2020s in music

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This article describes trends in popular music in the 2020s.

The beginning of the decade was a difficult time for the music industry, with the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in widespread concert cancellations due to risks of mass infection.

Overview

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation or postponement of numerous music-related events scheduled to take place in the early 2020s, including major tours, festivals, and television appearances. Due to the restrictions, many artists conducted virtual experiences as an alternative to live events (e.g. Dua Lipa's Studio 2054 and Taylor Swift's Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions). The COVID-19 pandemic has also resorted to postponements or the rescheduling of major tours to at least a year or two from their initially scheduled tour dates, examples including The Stadium Tour (co-headlined by Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard), Ozzy Osbourne's headlining tour No More Tours II and Rage Against the Machine's reunion tour.

Trends

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Success of "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo (pictured left) and "Happier Than Ever" by Billie Eilish (right) indicated pop rock revival.

In 2020, LP records surpassed Compact Disc sales for the first time since 1986, LP records 28.7% ($619.6 million) with the rapid decline in Compact Disc sales by 23% ($483 million), with 62% ($1.1 billion) of revenue derived from physical music sales across the United States according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), 2020 Year-End Music Industry Revenue Report.

The early part of the decade carried on the cross-genre trap music and footwork influence which started in the late 2010s. Thanks to the rise of social media platforms such as TikTok, music genres old and new had a moment in the spotlight. Genres such as synth-pop, nu-disco, pop-punk, emo-pop, house, indie rock, drill music, k-pop and afrobeats garnered considerable attention in the mainstream media.

British rock magazine Kerrang! wrote that Olivia Rodrigo's "Good 4 U" (2021) leads the commercial comeback of rock music in 2020–2021, noting how it is the first rock song since Evanescence's "Bring Me to Life" (2003) to spend four or more weeks atop the UK Singles chart, alongside chart success of other rock-adjacent artists, such as Willow Smith, Machine Gun Kelly, Måneskin, and Miley Cyrus. Slate proclaimed that Rodrigo "might be the dying genre's best hope", pinpointing that "Good 4 U" is the "most up-the-middle rock song to top the [U.S.] Hot 100 in a decade or more".

Media outlets and fans online observed a music trend called "Sad Girl Autumn" or "Sad Girl Fall" in early 2020s, which refers to the release of melancholic and introspective music by female artists during autumn, such as Swift's Red (Taylor's Version), Adele's 30, Clairo's Sling, Phoebe Bridgers' Punisher, and Mitski's "Laurel Hell"; it is a counterpart to "Hot Girl Summer", a catchphrase coined by American rapper Megan Thee Stallion with her 2019 song of the same name.

The pandemic-era drive for nostalgia and desire to return to the way things were has played a role in the shift, The market rapidly shifted toward old music. According to data observed throughout 2021 and 2022, 70% of music demand is for old songs and it is increasing every year. And the top 200 most popular songs were only account for 5% of total streams — and that small percentage has fallen by half over the last three years. Older musicians such as Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, and Bruce Springsteen were selling their music rights for hundreds of millions of dollars. These big names have always been popular, but according to some research, the vast majority of new downloads today are songs that are at least two years old. Other journalists have pointed out that the gen z demographic are more likely to listen to self-published and obscure acts due to the accessibility of the internet landscape, and even then acts such as Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Harry Styles, Olivia Rodrigo, Doja Cat and Lil Nas X remained popular within that demographic thanks to their major label support systems. Gen Z had a fondness for the obscure 1980s subgenre shoegaze and 1960s rock music during the pandemic.

Highlights (2020 to late-2022)

On July 5, 2022, American music magazine Billboard published an article listing "The 25 Musical Moments That Defined the First Quarter of the 2020s" in chronological order. They are:

• American music executive Deborah Dugan placed on administrative leave as the Recording Academy president/CEO
• American rapper Pop Smoke murdered at age 20
• Annual Austin festival South by Southwest canceled for 2020
• American record producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz launching the webcast series Verzuz
• Blackout Tuesday, a protest against racism and police brutality on June 2, 2020.
• American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift releasing her eighth studio album, Folklore (2020), as a surprise.
• "Dynamite" (2020) by South Korean pop group BTS debuting at number one on the Billboard Hot 100
• TikTok user Doggface208 going viral with a video incorporating "Dreams" (1977) by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac.
• American musician Bob Dylan sells his music catalog to Universal Music Group for an estimated US$375 million
• Puerto Rican rapper-singer Bad Bunny debuts at number one on the Billboard 200 chart with El Ultimo Tour del Mundo (2020), his third studio album
• American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo releasing her debut single "Drivers License" (2021)
• American country singer Morgan Wallen caught saying nigger, a racist anti-black slur, on video.
• American DJ 3LAU sells 33 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for nearly US$12 million
• American rapper Lil Nas X releases his 2021 single "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" and its music video
• American rock band Foo Fighters performing a show at Madison Square Garden after a 15-month lockdown
• American rappers Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion released their 2020 single "WAP" and its music video
• "Blinding Lights" (2019) by Canadian singer the Weeknd becomes the longest charting song of all time on the US Hot 100.
• Universal Music Group becoming a public company.
• "Essence" (2020) by Nigerian singer Wizkid entering the top 10 region of the US Hot 100
• Astroworld Festival by American rapper Travis Scott killing 10 attendees and injuring hundreds in a stampede on its opening night—the deadliest concert tragedy in nearly two decades, resulting in nearly 400 individual lawsuits.
• Taylor Swift's 10-minute-long song, "All Too Well (10-Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)", topping the Hot 100 chart
• Canadian musician Drake and American rapper Kanye West co-headlining a Los Angeles concert in support of former gang leader Larry Hoover
• Encanto, a 2021 animated musical fantasy film by Disney, releasing on Disney+
• Vinyl LPs outselling CDs in a year (2021) for the first time since 1991
• "Running Up That Hill" (1985) by British singer-songwriter Kate Bush grew widespread attention after featuring in science fiction horror television series Stranger Things
• American rock band Foo Fighters lost drummer Taylor Hawkins in March 2022

Pop

Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles, Doja Cat, the Weeknd, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Lil Nas X are some of the best-selling pop artists of the decade. Several music executives and journalists projected Adele's 30 to sell over a million albums in its opening week in the US. However, when the album fell short of the one-million mark, selling 692,000 albums, The New York Times asked "if Adele couldn't sell more than a million albums in a single week, could any artist?" In October 2022, Swift's Midnights (2022) opened with over 1.1 million pure albums, with Rolling Stone asserting that Swift "has once again moved the goalposts regarding what the music industry can see as possible from a major pop star". Pop music continued to be successful in the 2020s, propelled by albums like Midnights, Sour, After Hours, Future Nostalgia, and Renaissance, the first of which found an exemplary, ubiquitous success across all formats of music consumption "unseen" since the 1990s.

Retro pop

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Dua Lipa's singles "Don't Start Now" and "Levitating" were part of the nu-disco trend.

The 2020s in music have provided heavily to the resurgence of musical elements brought to life in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

• Motivated by early 1970s experimental and synth pop music, albums such as Harry Styles' Harry's House and Taylor Swift's Midnights drew influences from this era. Their respective lead singles "As It Was" and "Anti-Hero", both of which incorporated vintage synthesizers, were met with critical acclaim and instant commercial success. "As It Was" remained at number-one for 15 non-consecutive weeks on the Hot 100, becoming the longest-reigning solo song in history. Swift became the first artist ever to occupy the Hot 100's entire top 10 simultaneously.
• Influenced by the 1980s retro musical elements, Dua Lipa, Lizzo, and The Weeknd incorporated heavy disco, funk, and synth-pop influences in their works such as Future Nostalgia, Special, and After Hours, respectively; all albums were met with commercial and critical acclaim. Lipa's singles "Don't Start Now" and "Levitating", Lizzo's "About Damn Time", and the Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" and "Save Your Tears" were commercially successful. "Blinding Lights" went on to become the biggest Billboard Hot 100 song of all time, spending 90 weeks on the chart—the most for any song. Future Nostalgia won Best Pop Vocal Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.
• Miley Cyrus' 2020 album Plastic Hearts was credited as a front-runner to the resurgence of pop-rock music, especially that of the 1970s-1980s. Critics claimed her transition from pop music to rock brought forth a nostalgic feel, one that will seemingly become a trend this decade.
• Kate Bush's song "Running Up That Hill", which was actually released in the 1980s, gained a massive following after having a pivotal role in the fourth season of Stranger Things. Metallica's 1986 single "Master of Puppets" also saw a revival because of its inclusion in the show.
• Lady Gaga's Chromatica and Beyonce's Renaissance sought to recreate 1990s dance and house music styles. Gaga's "Rain On Me" and Beyonce's "Break My Soul" reached the top spot on the Hot 100 chart. Ariana Grande's Positions used heavy 1990s R&B and pop elements, crediting samples from popular artists from that decade, such as Aaliyah.
• With its nostalgic presence for younger audiences, sounds from the early 2000s resurge into today's music with elements of indie rock, post-punk, and post-grunge.

Bedroom pop

Beginning in the late 2010s, bedroom pop was born from downtempo, soft, and lo-fi beats that felt as if the music was made in the artist's room. Songs usually contain elements of vulnerability, honesty, and relatability to younger audiences. This new era of sounds brought many artists into the spotlight. Musicians such as Clairo, Cuco, Beabadoobee, Hemlock springs, Conan Gray and Girl In Red continued being beloved cult bands followings due to there social media presence. Songs such as Clairo's "Sofia", Beabadoobee's "Coffee", Hemlock Springs "Girlfriend" and Gray's "Heather" were commercially successful due to the prominence of TikTok, where all of the previously listed songs went viral. The use of TikTok has helped many bedroom pop artists rise to fame due to its easy-access and widespread audio listening availability.

Latin pop

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American playwright and musician Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the original songs for the soundtrack of Encanto.

Latin pop and other Latin music genres such as reggaeton continue to be successful in the 2020s. Selena Gomez released her first Spanish-language project, Revelación, in March 2021. It incorporated urbano influences. Anitta's Envolver song became the first song by a Latin female act to reach the number one on Spotify Global Daily chart, reaching the number two on the Billboard Global 200 and the number one in Billboard Global Excl. U.S. The soundtrack of Encanto, Disney's 2021 animated fantasy film, written and produced by American playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, was a viral phenomenon, enjoying widespread popularity on the internet. It has spent multiple weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart. Far Out called the phenomenon "Encanto-mania". The TikTok videos tagged with the hashtag "#encanto" have received more than 11.5 billion views in total, as of January 23, 2022. The most popular song of the soundtrack was "We Don't Talk About Bruno", a salsa tune which experienced widespread commercial success in 2022. "Dos Oruguitas" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 94th Academy Awards. On September 29, 2022, Aguilera performed "La Reina" at the 2022 Billboard Latin Music Awards and received the Billboard Spirit of Hope Award. La Luz, the third and final EP from Christina Aguilera, was released that same day and featured a spoken intro by Aguilera and "No Es Que Te Extrañe".

K-pop

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Blackpink's Born Pink became the first girl group album in over 20 years to top both the US and UK Album Charts.

The 2020s have featured some heavily successful group debuts, with album sales reaching hundreds of thousands. Some of these groups include Treasure, Aespa, Enhypen, Ive, Kep1er, Nmixx, Le Sserafim and NewJeans. In November 2020, BTS became the first Korean pop artist to be recognized by the Recording Academy when "Dynamite" received a nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards; they were again nominated the following year with "Butter". On April 16, 2022, at Coachella, 2NE1 reunited after 6 years with a surprise performance on the main stage. Aespa also performed on the festival's main stage the following weekend. Blackpink's 2022 album Born Pink became the first album by a female group to top the chart since Danity Kane's Welcome to the Dollhouse in 2008. In addition, it marked the first time a girl group simultaneously topped the album charts in the United States and United Kingdom in 21 years, since Destiny's Child's Survivor in 2001.

Pop punk

Pop punk and emo pop, fueled by 2000s nostalgia, had a revival in the early 2020s with artists such as Machine Gun Kelly, Willow Smith, Maggie Lindemann, Meet Me @ the Altar, Kenny Hoopla, Origami Angel, Waterparks, Magnolia Park and Travis Barker releasing tracks that achieved general praise from the public. Tickets to My Downfall by Machine Gun Kelly reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart in 2020. Willow Smith collaborated with Travis Barker from Blink-182 on the song "Transparent Soul" which reached the top 10 on the rock charts. Avril Lavigne also returned to the genre in collaborations with Barker and Mod Sun. The Chaos Chapter: Freeze and the repackage Fight or Escape by the Korean boyband Tomorrow X Together brought pop punk and emocore references, mainly on their lead singles "0X1=Lovesong (I Know I Love You)" and "Loser=Lover".

Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Halsey, and Conan Gray also brought influences from pop punk and power pop in Sour, Happier Than Ever, If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power, and Kid Krow respectively. In another crossover phenomenon of the early 2020s several established rap artists released pop punk material, including Machine Gun Kelly, The Kid Laroi, Blackbear and Mod Sun.

Hyperpop

Some of the efforts from hyperpop artists such as Charli XCX, Dorian Electra, Slayyter, A.G Cook, Midwxst, Ericdoa, Glaive, Ecco2k, Quinn, That Kid, Bladee and 100 Gecs received critical appraisal. Charli XCX's How I'm Feeling Now, due to its themes of self-reflection and social isolation, connected with listeners during the COVID-19 pandemic. XCX's fifth studio album, Crash, became her most successful album commercially and critically, peaking in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, and marking her first number-one on the UK Albums Chart. Scottish musician Sophie, who revolutionized avant pop and experimental pop genres, and represented transgender people in the electronic music scene, died on January 31, 2021.

Hip hop and R&B

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Doja Cat had her breakthrough in 2020 and rose to prominence in the subsequent years, fueled by her music's rap, pop and R&B appeals.

Rap

Late in the 2010s, a generation of artists emerged with party rap music that emphasizes feminism and queer empowerment. Artists such as Lizzo, Megan Thee Stalion, SZA, City Girls, Saucy Santana, Flo Mili, Lil Nas X, Doja Cat and Rico Nasty became prominent hip hop artists. Female rappers achieved widespread popularity and helped create the market for women in the predominantly male mainstream hip-hop genre thanks to their openly sexual lyrics and danceable instrumentation. Megan Thee Stallion had two number one hits in the early half of the decade, including her collaboration with Cardi B titled "WAP", and her hit single "Savage".

Doja Cat quickly became one of the best-selling artists of the decade, despite her breakthrough being in 2020. Her first #1 single, "Say So", aided this process, as it brought the public's attention to her work. In early 2021, Doja released the lead single "Kiss Me More" to her third studio album, Planet Her. The song received instant acclaim, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. After the release of Planet Her, Doja secured two more top-ten hits, with "Need To Know" and "Woman", peaking at #8 and #7, respectively. Planet Her became one of the best-selling albums of the decade, spending 26 weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart.

Artists such as JPEGMafia, Clipping, Run the Jewels, Moor Mother, Jungle Pussy and Genesis Owusu dominated the industrial hip hop scene in the early 2020s. On November 23, 2020, Visions of Bodies Being Burned is the fourth studio album by American hip hop group Clipping. It was released on October 23, 2020, through Sub Pop and received positive reviews from music critics.

R&B

American singer Steve Lacy earned his first number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Bad Habit". In December 2022, SZA released her second studio album, SOS, which became her first number-one on the Billboard 200, and gave her the fifth best sales week of 2022 with 318,000 copies. All of its 23 tracks charted on the Hot 100, becoming the second artist after Swift to chart 20 songs in a single week. It includes four top-ten singles: "Good Days", "I Hate U", "Nobody Gets Me", and "Kill Bill".

Reggaeton

The late 2010's saw a major a cultural resurgence in Latin dance music with hip hop influences which carried throughout the 2020's. Artists such as Bad Bunny, chencho corleone, Ozuna, Karol G and Rauv Alejandro saw crossover success in the united states while remaining popular internationally.

Drift phonk

In 2020, TikTok popularized the hip hop style drift phonk—a genre that was generally explored by music producers in Russia. In May 2021, following the rise in popularity of the genre in Russia, Spotify released an official curated phonk playlist.

Folk and indie

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In 2020, Taylor Swift delved into alternative/folk sounds in Folklore and Evermore, which were released to commercial and critical success.

Social media algorithms fed the popularity of indie artists, from established acts Steve Lacy, Beach Bunny, Phoebe Bridgers, Joji, Hemlocke Springs and Mitski to lesser known artists like Black Country, New Road and Black Midi.

Influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, many artists created unplugged, "stripped-down" music mainly driven by acoustic or classical music instruments and melancholic subject matter. Taylor Swift shifted from mainstream pop to adopt indie folk, alternative rock and chamber pop styles. She released two of the best selling albums of 2020, Folklore and Evermore. Folklore spent a record eight weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart, and won the Album of the Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Lana Del Rey released two folk-inspired studio albums in 2021: Chemtrails over the Country Club and Blue Banisters. Other notable folk and indie records released include Clairo's Sling, Phoebe Bridgers' Punisher, Japanese Breakfast's Jubilee, and Arlo Parks' Collapsed In Sunbeams. All released to critical acclaim, albums in this genre tend to resemble bedroom pop, but usually contain more mature subject material. The latter three were all nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at their respective Grammy Awards. Lorde ventured into psychedelic folk-pop in her third studio album, Solar Power, an apparent contrast to her previous album Melodrama. This transition from dance pop and electropop into indie and folk-pop has garnered the term "solar powerification", as many other artists have also made this shift. A prominent example includes Carly Rae Jepsen, with her changeover from her disco-infused albums Dedicated and Dedicated Side B into her stripped back, synth-based record The Loneliest Time.

Glass Animals' breakout song "Heat Waves" stayed number one on the Billboard Alternative Charts for seven weeks in 2021, making it one of the most successful singles of the year. English singer-songwriter PinkPantheress released her debut mixtape To Hell with It, which received widespread acclaim in reviews from music critics upon release. To Hell with It was named the third best album of 2021 by Time and the fifth best album of the year by The New York Times's Jon Caramanica and Gigwise. Joji's "Glimpse of Us" peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart upon its release, marking the singer-first songwriter's visit to the region. The song, which was released on June 10, 2022, received almost immediate acclaim, rocketing up the Official Singles Chart and also debuting straight inside the Top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100.

Country

Dangerous: The Double Album by American country singer Morgan Wallen became the first country album to spend its first four weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart since Shania Twain's Up! did so in January 2003. Having finished third on American Idol, country artist Gabby Barrett released her debut single "I Hope" in 2019. It reached number one on the Billboard Country Airplay chart dated April 25, 2020, and eventually topped the Hot Country Songs chart dated July 25, 2020, making it the first debut single by a female artist to top the latter since 2006.

Swift's re-recordings, Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version), were the top two best-selling country albums of 2021. Her decision to re-record her masters sparked worldwide interest, making Swift the first artist to have a re-recorded album peak at number one on the Billboard 200, with Fearless (Taylor's Version). Her second re-recorded album, Red (Taylor's Version) also debuted at number one.

Kacey Musgraves' fourth studio album Star-Crossed received attention for its inclusion of disco and dance-pop, but sparked a genre categorization controversy with the Grammy Awards. After her submission to the Recording Academy in the country categories, her album was seemingly left out from any nominations, despite its positive reviews in contrast to other country albums released during the eligibility period. The Academy stated that her record failed to include enough country material to be considered for country categories at the award ceremony. Musgraves questioned their judgment, after her previous album, Golden Hour included just as much influence from pop music, yet was nominated for, and won all awards that year, including Best Country Album, and Album Of The Year.

Rock

The genres hard rock and heavy metal had declined in mainstream popularity by the early 2020s. However, Italian hard rock band Måneskin rose to worldwide prominence following the band's win at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with their song Zitti e buoni. Måneskin's cover of the song The Four Seasons' "Beggin'" reached the top 10 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. and was ranked 66th in Billboard Year End Hot 100 chart of 2021. Several veteran acts have continued to maintain popularity worldwide, including AC/DC, whose 2020 album Power Up reached number one on the charts in various countries (including the United States and their homeland Australia), while Iron Maiden earned their first Top 5 album on the Billboard 200 chart, Senjutsu, for the first time in its 41-year recording career. Other veteran heavy metal acts, including Testament and Dream Theater, debuted on the Top 100 on the Billboard 200 chart with their respective albums Titans of Creation and A View from the Top of the World.

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Power Up by AC/DC (pictured left) and Senjutsu by Iron Maiden were among the successful hard rock and heavy metal albums of the 2020s.

Soft rock is showcased through albums like Haim's Women In Music Pt. III, released to critical acclaim, the album amassed a nomination for Album Of The Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making them the first all-female band to be nominated for this award. Their single "The Steps" also received a nomination for Best Rock Performance.