THR’s Platinum Players on Their Favorite Films, TV Shows, Albums and More

The Hollywood Reporter named its top 25 Platinum Players in music, and below some of the top-performing acts — from Kim Petras to Coco Jones — share their favorite films of the year, top album of the year and say how they hope the music industry will change for the better.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG OF ALBUM OF THE YEAR?

KIM PETRAS: Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd by Lana del Rey.

BOYGENIUS: The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We by Mitski.

COCO JONES: Renaissance by Beyoncé.

NOAH KAHAN: My favorite song this year would have to be Hozier’s “Unknown/Nth” from Unreal Unearth. It’s just a beautiful song, so expressive. It reminds me of the songs that made me fall in love with Hozier in the first place, just an unbelievably emotional melody with his incredible lyricism that transports you to a medieval cottage or something, where he’s like making mead and wearing one of those pilgrim hats or something.

LAINEY WILSON: Gosh, there has been so much good music this year. I’ve absolutely loved Lauren Daigle’s new self-titled album. She is such an incredible artist and human being, plus, gotta love a fellow Louisiana girl. I’ve also been listening to Meg McRee’s Is It Just Me?, Ashley McBryde’s The Devil I Know, Jessie Murph’s drowning, some Zach Top songs and some Red Clay Strays. 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FILM OR TV SHOW OF THE YEAR?

KIM PETRAS: Beau Is Afraid.

BOYGENIUS: Beau Is Afraid.

COCO JONES: Wednesday on Netflix.

NOAH KAHAN: My favorite series this year was probably Outlast, which is like if Survivor met Lord of the Flies met Jon & Kate Plus 8. It’s about these awful people who don’t know how to survive in the wilderness being forced to survive, so instead of working together, they just end up burning each other’s shit. It’s hilarious. It’s probably exactly what I would do in that situation as well. If you want to watch a show with some awful people trying to survive, not surviving well, and just being shitty to each other, Outlast is for you.

WHAT CHANGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY?

KIM PETRAS: We must continue to push for further equality and representation for women and LGBTQ+ people in the music industry. We’ve come a long way in a short time, but more work is still to be done. I’m standing on the shoulders of those that came before me and I will continue to shout for them and future generations. 

BOYGENIUS: We think it’s perfect the way it is : ) <3 

COCO JONES: It’s a male-dominated industry behind the scenes, so I would like to see more opportunities for women in higher positions. 

NOAH KAHAN: I think the music industry has a lot of problems, but a problem that we can solve is compensating songwriters more. Making sure that the people who write this music and create this music are being paid as much as the industry executives who are promoting it and putting it on their streaming platforms. We would have no music without incredible songwriters who are largely put in the background and in the shadows, not only in terms of promotion but financially as well. I think we could also provide better health care for musicians and make sure that people in the music industry have access to things like therapy, mental health care and physical health care. Creating safety nets that actually encourage people to come work in the music industry instead of being afraid of breaking an arm and not being able to do their job anymore. Let’s pay people more! Get that money. Also, there should be more candy around.

LAINEY WILSON: The industry can always use improvement. As a songwriter first, I’d like to see better payouts on publishing. But I’m excited about where it seems things are headed. It kinda feels like the Wild West right now. There are more risks being taken, more individuality and more genre-bending than ever, but there are undertones of tradition and paying homage to the legends that influenced our current generation.