The landscape of work has undergone a transformative shift over the past few decades, with a significant pivot towards online jobs. This shift was propelled by technological advancements and further accelerated by global events like the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many businesses to operate digitally. Today, online work not only continues to rise in popularity but has also expanded in scope, offering young entrepreneurs a plethora of opportunities to innovate and earn. This article explores the history of online work and outlines some of the best online jobs for young entrepreneurs in 2024.
The Evolution of Online Work
Online work’s roots can be traced back to the early days of the internet in the 1990s when the digital frontier opened new possibilities for remote collaboration. However, it wasn’t until the mid-2000s, with the advent of faster internet connections and more sophisticated digital tools, that working online truly began to flourish. Platforms like LinkedIn, launched in 2003, and later, the proliferation of other social media sites, made it easier than ever for individuals to network, share their skills, and find work remotely.
The 2010s saw a significant leap in remote work accessibility, with cloud-based technologies and communication tools such as Slack and Zoom removing geographical barriers to employment. The global pandemic in 2020 served as a catalyst for an unprecedented shift to online work, establishing it as a viable, and often preferred, mode of employment. This shift not only demonstrated the feasibility of remote working arrangements but also highlighted the benefits, such as flexibility and the potential for a better work-life balance.
Top Online Jobs for Young Entrepreneurs in 2024
Content Creator
Content remains paramount in the digital world, with a high demand for creators who can produce engaging content. On platforms like OnlyFans, creators can partner with an OnlyFans agency to offer exclusive material, from personalized media to interactive posts, catering directly to their audience. This platform supports a wide range of content types, enabling creators to monetize their personal brand effectively.
E-commerce Specialist
E-commerce continues to dominate retail, and savvy entrepreneurs can capitalize on this trend by starting their own online stores or consulting for existing businesses. This role might involve managing online sales platforms, optimizing product listings, or developing strategies for logistics and customer service.
App Development
Mobile apps are essential for many businesses, making app development a lucrative field for those with coding skills. Whether it’s creating new apps or improving existing ones, this job involves problem-solving, creativity, and technical expertise.
Freelance Graphic Designer
Brands are constantly seeking to stand out visually. Young entrepreneurs with a talent for design can offer their services to create logos, marketing materials, and other visual content for businesses operating online.
Online Education and Training
The field of online education has exploded, offering opportunities for entrepreneurs to create their own courses or start tutoring services. Specializing in in-demand skills or topics can attract students globally, providing a steady income.
Virtual Event Planner
As companies and individuals continue to host events online, there’s a growing need for virtual event planners who can coordinate all aspects of these gatherings, from technology setup to real-time event management.
Digital Marketing Consultant
With businesses increasingly moving online, the demand for digital marketing expertise is higher than ever. Young entrepreneurs can leverage skills in SEO, social media marketing, and content creation to help brands build their online presence, engage with their audience, and drive sales.
Why Online Work is Popular
The appeal of online jobs lies in their flexibility, accessibility, and the broad opportunities they present. For young entrepreneurs, these jobs offer the freedom to work from anywhere at any time, which is invaluable for balancing multiple projects or personal commitments. Additionally, the startup costs for online businesses are often lower, making it easier for young individuals to enter the entrepreneurial space without significant capital.
Conclusion
As we look towards the future, the growth of online jobs appears to be unstoppable, driven by continuous innovations in technology and changing societal attitudes towards work. For young entrepreneurs, mastering the digital domain opens up a world of possibilities to build successful, fulfilling careers that are adaptable to the changing world. The key to success in this evolving marketplace will be continuous learning and adapting to new tools and trends.
THICK have dropped a new single called ‘Mother’. It arrives on the heels of ‘Father’, which was released in March. Check out a video for it below.
“‘Mother’ is a shoutout to all the caretakers in relationships who are sick and tired of falling into that role,” the band shared in a statement. “It’s an easy trap to fall into, you start a relationship with love and care, then start to carry the burden of your partner’s wounds, becoming the parental figure, and wanting to heal them more than they want to heal themselves. Put simply: I’m not your fucking mother, I’m your motherfucking lover.”
Of the video, they added: “The music video was filmed by friend and Brooklyn artist Sydney Tate with the intention of channelling a familiar, parent-ified place. Though the music video doesn’t explicitly represent the frustrations shared in the song, the interior decor, body language, and attire has the flavor of a bored housewife. The heavily themed interior contrasts lively scenes of the band, free of the weight of expectations, playing loudly on a rooftop.”
Ahead of the release of their new album Poetry on Friday, Dehd have shared one more single, ‘Dog Days’, alongside an accompanying video. It follows previous cuts ‘Light On’, ‘Mood Ring’, and ‘Alien’. Check it out below.
“This song is a celebration for the messiness of life and the search for companionship,” the band’s Jacob Balla explained. “It’s about opening your heart and letting it be pummeled. It’s taking risks, receiving rejection, dealing out disappointment. It’s about being brave and sometimes making bad decisions. It seems like everyone I know is out here grasping at love and often, fucking it up, breaking hearts and having ours broken along the way. It’s just the rules of the game and I wanted to make an anthem for people on the same rollercoaster, just trying their best, losing fast and loving hard.
Washington DC duo Origami Angel have released a new single, ‘Fruit Wine’. Produced by Will Yip, the track is billed by a press release as “a byte-sized sample of a monumental masterpiece still to come.” Check it out below.
Origami Angel’s last album was 2021’s GAMI GANG. In 2022, the band dropped a pair of EPs, re:turn and DE:PART, and last year they put out the mixtape The Brightest Days.
Half Waif has announced the Ephemeral Being EP, sharing ‘Big Dipper’ along with the announcement. Following 2022’s Portraits EP, the 5-track effort arrives on May 31 via ANTI-. Listen to ‘Big Dipper’ below.
“This is a song about looking for answers, and finding none, and looking again,” Nandi Rose said of ‘Big Dipper’ in a statement. “It was written at a time when I was feeling very stuck in my body and overwhelmed by compounding griefs. I was inspired by the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, who had just passed away, and his idea of continuation–how we are not bound by our forms. We continue on. ‘This body is not me,’ he said. ‘So laugh with me, hold my hand, let us say good-bye, say good-bye to meet again soon.’”
Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival is just around the corner, bringing some of the most exciting names in rock and pop to the Parc del Fòrum from May 30 to June 1. This year’s headliners include Lana Del Rey, Pulp, the National, FKA Twigs, SZA, Disclosure, Justice, Mitski, Phoenix, PJ Harvey, and Vampire Weekend, and with over 150 artists on the bill, it’s not easy picking even just a tenth of them for our list of the must-see acts at the festival. Obviously, you should see those headliners if you have the chance, especially with Lana Del Rey, Mitski, and Vampire Weekend having put out some of their best material in the past year, but we’re narrowing the list down to non-headline acts. Even then, there’s some notable names we’ve had to leave out, including Clipse’s only European show and a rare live performance from Jai Paul. But to help you navigate this year’s program, here are 15 acts we’re excited to see at Primavera Sound Barcelona 2024.
Beth Gibbons
Portishead’s Beth Gibbons is supporting the release of her debut solo album, Lives Outgrown, with a rare tour, and Primavera Sound is one of its first stops. Portishead haven’t put out any music since 2008’s Third (which they showcased at the Barcelona festival that year), and Gibbons hasn’t toured solo in over 20 years, but the two singles that have been released from the record so far – ‘Floating on a Moment’ and ‘Reaching Out’ are mesmerizing. The whole thing comes out May 17, and whether or not you choose to spend time with it beforehand, seeing the legendary vocalist live is sure to send chills down your spine.
Bikini Kill
In 2019, Bikini Kill reunited after a 22-year breakup, and they’ve been playing shows regularly ever since. Kathleen Hanna, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail were set to play the festival in 2021, but the performance was cancelled last minute, which I hope doesn’t happen this time – it’s the first stop of the European leg of their 2024 tour, so excitement will be high. The influence of the riot grrrl movement they helped lead can be felt on many of the acts on the Primavera lineup – another band on this list, Mannequin Pussy, opened for Bikini Kill last year – and according to reviews, the band hasn’t lost any of its live ferocity. They’re bound to put on a powerful performance, and whether you grew up on them or not, hearing their anthems live should be an absolute thrill.
Chelsea Wolfe
Over time, Chelsea Wolfe’s sound has leaned into neofolk, electronica, and doom metal, but her core aesthetic – one of dark beauty and aching vulnerability – has remained intact. Her latest album, She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She, is marked by her signature melancholy, but blends these different elements into one of her most confident releases yet. The songs are visceral and hypnotic, but Wolfe’s voice never drowns in the atmosphere she creates, her vocals mixed higher than usual, and I’m curious how Wolfe will cast herself at the center of them in a live environment. Regardless of what sort of theatrics she’ll use to amplify them, her songs swell with emotion, and hearing them should be a cathartic experience.
Ethel Cain
Aside from a few stray tracks, Ethel Cain hasn’t put out any music since her debut LP Preacher’s Daughter, which we named our album of the year in 2022, but she’s an unmissable act at any festival she’s played since, including this year’s Coachella. Unsettling, hypnotic, and defiant, her songs abound in doomful, spiritual imagery that’s informed by her strict religious upbringing, touching on themes of love, murder, abuse, and intergenerational trauma. A live show might be the purest and most compelling way of grasping the persona Hayden Anhedönia has built around the project, and if her stage presence is nearly as gripping as her storytelling and performances on record, you have no excuse not to be there.
Jessica Pratt
Jessica Pratt just released Here in the Pitch, her first album in five years and one of the best records of the year so far. It contains some of the singer-songwriter’s most entrancing and evocative songs to date, with melodies that have been swirling in my head since the moment I heard them and lyrics that speak directly to the soul. In some ways, it’s hard to imagine any of its songs, or even Pratt’s earlier material, being performed in front of me – so hypnotic and dreamlike in their logic, so ghostly and timeless in their intimacy. But in a festival setting – Pratt will play her first show of the year at Primavera before touring Europe and the UK – it should also be a quiet marvel, providing an opportunity for pause and gentle introspection. Even if you’ve traveled a long way just to get there, Pratt’s music will transport you somewhere else entirely.
Joanna Sternberg
Joanna Sternberg’s music is spare, idiosyncratic, and tenderly affecting, earnings fans in everyone from Jeff Tweedy to Phoebe Bridgers, who has called the singer-songwriter “emo Randy Newman.” Another frequent comparison point, brought up Primavera itself, is Daniel Johnston, who played the festival back in 2013. Last year, Sternberg followed up her debut LP Then I Try Some More with I’ve Got Me, an album that’s a joy to revisit: heartbreaking, brutally honest, and playful, like a friend helping you soldier through the toughest emotions. “No matter how many times I sing these songs, there might be another time I sing it where I have a new catharsis,” Sternberg said in our Artist Spotlight interview. You wouldn’t want to miss it.
Julie Byrne
The Greater Wings, Julie Byrne’s most recent album, is mesmerizing, gorgeous, and elegiac, focusing on themes of grief and transformation – around half of the record was written with her friend and collaborator Eric Littmann before his untimely death at the age of 31. Dazzling in their aliveness, the songs were also informed by Byrne’s life on the road, so singing them to a crowd of people must be particularly special. Her performance might be stripped-back and delicate, but expect it to also be breathtaking.
Mandy, Indiana
Blending club rhythms and industrial noise, Mandy, Indiana – the Manchester quartet of vocalist and lyricist Valentine Caulfield, guitarist and producer Scott Fair, synth player Simon Catling, and drummer Alex Macdougall – make punishingly loud, enthralling music, as showcased on their 2023 debut i’ve seen a way. Caulfield’s vocals range from whispering to singing to screaming (all in French), while the band pulls you into their chaotic world with grooves it then distorts with eerie, ferocious sounds so you’re never sure what they signify. It leaves you with the urge to see them live just for a glimpse of how it all comes alive, even if you still won’t be able to crack the code. To quote Fair: “Just so you know, you might want to wear ear defenders for this.”
Mannequin Pussy
Mannequin Pussy’s latest album, I Got Heaven, is as intense and hooky as anything from the Philadelphia band’s back catalog, but it’s also their most collaborative and adventurous album to date. It’s a potent expression of the band’s multi-dimensional sound, which channels rage and hope by careening through indie rock, hardcore, power pop, and tender punk. Showcasing it alongside highlights from records like the Perfect EP and 2019’s Patience, Marisa Dabice, Kaleen Reading, Collins Regisford, and Maxine Steen are set to put on a dynamic show that’s equal parts chaos and catharsis.
Militarie Gun
In 2023, Turnstile were the hardcore band to see at Primavera. This year, it’s Militarie Gun, the Los Angeles band whose take on the genre is incredibly melodic and catchy. You might have heard their song ‘Do It Faster’ on a Taco Bell commercial, but you should really listen to the whole album it’s taken from, Life Under the Gun, which refines and tightens the sound Ian Shelton built on their early EPs. It’s full of relentless energy, and there’s no doubt their live set will be, too.
Slow Pulp
Slow Pulp put out one of the best (classically) indie rock albums of 2023 with Yard, which is packed with great songs that are warm, gauzy, and emotive. It might not be the flashiest set you’ll catch at the festival, but when you’ve got those great songs, you don’t need to do much more than simply showcase them. More than just pleasurable, there’s also something distinctly summery about the nostalgia and longing baked into the band’s music, making it the perfect fit for a festival like Primavera. Pulp might be right at the top if this year’s poster, but Slow Pulp should be on your itinerary, too.
The Last Dinner Party
The Last Dinner Party managed to live up to the hype with their debut album, Prelude to Ecstasy, and Primavera is an incredible chance to see them live – the band embarked on an entirely sold-out tour of the US last year before the reocrd even came out. Given the band’s theatricality, maximalism, and unique blend of influences, which range from ABBA to Kate Bush, it’s no surprise they’re known for delivering exciting and dynamic performances. Prelude to Ecstasy is stacked with memorable songs, but they’re almost guaranteed to end their set with their most popular song, ‘Nothing Matters’, turning it into a cathartic singalong that’s not to be missed.
Water From Your Eyes
There’s so many layers to unpack when you’re listening to Water From Your Eyes’ latest album, Everyone Crushed, which is admirable in its approach to both dissonance and pop melody. But as much as I (and so many critics) loved that album, something tells me that seeing Nate Amos and Rachel Brown live is the only, and certainly the best, way to appreciate their music’s jagged intensity. The more their sound evolves, the more its cacophony feels like a journey worth following, one you’ll want to bear witness to.
yeule
Yeule is the musical project of Nat Ćmiel, who was born in Singapore and is currently based in London. Named after a Final Fantasy charater, yeule falls into the category of what the Primavera page calls “avatar-artists,” comparing them to acts like Yves Tumor and Grimes that have previously performed at the festival. But yeule is a unique case – a self-identified “cyborg entity” whose music embraces the boundless freedom of the digital form: “Don’t you feel so pure when you don’t have a body anymore?” they asked on ‘bloobunny’. My guess is that Ćmiel has a lot of fun embodying both the physicality and fluidity of the songs in a live environment, especially when delivering the more alt-rock-influenced, shoegazy cuts off their latest album softscars (much like Tumor did at Parc del Fòrum last year).
Yo La Tengo
There’s no shortage of indie rock veterans on the Primavera lineup this year, but Yo La Tengo, not quite at the top of that bill, certainly deserve a shout-out. They’d be an act worth seeing at any point in their career, and simply running through highlights from their beloved catalog would make for a rewarding performance. But the band’s latest LP, This Stupid World, is one of their sharpest and most dynamic albums in a long time, and I would not be disappointed if it ends up dominating their set. The title track is what I’m aching to hear the most; Yo La Tengo songs may not be the kind you sing along to the way, say, Vampire Weekend’s hits are, but hearing, maybe even humming along to, that refrain – “This stupid world/ It’s killing me/ This stupid world/ Is all we have” – should be a totally cathartic moment.
Throughout the week, we update our Best New Songs playlist with the new releases that caught our attention the most, be it a single leading up to the release of an album or a newly unveiled deep cut. And each Monday, we round up the best new songs released over the past week (the eligibility period begins on Monday and ends Sunday night) in this best new music segment.
On this week’s list, we have Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Euphoria’, the wildest and most visceral installment in his ongoing feud with Drake; illuminati hotties’ restlessly infectious new song ‘Can’t Be Still’; Charly Bliss’ poignant and dramatic ‘Nineteen’, the first preview of the band’s upcoming LP Forever; Jessica Pratt’s ‘The Last Year’, which perfectly evokes what she calls a “weird optimism” at the end of her new record; Why Bonnie’s ‘Dotted Line’, a catchy, emotive song about experiencing “the weight of capitalism”; Caroline Polachek’s ominous, glitchy contribution to the I Saw the TV Glow soundtrack, ‘Starburned and Unkissed’; Ravyn Lenae’s ‘Love Me Not’, one of two singles from her upcoming album Bird’s Eye that hints at a bold new sound.
Drake has dropped the latest diss track in his ongoing feud with Kendrick Lamar. ‘The Heart Part 6’ takes its title from Lamar’s ongoing single series, and it arrives on the heels of Lamar’s new songs ‘Meet the Grahams’ and ‘Not Like Us’. Posting the song on social media, Drake wrote, “And we know you’re dropping 6 mins after so instead of posting my address you have a lot to address.” Listen below.
On the new track, Drake denies Lamar’s allegations that he pursued underage women (“I never been with no one underage, but now I understand why this the angle that you really mess with”), and claims that his camp fed Kendrick false information about having a daughter. “The one’s that you’re getting your stories from, they’re all clowns,” he raps. “We plotted for a week and then we fed you the information/ A daughter that’s 11 years old, I bet he takes it.”
Dua Lipa pulled double duty on last night’s episode of Saturday Night Live, serving as both host and musical guest. In addition to performing ‘Illusion’ and ‘Happy for You’ off her new album Radical Optimism, the singer starred in multiple sketches, including one titled ‘Young Spicy’ about a hip-hop producer who wants her to come up with a new tag, and another where she chimes in on the ongoing beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. Watch it happen below.
Ahead of its release on Friday, Lipa previewed Radical Optimism with the songs ‘Houdini’, ‘Training Season’, and ‘Illusion’. Her European tour in support of the album kicks off in Germany next month.
Kendrick Lamar has dropped his fourth Drake diss track of the week, ‘Not Like Us’. The Compton artist released ‘Euphoria’ on Tuesday, followed by ‘6:16 in LA’ on Friday morning; both rappers then released diss tracks within an hour of each other, with Drake sharing ‘Family Matters’ and Lamar putting out ‘Meet the Grahams’. ‘Not Like Us’ was produced by Mustard, and its single artwork depicts Drake’s mansion as it would look on a sex offender map. Check it out below.
On the song, Lamar continues to accuse Drake of pedophilia, rapping, “Say Drake, I hear you like ‘em young/ You better not have to go to Cell Block One/ To any bitch that talk to him and they in love/ Just make sure you hide your little sister from him.” He also makes a play on Drake’s sixth album: “Certified Lover Boy/ Certified pedophile.”
Lamar then critizes Drake for teaming up with Atlanta rappers like Future, Lil Baby, and 2 Chainz to boost his reputation. “You run to Atlanta when you need a few dollars/ You not a colleague, you a fuckin’ colonizer/ The family matter, and the truth of the matter/ It was God’s Plan to show you’re a liar,” he raps.
The feud between Lamar and Drake was reignited last month with Lamar’s verse on Metro Boomin and Future’s ‘Like That’. Cole later responded with ‘7 Minute Drill’, which he then apologized for and pulled from streaming. Drake fired back with the songs ‘Push Ups’ and ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’.
