In December, we asked music critics from across the industry to participate in a new music critics survey, in the hope of bridging together the community to see how our tastes overlap and differ. The response we received was staggering, with nearly 200 critics participating and selecting more than 800 songs. The expected choices were there, but also so much more, reflecting the writers’ interests in hip-hop, electronic, metal, pop, rock, and country. It revealed musical interests as idiosyncratic as the personalities that participated, where No. 1 singles from Childish Gambino and Travis Scott can share a space with under-the-radar tracks from Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever and Neko Case along with numerous entries from Kacey Musgraves and Pusha T. But mostly it affirmed the vitality present in the current music world, both in the artists that create it and the people who’ve dedicated their lives to discussing it.