The Covid-19 pandemic has turned our lives upside down in many ways. Music lovers are no exception when it comes to who has been affected by this, and 2020 has changed the way we enjoy music…potentially forever. It was not possible to attend live concerts and festivals, so artists had to be resourceful in order to find different ways to reach their fans. There has been an upsurge of artists livestreaming their performances on social media platforms. Alternatively, you can go to musical pubs like The Rocksteady to enjoy a pint while listening to music. There has also been an increase in the number of performers using virtual reality technology to transport their audience from their sofas to the front row of the audience, or even onto the stage itself! We can also expect the growing trend for artists to use social media platforms to connect with their audiences on a personal, as well as musical, level to continue. Fans are now looking for a much more immersive experience when engaging with music, so this trend is likely to enhance the careers of artists who take advantage of it.
There has also been an increase in the number of independent artists taking advantage of platforms such as YouTube and TikTok to find their audience. By catching people's attention on these platforms, artists work hard to gain new followers and produce content that keeps them wanting more. It also leads consumers to be more interested in following independent artists faithfully rather than focusing on commercially successful artists. There's something pretty cool about being one of the first to stumble upon a relatively unknown artist and support them in their musical career. An increase in the number of independent artists is also likely to lead to an increase in guitar-based music and that certainly can't be a bad thing.
Artists have taken advantage of the many lockdowns we've all endured to create new music. This means we can expect a massive release of new music:could this be one of the few positive things to come out of the lockdowns? It's also likely that artists will release singles instead of full albums. This is driven by a desire to get new music out to fans faster, and artists recognize the risk of releasing all of their new material at once and potentially being forgotten over the following months. This means we can expect to hear a lot more new music sooner, rather than having the long wait for our favorite artist's new album to come out.
Another big trend we can expect in 2021 is the move away from genre-specific music. There's already a move towards this on platforms like Spotify where the playlists they produce are less genre-focused. In the same vein, it is also likely that there will be an increase in collaborations between artists who usually never cross paths. It's really exciting because it means we can expect to hear new sounds that have never greeted our ears before. With all these emerging trends, we finally have something to look forward to in 2021!
