Charlie Puth and Shawn Mendes, Would-Be Pop Kings

Boy bands are on the rise and young male singers have some choices to make. A conversation about two performers with their sights set on pop ubiquity.

Om Podcasten

The Popcast is hosted by Jon Caramanica, a pop music critic for The New York Times. It covers the latest in popular music criticism, trends and news. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.