August 26th Hits | How is music changing?

Over the last century, music has been the inspiration that has created many global names. Nothing is more powerful or pervasive than music. Everywhere you go, everywhere you are, music is there!

It’s woven into our culture, interlaced in our movies, our history and our identities. Around the world, music is used to unite and it’s used to divide. Hey, we even found out that the Navy uses music, Britney Spears to be precise, to scare pirates off!… No, we aren’t kidding.

While the prominence of music remains, it’s style is always changing. For decades music has made us dance, it’s made us laugh, cry and sing at the top of our lungs!

But now listeners are no longer at the mercy of radio DJs and record labels. We, as listeners, have direct access to control what we want to hear and when we want to hear it. Through this, we’ve seen new styles spring into the spotlight and start to shatter the pop-domination that has held for nearly half a century.

In music, no decade is ever the same. Music is all about finding the next big thing. We decided to take a look at the number one songs on this date 10 years apart, to see how music is developing. What we found was that EDM, hip-hop and dance tracks have been slowly biding their time, waiting for domination for decades. And now, the moment has come! With the help of Music Distributors like Identity Music, streaming platforms have changed the game!

Head and Heart – Joel Corry and MNEK – 2020

A classic house-sound packed with infectious melodies, feel-good lyrics and a bouncy production, it’s a banger that you’re sure to get lost in.

It’s too early to predict how music will be sculpted by the 2020s. The pandemic seems to be bringing an influx of Indie music from artists wanting to use their lockdown to create new sounds. Perhaps we will look back on 2020s and see Indie music was a huge trend?

However, Head and Heart is very representative of the changes we saw in the latter half of 2010s. Through this decade, EDM, Hip-Hop and Dance music has grown as a genre, closing down the lead that pop has held for so long. In fact, in 2017, Hip-Hop and R&B became the most consumed genre for the first time in history.

In turn, this has pushed the teen-pop of the 2000s to the side while pop transitions into dance-pop and electro-pop, taking the new trends under it’s wing. The electro-pop style is now at it’s most dominant point since the disco phase of the 70s!

Green Light – Roll Deep – 2010

Talk about starting the 2010s as we meant to go on. This Grime and Dance track marked the beginning of the rising EDM and Hip-Hop dominance. Using a jolting bass-line and clubby urban style beats, Wiley, J2K, Breeze, Brazen and Scratchy, gave us a glimpse of the Top 40 future.

Groovejet – Spiller & Sophie Ellis-Bextor – 2000

This track was originally a vocal-less electronic track, but Spiller decided to add Bextor’s disco-pop vocal styling over the top to give the track a competitive edge. Firstly, we are glad they did! As this song is now an absolute must at a school-disco or a cheesy pop nightclub!

The song is a disco-pop hit with a lot of similarities to the electro-pop music we are now used to hearing on a daily basis. It keeps its 90s and 00s feel with the pop vocal overlay and European disco styling.

Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini – Bombalurina – 1990

Okay, this one was difficult to listen to again, i’ll admit. When you have to listen to a song to write about it, you pray for… Well, I don’t know what you pray for exactly. But, you pray it’s not this. I forgot this one existed. It never made it on my cheesy playlist with “Barbie Girl” and “Wannabe”.

However, this screams 90’s music. Through the 90s we saw a lot of pop, dance-pop and cheesy novelty songs. That was exactly what I expected to find holding the 90s spot!

Ashes to Ashes – David Bowie – 1980

Ashes to Ashes is a song by true music icon, David Bowie. The song is notable for its delicate guitar sounds, funky bass and complex vocal layering. More than that, it’s in line with the synth-pop and synth-rock experimenting that started at the time. The songs perfectly combines rock and dance beats in order to show us exactly what the 80s were.

With the power now in the listener’s hands, we’ve seen a shift in the style of music hitting the number one spot. Spotify and other streaming services are changing music, and you can find out more here. Different music styles are emerging to prominence and pushing the old favourite to the sidelines. As fans gain more and more control, music is sure to keep changing. We are excited to see what the next decade holds… Stay tuned…

Are you looking to get your music out there? With Identity Music you can get your music all over the globe in order to gain the maximum exposure. By using our distribution and music promotion services, you’ll be able to take control while watching your music reach new heights.