For every mega-star like Lady Gaga, there are dozens of pop singers who occupy the fringes of the music world, struggling for recognition in a media culture that tends to focus on the same few artists over and over again. As a result, even the most legitimately talented of these lesser-known acts are drowned out by the constant attention afforded to the heavily-rotated likes of Beyonce, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and Rihanna.
With that in mind, we decided to highlight 13 pop stars who deserve far more respect than they currently receive – artists who may not be likely to crack the Top 40 anytime soon, but who nevertheless merit a bigger platform to share their underrated musical goodness with the world.
You can check out all our picks in the gallery below. Once you’ve finished, let us know who you think we missed in the comments.