What do you think of when you hear “house music”? The vague term likely incites images of the late 2000s, with its parties, clubs and eclectic fashion. All of this is nostalgic to those who grew up listening to that type of music on the radio. Oftentimes people will say history repeats itself, and that’s true for many things like economics and international affairs, but as pop culture cycles into the 2020s, a new breed of maximalist electronic music reminiscent of the 2000s pop has started to find its way back into the mainstream.
One aspect different from the 2000s that affects music trends is social media and its trends. Apps like Instagram and TikTok rapidly push mainstream pop culture news to you, spreading trends like never before. They also create spaces for niche subcultures to come together and create communities that wouldn’t be connected if not for these apps. Music is also a big part of social media as an entity, with TikTok introducing users to new music every day. The algorithm also sends media onto your ‘for you page’ related to posts you’ve liked or interacted with before in hopes that you will interact with more, allowing users to find an entirely new genre of music in one day. House music has found its place in this environment due to its general crowd-pleasing nature; who doesn’t like fun, nostalgic music?
House music’s popularity can also be attributed to the resurgence of concerts and club culture. New-wave house music reflects club culture’s desirable carefree attitude through the use of edgier lyrics and the ‘cool-girl’ image that is tied to clubbing. Live music has also become more popular, so more people have been going to clubs and discovering house music, which influences artists like Charli XCX to cater to this growing audience with albums like Brat. Also with the climbing number of DJs per capita, more people are entering the music scene without making entirely new music but rather creating remixes and mashups, a more accessible means of sharing music as an artform.
During the 2000s, there was a surge in house music production, and while BPMs were skyrocketing, mortgage prices were doing the opposite. While not scientifically proven, in the past, different aspects of pop culture have changed alongside the state of the economy. One instance of this is the “hemline index”: a theory that suggests that with good economic times comes shorter skirt hemlines and longer hemlines when the economy is suffering. This same pattern applies to music trends, with bright, upbeat music becoming more popular when the economy is on a decline, just like 2008. Recently there has been some speculation that the global economy is heading for a recession. With progress on inflation being choppy and inconsistent and high interest rates, the threat of a recession is real, though if it does happen, it isn’t projected to be as intense as compared to past ones. Coincidentally, house music has been reemerging on the cusp of this economic uncertainty, just like before. With economic uncertainty and political instability, people tend to favor brighter, more upbeat music, a pattern that is reflected throughout the 20th century, and continuing into the 21st.
Trending music gives lots of insight into how society has evolved, and if we analyze the change in what’s trending and changing, a lot can be found about the patterns of the past, our present status and the trajectory in which we are going.
