Throughout the past few decades the music industry has undergone a massive transformation. Today, the way music is made, produced, distributed and interacted with is completely different to musical processes of the 20th century, even in the past decade there has been a massive change- when was the last time you saw someone buy a CD or use their iPod?!
As a result of this drastic change, musicians have more freedom than ever to produce and share their own music, as well as interact with their audiences one-on-one. One notably positive outcome of this shift is the growing popularity of non-English music among "Western" audiences, including predominantly English-speaking consumers from regions such as the USA and the UK. The genre once known as ‘world music’ has become increasingly popular among younger audiences such as the Gen-Z population.
Non-English music takes over
A survey by Luminate reveals US audiences are engaging with more non-English music than ever before, their findings reveals 59% of Gen-Z music listeners from the USA listen to artists from other countries on a weekly basis. While Spanish language music still dominates the second-most popular language in music streaming, with big names such as Bad Bunny landing the title as Spotify’s most listened to artists for three years in a row, other languages have seen a significant rise in music streaming. For example, Korean pop music or K-pop has exploded in popularity in recent years, almost single handedly reigniting the boy and girl band craze of the late 90’s and early 2000’s.
It is no coincidence that this surge in non-English music coincides with the rise of a generation that grew up with social media and the internet, both of which have played a massive role in exposing younger generations to new cultures outside of their own. In the past music consumers were largely limited by location and physical storage capacity, however today young people can discover thousands of genres in seconds thanks to streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. It is clear that the rise of Latin, Korean and other musicians from around the world such as Africa have been aided through social media platforms such as Tik-Tok where they can showcase their culture, music and language to a global audience.
Overall, as social media exposes younger generations to a variety of cultures, fostering greater comfortability with foreign content, it is hopeful that non-English music can continue to get the recognition it deserves in a global context. Music from around the world can be a gateway to learn about new cultures and meet a new community of people, which can allow us to view the world from a different perspective.
Make sure next time you use Spotify or any streaming platform to give a new genre or language a try, music has the ability to transcend language and you may just find something you love!