready, and your spring break playlist getting loads of play, it's a good bet that even more of your time will be spent rocking out with your headphones on and earbuds in looking for brand new tunes. ? Thats why we at Popcosmo decided to take a closer look at and listen to some teen music apps and radio apps that are available to you.
The first set of teen music apps are more focused on sharing and discovering music. I reviewed Herd.fm, Soundhound and Shazam:
Herd.fm recommends songs based on what you listen to on iTunes and what you've shared on Facebook...kind of like a creeper, but far more useful. You can also send songs and playlists to friends. ? Curiously, I share a lot of songs on Facebook but only 1 recent share was on my list. And it wasn't a song I had shared. And the app kept force-closing. But it is a fairly new app so the kinks are probably still being worked out. My favorite thing about this app is the recommendations feature since I love to "discover" new music.
Soundhound boasts "the world's fastest music recognition," identifying songs played, sung or even hummed in as little as 4 seconds. My feeble attempts at humming and whistling were completely unsuccessful. Humming "Somebody That I Used to Know" resulted in "Can You Feel the Love Tonight." However, when playing the actual song, it was correct and even pulls up lyrics, videos, artist's page and recent tweets where the song is mentioned. Under the "What's Hot" tab it shows the most tweeted songs for the week as well as the Most Underplayed...songs that are getting more Soundhound play than radio play. This feature would come in handy for hipsters who want to be obscure...but not too obscure.
Shazam is another teen music app that features song recognition but it doesn't seem to be as accurate as Soundhound...especially with less well-known bands/songs. And there's a 5 song per month limit, but it's very easy to use. ? It has essentially the same features as Soundhound (except the humming) so it really just depends on which format you prefer. One word of advice: quit talking while Soundhound or Shazam is working! Oh, and get as close to the source as possible... both work pretty well when you do.
As far as streaming music goes, I tested Pandora, Spotify and Rdio:
A few years ago, I discovered Grooveshark and installed it for my desktop. It was completely free and I could make playlists. Soon, it became available for mobile for $3.99 a month...a paltry amount, I thought, to have my playlists available on my phone at any time. Alas, it was short-lived and while I can still enjoy my beloved playlists from the computer, the stingy music-gods discontinued the app. I discovered that Spotify and Rdio are comparable to Grooveshark but carry a $9.99 a month price tag.
Spotify ? definitely has a bigger music catalog and is (in my humble opinion) more user-friendly...but this was based solely on my free trial. Because I am stubborn, and perhaps out of loyalty to my precious Grooveshark, I refuse to pay $120 a year for either app. Which led me to do something I had refused to do for quite some time...surrender to Pandora.
I'll be honest...I wanted no part of Pandora at first. I want to hear what I want to hear when I want to hear it. Pandora allows users to create playlists based on a song or artist. It then chooses songs that sound like/have similar features as the song or artist. Users have the option to "thumbs up" the songs they like or "thumbs down" the songs they don't. You can skip up to 10 tracks an hour per playlist. Once I created my playlists and had my favorites "thumb-upped," I found that Pandora does a pretty good job of serving my musical needs...save for a random, often hilarious, song choice every now and then. The best part? It's FREE! I do take advantage of the ad-free version which is $3.99 a month. And I do enjoy discovering new music based on what I already like.
So hopefully we at Popcosmo have sufficiently prepared you to explore ways to discover, share and stream music. We would love to hear which of these are your favorites or hear about other awesome teen music apps or other music apps that you use!
