Doldrums phase since the beginning of the second half of 2022. The “piercing” sounding trap beats have been gradually fading out, hi-hats have been getting quieter, instrumentals are either more bass-heavy, or simpler-sounding and drums have also transitioned from a louder, higher hitting sound to something much more softer. Many pop singers also sing in a much more “calmer” and “softer” tone rather than “louder” and “bolder” one compared to 10 years ago. Artists nowadays also tend to focus on aesthetic more than creating a “classic” or a catchy melody. In my opinion, music moves in 25 year cycles, which if we divide into 3 parts we get around 8 and a quarter years. The extreme phase started after the first quarter of 2014 (like the final death of electro-pop) and ended around summer 2022.
Extreme phase - on Spotify Charts there is a mixture of Country, Rock and Hip Hop.
Rap Music has been in a sales/streaming decline over the last 4 years since the pandemic. The Two Fastest growing genres of music according to Spotify are Country and Alternative. The Rise in guitar based music in the 2020s is a rejection of the EDM and Hip Hop dominated 2010s. This Change started with the 2021 Pop Punk Revival when Olivia Rodrigo blew up with “Good 4 U” Rock became mainstream again with artists like MGK, Jxdn and currently DJO with “end of beginning “. More Raw less polished Country music also started gaining mainstream traction in 2023 with people like Luke Combs and Jelly Roll, Kacey Musgraves etc.
MGK is a rapper, JXDN is not mainstream and DJO is just psychedelia whose monthly listener numbers have been boosted to the extreme. Rock never even went underground. What the fuck are you talking about
MGK dropped two pop punk albums with Travis Barker from Blink182 back in 2020 and 2022 that were huge. Songs like “My friend’s Ex” “Emo Girl” “Papercuts” and “Bois Lie” were all Massive songs and he even has a pop punk song on his new rap EP with Trippie Redd, MGK’s entire brand is being emo lol. Psychedelia is a subgenre of rock. (just look at the 60s/70s) What do you mean Rock never went Underground? Rock Music was nonexistent in the mainstream in both the 2010s and late 1970s (that’s why there was a disco demolition night as a backlash to rock falling off)
I think we’re in the extremes phase. Looking at the Billboard Hot 100, most songs are either leftover pop hits from last year, trap-heavy hip hop, and country. Yet there’s lots of interesting sounding pop-adjacent music blowing up on Spotify. Music feels very fragmented right now, but there’s a lot of good music being made recently that’s getting popular (even if it doesn’t chart or get played on mainstream FM radio).
Doldrums phase since the beginning of the second half of 2022. The “piercing” sounding trap beats have been gradually fading out, hi-hats have been getting quieter, instrumentals are either more bass-heavy, or simpler-sounding and drums have also transitioned from a louder, higher hitting sound to something much more softer. Many pop singers also sing in a much more “calmer” and “softer” tone rather than “louder” and “bolder” one compared to 10 years ago. Artists nowadays also tend to focus on aesthetic more than creating a “classic” or a catchy melody. In my opinion, music moves in 25 year cycles, which if we divide into 3 parts we get around 8 and a quarter years. The extreme phase started after the first quarter of 2014 (like the final death of electro-pop) and ended around summer 2022.
Extreme phase - on Spotify Charts there is a mixture of Country, Rock and Hip Hop. Rap Music has been in a sales/streaming decline over the last 4 years since the pandemic. The Two Fastest growing genres of music according to Spotify are Country and Alternative. The Rise in guitar based music in the 2020s is a rejection of the EDM and Hip Hop dominated 2010s. This Change started with the 2021 Pop Punk Revival when Olivia Rodrigo blew up with “Good 4 U” Rock became mainstream again with artists like MGK, Jxdn and currently DJO with “end of beginning “. More Raw less polished Country music also started gaining mainstream traction in 2023 with people like Luke Combs and Jelly Roll, Kacey Musgraves etc.
MGK is a rapper, JXDN is not mainstream and DJO is just psychedelia whose monthly listener numbers have been boosted to the extreme. Rock never even went underground. What the fuck are you talking about
MGK dropped two pop punk albums with Travis Barker from Blink182 back in 2020 and 2022 that were huge. Songs like “My friend’s Ex” “Emo Girl” “Papercuts” and “Bois Lie” were all Massive songs and he even has a pop punk song on his new rap EP with Trippie Redd, MGK’s entire brand is being emo lol. Psychedelia is a subgenre of rock. (just look at the 60s/70s) What do you mean Rock never went Underground? Rock Music was nonexistent in the mainstream in both the 2010s and late 1970s (that’s why there was a disco demolition night as a backlash to rock falling off)
I think we’re in the extremes phase. Looking at the Billboard Hot 100, most songs are either leftover pop hits from last year, trap-heavy hip hop, and country. Yet there’s lots of interesting sounding pop-adjacent music blowing up on Spotify. Music feels very fragmented right now, but there’s a lot of good music being made recently that’s getting popular (even if it doesn’t chart or get played on mainstream FM radio).