Nineteen-year-old pop singer Selena Gomez has a lot in common with the teenage Britney Spears—early career as a Disney child star, perennial Teen Choice Award winner, a pop star heartthrob boyfriend named Justin. One of the best tracks on Gomez’s most recent album When the Sun Goes Down, “Whiplash,” is even a recycled song from the Britney songbook. As for Gomez’s potential for Spears-sized stardom, we’re on the fence. Her disco-dub-pop single “Love You Like a Love Song” was sleek and sophisticated, but her just-released “Hit the Lights” and its accompanying video look and sound like a hackneyed American Eagle commercial. If Gomez wants her music career to last longer and attract more attention than a Justin Bieber paternity suit, then she should take learn some lessons from the life of Spears, both the dos and don’ts. Don’t: marry your backup dancer or shave your head. Do: edge up those songs! With OneRepublic, Cobra Starship, Hot Chelle Rae, Tinie Tempah, Karmin. ERIN K. THOMPSON

Sun., Dec. 18, 5 p.m., 2011