2010s in music

For music from a year in the 2010s, see 2010 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016
Popular music
Timeline of musical events
List of popular music genres

This article describes trends in popular music in the 2010s.

In North America, Europe and Oceania the second wave synthpop, electronic music, alternative music or indie music, dance music, EDM and hip hop music genres have been popular. Country music still remains popular in rural areas of the United States and Canada while rock music has seen a revival.

Musical trends in mainstream pop

The melismatic vocals popular in the 1990s and 2000s in pop and R&B music lost favor by mid- to late 2009, with vocally lower-key artists such as Rihanna, and Katy Perry starting to outsell new releases by perennial melismatic favorites Mariah Carey, and Christina Aguilera.

The saxophone has been used in multiple top 40 songs in the decade. "The Edge of Glory" from Lady Gaga's 2011 album, Born This Way is credited with popularizing the use of saxophone in the early decade. Saxophone solos were common in pop from the 1950s to the early 1990s, but declined later in the 1990s. Whistling has also become more common in hit songs, especially around 2011.

Traditional instruments, such as the mandolin, dulcimer, ukulele, banjo, and accordion, are being utilized more often, especially in indie rock and with singer songwriters such as Mumford and Sons, Vance Joy, Weekend Players, Phillip Phillips, and The Lumineers, along with country artists such as Taylor Swift and Zac Brown Band.

After several years of stagnation due to the decline of nu metal and post-grunge, rock has made a comeback in North America with the rise of the indie music that was for the most part underground in the 25 years predating 2010.[1] However, the opposite has been witnessed in Europe, including the UK, where guitar music sales have generally been in a declining state.[2]

Electronic music is becoming more popular; some 2010s successes include Skrillex, Steve Aoki, Swedish House Mafia, Headhunterz, Wildstylez, Da Tweekaz, Clean Bandit, Major Lazer, Knife Party, Avicii, Alesso, Owl City, Calvin Harris, Deadmau5, Eric Prydz, ShockOne, Drumsound & Bassline Smith, David Guetta and Lights. Remixing songs is also a mainstream trend in electronic music. In some places in North America, more traditional instrumentations by artists such as Fun, Mumford and Sons, Phillip Phillips, and Scotty McCreery have returned, along with a modest comeback of hip hop-inspired music.

The genres of Europop Eurodance music have also achieved a notable commercial success, mostly due to the release of Lady Gaga's debut album, The Fame (2008) and its follow-up EP, The Fame Monster (2009), which experimented heavily with europop and German house pop, which brought a new style to pop music formerly considered unmixable with dance music and traditional pop. Europop and Eurodance were used more extensively in the early 2010s as a result of the success of DJs such as David Guetta and Calvin Harris. The songs "S&M" and "Only Girl (In the World)" by Barbadian singer Rihanna are strongly influenced by Eurodance music. Both songs peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, a large number of songs by American artists featured quintessential Eurodance elements (especially synthesizer and strong beats during the chorus, mixed with rapping or vocals for verses). Examples are Chris Brown, Usher, Jennifer Lopez at others that traditionally attributed to more established American genres such as R&B, soul and pop.

Teen pop has made a significant comeback with the likes of Demi Lovato, One Direction, The Wanted, Big Time Rush, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Scotty McCreery, Taylor Swift, Cher Lloyd, and Selena Gomez. While throughout the 2000s, after the teen pop boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s, this genre has been almost exclusively associated with Disney and Nickelodeon executives; many teen pop artists outside of Disney and other companies have been created in the 2010s. Social networking and video sharing sites such as YouTube is the place of discovery for numerous emerging teen pop singers, such as Justin Bieber.

Since 2011, boy bands and girl groups have returned to mainstream popularity for the first time since the early 2000s, the most popular being British group One Direction. Other groups started to catch on after the success of Big Time Rush and One Direction in 2013 and 2014, with emerging artists such as Little Mix. Older boy groups such as New Kids on The Block, Boyz II Men and 98 Degrees[3] have also returned in an effort to re-establish preceding successes along with girl groups such as SWV. The Backstreet Boys maintained their success into their third decade.

Europop and Eurodance music have also seen commercial success early in the decade. Dubstep and drumstep has become a popular genre in the early 2010s on both sides of the Atlantic, especially in its native United Kingdom; in the UK, other electronic genres such as grime and trap have also been growing in popularity. Drumstep still continues its success in popularity, while the Hardstyle scene becomes popular in Australia and United States with the success of music festivals such as The Sound of Q-dance and Defqon 1.[4][5][6]

In Asia, popular music continues to be influenced by Western pop music. As with the past several decades, J-Pop and K-Pop continue to be successful in the Far East; in J-Pop, image songs and the influence of anime on popular music have grown since the end of the last decade. K-pop's popularity continues to increase around the world, with acts such as Wonder Girls and Girls' Generation being the most successful artists of the genre. In India, Indian pop, rock and filmi music continue to be popular.[7]

In Latin America, Latin pop still remains the main genre. Tropical music, Reggaeton and Moombahton are also popular genres, whilst pop rock is still successful.

North America

Rock

Rock music has remained popular, though it declined in charts presence beginning in the late 2000s, alongside changes in radio format. These changes were driven by the decline in CD sales and rise of digital singles in the music industry, which prompted a focus to Top 40 music[8][9][10] Rock music has also moved from the hard rock and heavy metal genres that have dominated the genre since the Mid-1980s. Popular Rock music since the early 2010s has become softer and more refined, such as Indie Rock. Rock was reportedly still the most widely consumed genre in American music in 2014.[11] The decade also saw the return of successful rock artists from the past such as David Bowie, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, Blink 182, and Green Day, all of which have had albums debut within the top five in this decade. In particular, British rock artist David Bowie experienced his most commercially successful period since the 1980s with three US top 5 albums, The Next Day (2013), Blackstar (2016) and Best of Bowie (2016).

Indie rock

Imagine Dragons were an instant success after the release of their ground-breaking first album, Night Visions.
Vampire Weekend followed up their first album with two chart-topping albums in 2010 and 2013 respectively.

Indie rock, as well as other genres like indie pop, indietronica,and indie folk, broke through the mainstream in the early 2010s, most likely caused by access to online music stores such as iTunes and Google Play. It is now one of the most successful genres of the decade. The top mainstream indie artists throughout this decade include Neon Trees, X Ambassadors, The Black Keys, Echosmith, American Authors, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, Haim, fun., Walk the Moon, Elle King, Alabama Shakes, The Lumineers, and Cage the Elephant. Well-established or one-hit wonder indie acts in this decade include Bon Iver, Tegan and Sara, Bleachers, Local Natives, Chairlift, Matt & Kim, Tokyo Police Club, Grouplove, Broken Bells, St. Lucia, Ryn Weaver, Crystal Castles, Portugal. The Man, Beach House, St. Vincent, Silversun Pickups, Cold War Kids, The Decemberists, Father John Misty, Bright Eyes, Best Coast,Grizzly Bear, Future Islands, Fleet Foxes, Banks, Band of Horses, Grimes, Meg Myers, The National, Sleigh Bells, Phantogram, Awolnation, Foster the People, and The Neighbourhood

Alternative Rock

Successful alternative bands in this decade include acts such as Imagine Dragons, Linkin Park, Muse, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Nickelback, Skillet, Panic at the Disco, Fall Out Boy, and Paramore and all of which have had albums debut within the top five in this decade.

Hard rock and heavy metal

Peace and Love A Day to Remember 1

In 2010s, popular hard rock and heavy metal bands (mostly originating in previous decades) have been releasing successful albums including such as Five Finger Death Punch, Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin, Slipknot, Shinedown, Bring Me the Horizon, A Day to Remember, and Royal Blood. Well-establish hard rock and metal acts in this decade include Trivium, All That Remains, Killswitch Engage, Bullet For My Valentine, Adelitas Way, Halestorm, Volbeat, Of Mice & Men, Periphery, Pierce the Veil, Black Veil Brides, Crown the Empire, From Ashes to New, In This Moment, Escape the Fate, Pop Evil, Tyler Bryant, Dream Theater, Alter Bridge, Protest the Hero, Nothing More, Devour the Day, Starset, Red Sun Rising, Islander, Nothing But Thieves, and Lamb of God. With many hard rock and metals acts from previous decades popularity have declined, the decade also saw the return of older metal acts such as Soundgarden, Deftones, Megadeth, Anthrax, Rush, AC/DC, Alice in Chains, Iron Maiden, and Faith No More.

Many thrash metal bands that had ended or declined in popularity since the 1980s or 1990s have been making comebacks in the 2010s. Bands like Anthrax, Megadeth and Testament had managed to crack the Top 20 positions on album charts in the United States. Megadeth received their third highest chart position on the Billboard 200 (after 1992's Countdown to Extinction and 1994's Youthanasia, which peaked at number two and number four respectively) with their 2013 album Super Collider, which hit number six.[12] Anthrax's 2011 album Worship Music peaked at number twelve on the Billboard 200,[13] which was the second highest position of their career (after 1993's Sound of White Noise, which debuted at number seven). Testament also earned their highest U.S. chart position to date with their 2012 album Dark Roots of Earth, which peaked at number twelve on the Billboard 200 and was their highest since 1992's The Ritual, which peaked at #55.[14] In 2014, veteran thrash metal bands Overkill and Exodus cracked the Top 40 positions on the Billboard 200 for the first time in their careers with their respective albums White Devil Armory and Blood In, Blood Out.[15][16]

2011 saw the return of System of a Down, who has been embarking on their first tour since their 4-year hiatus from 2006 to 2010 but do not have plans to record new material.[17]

Pop Punk and Punk Rock

With a few exceptions like Fall Out Boy, Paramore, and 5 Seconds of Summer, pop punk has heavily decreased in mainstream popularity in the 2010s, and has not been enjoying mainstream success as it once did in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Emo, which had gained heavy mainstream success between 2004 and 2008, has heavily declined in popularity by the early 2010s. Early 1990s punk rock bands such as Bad Religion, NOFX and Pennywise have not had mainstream success since the 1990s or 2000s but have enjoyed heavy touring. Second wave pop punk acts such as Good Charlotte, New Found Glory and Sum 41 have heavily declined in popularity. However, DIY punk has seen somewhat of a cult resurgence, with bands such as Martha, The Spook School and Joanna Gruesome and growing in popularity and being played on radio stations such as BBC Radio 6 Music.

Pop

Katy Perry and Lady Gaga became two of the most successful female Pop artists of the early 2010s.

Pop music has made a significant comeback due to Dance-pop, Electropop, Synthpop, House, and New wave music in this decade. The top mainstream pop acts include Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Jennifer Lopez, Kelly Clarkson, P!nk, Meghan Trainor, Kesha, Jason Derulo, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Miley Cyrus, Fifth Harmony, Ellie Goulding, Charlie Puth, Shawn Mendes, Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Sia, Tove Lo, Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Christina Aguilera, Rachel Platten, Carly Rae Jepsen, Melanie Martinez, and Halsey. One-hit wonder pop acts in this decade include Becky G, Hailee Steinfeld, Dev, MKTO, Magic!, Krewella, Baauer, Karmin, Daya, Clean Bandit, Breathe Carolina, and Willow.

Pop rock

Although the genre is not as popular as in early-mid 2000s, the top mainstream pop rock acts in this decade include The Script, Train, OneRepublic, Maroon 5, Pink, Kelly Clarkson, 5 Seconds Of Summer and Avril Lavigne, while acts as The Fray and Daughtry continued to have minor success.

Contemporary R&B and Soul

Rihanna is the best selling R&B/pop artist of the decade so far, with 150 million records.[18] She was named the top artist of the early 2010s.[19][20][21]

R&B still maintains prominent in the music scene in the 2010s due to PBR&B and Soul. The top mainstream R&B acts of the 2010s, include Beyoncé, Rihanna, Usher, Chris Brown, Ariana Grande, Zayn, Jason Derulo, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Bryson Tiller, Tory Lanez, Trey Songz, Ne-Yo, Miguel, The Weeknd, PartyNextDoor, Jeremih, Alessia Cara, Frank Ocean, Alicia Keys, August Alsina, Sam Smith and Adele. A few music legends died in the early 2010s, most notably in 2012: Etta James in January 2012, Whitney Houston in February 2012 and Donna Summer and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees in May 2012.

Hip hop

A number of hip hop labels have also grown influential during this decade, among which include 1017 Bricksquad Records, Taylor Gang Records, Cash Money Records, Roc Nation, Maybach Music Group, and Def Jam Records. The top mainstream hip hop acts throughout this decade include Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Kanye West, Eminem, Jay Z, Wiz Khalifa, Meek Mill, T.I., Iggy Azalea, Big Sean, Fetty Wap, Future, A$AP Rocky, Desiigner, Rae Sremmurd, Post Malone, Kevin Gates, G-Eazy, YG, Schoolboy Q, Travis Scott, Wale, DJ Khaled, Bryson Tiller, Tory Lanez, T-Pain, Sage the Gemini, Dej Loaf, Ty Dolla Sign, Kid Ink, Young Thug, K Camp, Yo Gotti, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Flo Rida, Pitbull, 2 Chainz, Juicy J, Rich Homie Quan, Mac Miller, The Game, Rick Ross, and Young Jeezy and the return of older hip hop acts including Missy Elliott, Dr. Dre, Sean Combs, and Nelly. Hip hop acts that have never charted on the Billboard Hot 100, but still retain a strong fan base within the hip hop community at large include Chief Keef, Migos, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, Casey Veggies, Dom Kennedy, Hopsin, Action Bronson, Joey Badass, Earl Sweatshirt, Yelawolf, Bow Wow, Lil Boosie, Childish Gambino, Machine Gun Kelly, Tyler the Creator, and E-40. Hip hop acts that have gain fame with the social media format Vine include T-Wayne, iLoveMakonnen, Silento, O.T. Genasis, Bobby Shmurda, and iLoveMemphis.

Hip hop artists outside the United States, have also been a popular trend in the early 2010s with Drake being one of the most successful emerging Canadian male rappers.
Black Hippy's own Kendrick Lamar is one of the most successful emerging American rappers in the early 2010s, with his 2012 major label debut album good kid, m.A.A.d city and his 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly, receiving high commercial and critical acclaim.

In 2010, Eminem, who was named the best-selling music act of the previous decade by Billboard, set an early record on the U.S. Billboard charts, with two number one singles and the second-fastest selling album of the decade so far, Recovery.[22]

Throughout this decade, trap music has maintained a strong presence on the mainstream Billboard music charts with a number of records released by rappers such as Fetty Wap, Future, Rich Homie Quan, Young Thug, and Yo Gotti. Electropop, sometimes combined with hip hop, and other forms of dance music see the most mainstream success throughout the early 2010s.[23] Several artists such as Kid Cudi and Drake have managed to attain chart-topping hit songs, "Day 'n' Nite" and "Best I Ever Had" respectively, by releasing their music on free online mixtapes without the help of a major record label. New artists such as Wale, J. Cole, Lupe Fiasco, Drake[24] The Cool Kids, Jay Electronica, and B.o.B, openly acknowledge being directly influenced by their nineties alt-rap predecessors in addition to alt-rock groups while their music has been noted by critics as expressing eclectic sounds, life experiences, and emotions rarely seen in mainstream hip hop.[25] Also, music industry experts say that more conservative young people are fed up with the violence, constant references to drug use, sex, and degrading imagery used in the genre.[26] However, hip hop was the only genre to have a sales increase in 2010.[27]

Electronic music

Grammy Award winning artist, Skrillex in 2011

While dance music has periodically conquered the American pop charts, its current incursion may be its deepest since the disco heyday of the '70s. Throughout the 2010s, various Electronic Dance Music sub-genres have conquered the music scene such as House, Dubstep, Drumstep, Hardstyle, Electro House, Techno, Trance Synth-pop, Electropop, and Trap music. These genres have many musical influences from 1970s disco, and the 1980s Hi-NRG, spacesynth, Italo disco and new wave music, and influences from the 1990s and 2000s Eurodance, Techno, house, trip hop, Europop, garage rock and trance music. The rise of Electronic Dance Music brought massive success to large festivals, raves, technoparades, algoraves, doofs, or teknivals that most take place in the United States and Europe, though every year thousands of electronic-focused music festivals are held throughout the world. These events are also well-known for their long association with recreational drug use such as: MDMA, LSD, 2C-B, Ketamine, and Benzylpiperazine. The top mainstream D.J. in 2010s include Tiesto, David Guetta, Calvin Harris, Steve Aoki, Nicky Romero, Afrojack, Deadmau5, Diplo, Skrillex, DJ Snake, Avicii, Zedd, Martin Garrix, Hardwell, The Chainsmokers, and Disclosure.

Country

Taylor Swift is one of the most successful country artist of the 2010s.

Country music continued to maintain its popularity, both as a radio format and in retail; attributed both to the faithfulness of country fans and to a rise in popularity of the genre. The most popular country acts during this decade includes the Zac Brown Band, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, The Band Perry, Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Lady Antebellum, Tim Mcgraw, Kenny Chesney, Florida Georgia Line, Brantley Gilbert, Eric Church, Dierks Bentley, Brad Paisley, Thomas Rhett, Cole Swindell, Rascal Flatts, Jake Owen, Dustin Lynch, Kip Moore, Little Big Town, Chris Young, Hunter Hayes, Cam, Sam Hunt, Lee Brice, Eli Young Band, Darius Rucker, Randy Houser, Kelsea Ballerini, Billy Currington, Tyler Farr, and Brett Eldredge.

A large number of duos and vocal groups have begun to emerge on the charts in the 2010s, many of which feature close harmony in the lead vocals, a style that was rooted as far back as the 1940s and 1950s with acts such as The Shelton Brothers, the Delmore Brothers and the Everly Brothers, and saw a resurgence in the 1980s with The Judds and The Bellamy Brothers, although the more recent acts tended to not be related. Examples of successful duos include Florida Georgia Line, Love and Theft, Dan + Shay and Thompson Square. In addition to Lady Antebellum, groups such as The Band Perry, Gloriana, Eli Young Band and the Zac Brown Band emerged to occupy a large portion of the new country artists in the popular scene. Meanwhile, artists who began their careers dating as far back as the 1960s and 1970s continued to be active, including Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, George Strait and Reba McEntire.

Several popular country songs took influence from 21st-century hip hop, rock, and pop, and had themes of partying, attractive young women, blue jeans, southern rock music and pickup trucks. The style came to be unofficially known as bro-country. Artists embracing this trend included Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Florida Georgia Line, Brantley Gilbert and several others, with songs such as "Cruise," "That's My Kind of Night," and Blake Shelton's "Boys 'Round Here" becoming the most popular songs in terms of sales and downloads. While many of the themes of bro-country songs – in particular, women and alcohol – have always been a part of country music, the new style came under fire by listeners, music reviewers[28] and traditional country artists including Alan Jackson and Gary Allan,[29] and was satirized in the song "Girl in a Country Song" by the duo Maddie & Tae.[30] The shifting styles also played a role in a brief feud between Shelton and country music legend Ray Price in 2013 (just months before Price's death), after Shelton remarked that "Nobody wants to listen to their grandpa’s music" and that younger consumers weren't buying or downloading classic country music because the styles and sounds of songs from the past didn't appeal to them. Price – who, unlike several of his peers usually kept quiet in the debate on classic country vs. newer music – expressed his disapproval via his Facebook page, stating that it was their styles and success that helped make newer stars' careers possible and pave the way to modern country music. Shelton later retracted his statement and Price accepted his apology, but once again – as it has been since the mid-1970s – the on-again, off-again debate about what constitutes traditional, real country music was on.[29]

The decade also has seen death and tragedy in the country music community. Mindy McCready, a rising star of the late 1990s whose personal problems soon overshadowed her music, committed suicide in early 2013. Glen Campbell, a vastly influential country guitarist and vocalist from the 1960s onward, announced in 2011 that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and, upon the completion of a farewell tour, retired from show business. Prominent classic country artists who passed away during the decade included Carl Smith, Kitty Wells, Patti Page, Jack Greene, George Jones, Ray Price, Jim Ed Brown, Sonny James and Merle Haggard.

Christian music

TobyMac's 2012 album Eye on It became the third Christian album to ever debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Christian music saw a rising success in the early 2010s, with several artists debuting within the Top 5 on the Billboard 200. In 2011 the Christian artists Casting Crowns and Red both debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with their respective albums Come to the Well and Until We Have Faces, and David Crowder Band reached No. 2 with Give Us Rest in 2012.[31][32] Today's Christian Music reported that Passion: White Flag, a live album of the performances of various artists at the 2012 Passion Conference, debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200.[33] On August 28, 2012, the TobyMac album Eye on It debuted at No. 1 on the chart, the first Christian album since 1997 and third overall to do so.[34] The very next week, September 4, Christian hip hop artist Lecrae debuted at No. 3 on Billboard with Gravity. Additionally, both the No. 1 and 2 spots on the iTunes hip hop charts were taken by the deluxe and regular versions of the album, and the EP version of Church Clothes, which had been released earlier that year, jumped up to No. 4 upon the release of Gravity.[31][35][36] The commercial reception of Gravity was called "easily the biggest sales week ever for a Christian rap album".[37] In January 2013, Chris Tomlin became the fourth Christian musician to top the Billboard 200 with his seventh studio album Burning Lights, with 73,000 units sold.[38] Lecrae then topped the chart in September 2014 with his album Anomaly, selling 88,000 units in the first week.[39] This not only established Lecrae as the fifth artist to top the chart, it also marked the first time that an artist reached No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Top Gospel charts.[40] Following, and partially due to, Lecrae's peak on the Gospel chart, Billboard revised its standards for the chart, rendering most hip hop releases ineligible for the chart.[41]

The success of TobyMac and Lecrae prompted a write up in Time which examined the recent upsurge in crossover success of Christian artists. The magazine referred to Rod Riley of Word Entertainment as indicating that all of these successes could "be the tip of the iceberg."[31] Riley has cited the increasing talent of Christian artists and the ownership of all major Christian labels by mainstream parents as a reason for the success of Christian music.[31] According to Time, TobyMac and the rock band Skillet have been featured in NFL telecasts, TobyMac's music has played on The Simpsons and Transporter 2, and Lecrae performed at the 2012 South by Southwest festival and the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher.[31] The accessibility of iTunes has also been listed by Time as a factor in the rise of Christian music.[31] Producer Mark Joseph claimed in an article by Fox News that TobyMac reaching number one was just one more example of the mainstreaming of "'so-called Christian music that his [sic] happening all around us'". He further stated that "'the pop and rock charts are filled with artists who used to be in that industry-like Katy Perry, Switchfoot and Joy Williams of The Civil Wars, but also by young devout performers who in the past might have gone into that industry, like Justin Bieber, Mumford & Sons, The Fray, The Cold War Kids and Flyleaf.'" Following Lecrae's performance on BET and appearance on Statik Selektah's Population Control album, in January 2012 Chad Horton, co-owner of the website Rapzilla, stated in that "Christian hip hop" had in the past two years "pushed into the mainstream more than ever before," and citing part of its cause as better music quality presentation than "any other time before".[42]

Europe

Rock

Mumford & Sons were considered one of the most successful emerging British bands of the early 2010s.

Alternative rock has experienced a modest presence in the UK singles chart so far in the 2010s, mostly from artists originating in the previous decade such as Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, The Wombats, Muse, Mumford & Sons and Snow Patrol. Bands such as Two Door Cinema Club, Foals, and Bombay Bicycle Club, who emerged late in the 2000s, succeeded in the album chart. The genre has had a stronger presence album-wise, with acts such as The 1975, Bastille, alt-J, and The Vaccines enjoying success. Bastille have scored two number-two singles in the UK chart, with their sound bordering on pop music usual in the charts. Royal Blood was the first band formed in the decade to win a Brit award for the best British group in 2014, only a year after forming. Royal Blood's sound is similar to the sound of the garage rock music in the noughties, and they received positive reviews upon the release of their debut album.

The European rock scene also saw the return of successful artists from the past. David Bowie in particular saw three UK number-one albums (The Next Day, Blackstar and Best of Bowie). Upon its release, The Next Day (2013) proved to be Bowie's most successful album in 30 years which was followed by Blackstar (2016), both of which saw widespread critical and commercial success across Europe.

Acts such as Tribes, White Lies, The Maccabees, Miles Kane and Hard-Fi have also witnessed success, mostly exclusive to the albums chart.

Heavy metal and hard rock is seeing a relatively increased presence in the UK albums chart, thanks to releases by Bullet For My Valentine and Enter Shikari. Many new British metal bands are seeing worldwide success after years of American dominance, primarily Bring Me the Horizon and Asking Alexandria.

In northern Europe, especially Sweden, 1980s Glam Metal and Sleaze Rock have seen something of a revival from acts such as Hardcore Superstar, Crazy Lixx, Crashdiet, H.E.A.T and Reckless Love.

Folk

Folk music has witnessed a large growth at the start of the 2010s in the UK. The most popular British folk artist so far has been Mumford & Sons, who won a 2011 BRIT award for "Best Album" and have enjoyed commercial success in both Europe and North America. Another notable artist and winner of "Best British Female" at the 2011 BRIT Awards is Laura Marling. Other successful acts include singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, George Ezra, Jake Bugg, Johnny Flynn, Noah and the Whale, Bon Iver, Ben Howard, and Alessi's Ark.

Soul

Adele is considered one of the most successful British female Soul artists of the early 2010s.

British female soul singer Adele has attained considerable popularity in Europe and United States in the early 2010s, where she has had several number one hits in 2011 and 2012.[43]

Pop

Sam Smith is considered one of the most successful emerging British pop artists of the decade

Contemporary R&B, as well as traditional soul music, define much of the UK popular music scene in the early to mid 2010s. Notable arists who encompass this sound include Jessie J and Adele. As with previous decades, pop music has enjoyed chart domination, with popular artists including Cher Lloyd, Birdy, Jessie Ware, Olly Murs, Sam Smith, Lily Allen, Clean Bandit, Rixton, Disclosure, La Roux, Shura, AlunaGeorge, James Blake, Róisín Murphy, Olly Murs, M.I.A., London Grammar, FKA twigs, Jamie xx, The xx, Ed Sheeran, Rita Ora, Zayn, Chvrches, Years & Years, Charli XCX, Jay Sean, Paloma Faith, Emeli Sandé, Florence and the Machine, Cheryl Cole, The Saturdays, Ellie Goulding, Marina and the Diamonds and Katy B. Teen pop boybands, despite being unpopular for much of the 2000s, have returned to mainstream popularity, with acts such as One Direction and The Wanted seeing major commercial success worldwide. French singer Zaz is one of very few singers to become internationally popular since Vanessa Paradis.

Electronic music

Dubstep and Drumstep started to break into the mainstream by 2010. This was particularly true in Britain, where it evolved from Grime, a genre that moved into the mainstream in 2009. DJ Snake is known to introduce trap into mainstream in Europe, starting in 2013. Eurodance music, which has been consistently popular in Europe for 20 years (since the early 1990s), has broken into the mainstream outside of Europe, in a more modern style than the first wave into North America in the 1980s and early 1990s. The emergence and commercial success of Dutch house[44] and the associated 'big room' house style have also brought electronic artists from the continent to the fore globally. Entering the midsection of the 2010s, further development of subgenres in house music[45] have been seen in the creation of Future house and Tropical house, with European artists being influential figures within both. Prominent European DJs in this decade include Avicii, Martin Garrix, Nicky Romero, Tiesto, Armin van Buuren, Afrojack, Kygo, Calvin Harris, and David Guetta.

Australia and New Zealand

Pop

Gotye is considered one of the most successful Australian artists of the early 2010s.

Popular music by Australian artists tends to be influenced by radio broadcasting more than any other country. Australian radio station Triple J plays a large role in promoting new Australian music, especially through the Triple J Hottest 100, a worldwide public poll on each individual's favourite music from each given year. In 2010, Australian pop artists to feature substantially in the countdown included Birds of Tokyo, Pendulum, Washington and Triple J Unearthed group Gypsy & The Cat. Australian acts that were placed high on the countdown included Angus & Julia Stone, Little Red (Unearthed), Art vs. Science (Unearthed), Sia and The Jezabels (Unearthed). The correlation between the Triple J Hottest 100 and the ARIA and iTunes singles charts is distinctly evident. The number-one song in 2010, "Big Jet Plane", reached number six on the iTunes singles chart and number 32 on the ARIA singles chart, the week following the announcement of the Hottest 100 on 26 January. In 2014, Iggy Azalea started to make hits on the music charts worldwide, sparkling a trend for female rappers.

Flume's self-titled album peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, and won four nominations at the ARIA Music Awards of 2013
Lorde won two Grammy Awards in 2014, included Song of the Year with Royals and is considered one of the most successful New Zealand artists of the decade.

In 2011, Australian artists to feature substantially in the Hottest 100 countdown included Boy & Bear (Unearthed), Gotye, 360, Architecture in Helsinki and Ball Park Music (Unearthed). Again, the correlation between the Hottest 100 and the growth of singles on iTunes and the ARIA charts in the week following was strong. Rapper 360 and his song, "Boys Like You", entered the Hottest 100 at number eight, and the following week it rose to number two on the iTunes singles charts and number three on the ARIA singles chart.[46] Similar movements included Matt Corby's "Brother" (number three in the 2011 Hottest 100 countdown), also rising to number three on the ARIA charts.[47] The most prominent Australian song during 2011 and early 2012 was Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know", which reached number one in eleven countries including Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Belgium and the United Kingdom.[48] The song also reached number one in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2011 countdown and features New Zealand pop singer Kimbra, who also placed three times on the Triple J Hottest 100 as a solo artist.

Electropop

Electropop in Australia has been dominated by the use of synthesizers and Auto-Tune which was popularized by newcomers such as Havana Brown, Elen Levon, Timomatic and Justice Crew, as well as artists from the 2000s including Brian McFadden, Zoe Badwi, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Sneaky Sound System and The Potbelleez. The most successful songs of this genre include Brown's "We Run the Night",[49] Timomatic's "Set It Off",[50] Justice Crew's "Friday to Sunday",[51] McFadden's "Just Say So",[52] and Badwi's "Freefallin'".[53]

R&B

R&B in Australia is not as popular in the early 2010s as it was in the 2000s, however, artists including Guy Sebastian, Jessica Mauboy and Stan Walker still continue to produce music that is commercially successful. In 2010, Sebastian's single, "Who's That Girl" featuring American rapper Eve, topped the ARIA Singles Chart and became his fifth number-one single in Australia.[54] This made him the only Australian male artist in Australian music history to achieve five number one singles. Mauboy has released many commercially successful top-twenty singles, including "Saturday Night" featuring American rapper Ludacris, "What Happened to Us" featuring English recording artist Jay Sean, and "Galaxy" with Walker, all of which have been certified platinum.[55] In August 2010, Stan Walker's second album entitled From the Inside Out was released, it debuted at number two on the ARIA Albums Chart.[56]

Hardstyle

Hardstyle is growing popularity in Australia with events such as "Defqon 1" and the brand new unique outdoor event, "IQON" by Q-dance.[57] Australian Hardstyle artists include Code Black, Toneshifterz, Audiofreq, NitrouZ and HSB.[58]

Future Garage/Australian Sound

This fluid and not completely defined genre began emerging in 2009 and took traction by 2012. Artists embracing this new style of music include the popular musician Flume, Hayden James, Ta-ku, Chet Faker, and Emoh Instead.[59]

Latin America

In Latin America, pop music, pop rock, El Pasito Duranguense, and tropical music are still popular through the early parts of the decade. A new type of music emerged from the reggaeton, the new electro music, and it is breaking mainstream in late 2010 in Latin America, a new dance from reggaeton hooks with electronic sounds, because of the popularity of electronic/dance music in the prominent markets of the world. shakira Pitbull is the principal representative of this genre. Bachata music, which gained popularity in the past decade has garnered more attention in the mainstream thanks to remakes of classic songs such as "Stand by Me" by Prince Royce and "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" by Leslie Grace.[60] In addition, acts like Royce as well as former Aventura lead singer Romeo Santos have crossed over different markets with bachata such as Enrique Iglesias's song "Loco" which features Santos.[61] Royce and Santos had the best-selling Latin albums of 2011 and 2012 respectively in the United States with their debut albums (Prince Royce and Formula, Vol. 1). Salsa music however, went in decline early on the decade, though Marc Anthony made an international hit with his salsa song "Vivir Mi Vida".[62]

Caribbean

The Trinidadian-Born American Hip-Hop recording artist Nicki Minaj became extremely popular during the early 2010s. Minaj's debut studio album Pink Friday (2010) peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 a month after its release, selling 375,000 copies in its first week. This marked the second-highest sales week for a female Hip-Hop recording artist, behind Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1998 (which sold 422,624 copies in its first week).[63] She became the first female solo artist to have seven singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. Her seventh single, "Super Bass" has been certified quadruple-platinum by the RIAA, and has sold more than four million copies, becoming one of the best-selling singles in the United States. Minaj's second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012), topped charts internationally, also spawning the top 10 singles "Starships" and "Pound the Alarm". The album became one of the best-selling albums of 2012, according to Nielsen SoundScan, selling one million copies worldwide, as well as "Starships" becoming one of the best-selling singles of that year. She is the first female artist included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List, with The New York Times suggesting that some consider her "the most influential female rapper of all time." [64]

Asia

South Korea

Main article: Korean Wave
Psy's song "Gangnam Style" in 2012 broke the record for the most number of YouTube views.

K-pop is a music genre that is becoming increasingly popular outside of Asia and spreading into Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East the West at an exponential rate since the early 2010s. The Internet serving a dominant role in K-pop's rise in popularity.[7] Websites such a YouTube and Twitter are significant in the rise of K-pop, as big-budget music videos with eclectic fashion styles, attractive idols and colorful sets, catchy tunes and hooking choreographies attract a mainly youth demographic despite the language barrier.[65] Leading K-pop acts include Girls' Generation, 2NE1, Big Bang, Super Junior, Psy, Exo and 2PM amongst others. Korean pop acts are submitted to significant levels of training in a variation of apprenticeship to become polished "idols." [66]

Japan

See also: J-Pop
The Japanese group AKB48 is considered one of the most successful Japanese Pop artists of the early 2010s

In 2010, the prominent Japanese female idol group AKB48 got a Guinness record for being the world's "largest pop group".[67][68]

In 2010 the Japanese boy band Arashi released their million-selling studio album "Boku no Miteiru Fūkei" which was named the best-selling album of the year in Japan.[69]

Africa

South Africa

By the late 2000s and early 2010s, South Africa greatly began a phase of high music experimentation of genres previously not very prominent in the country, while maintaining its music from its various roots. The chart success of the 2010 FIFA World Cup song 'Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)', which featured South African band Freshlyground, resulted in one of the countries first major chart topping hits by South African artists, launching a great amount of inspiration to other local artists. Following this success, Die Antwoord became one of the first acts of the country to obtain 3 albums which charted in the top 150 of the Billboard 200, marking new highs for the country's music industry.[70] One of the band's singles, 'Enter The Ninja' also obtained top 50 positions in the UK and Australia.[71] Rapper AKA (rapper) also received a high amount of recognition by 2013, becoming famous for local chart topping hits such as Congratulate (song) and 'All Eyes On Me'. Other artists who gained international recognition include Filipa Carmo da Silva, who won the RyanSeacrest.com's cover song competition for her rendition of One Direction's song, 'Story of My Life'.[72] The country then introduced its first official, internationally recognized music chart 'Mediaguide', later renamed Entertainment Monitoring Africa.[73] The chart currently only relies on airplay for its charting potions as opposed to others which also account for streaming and single purchases.

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2010s music.
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