With 2025 coming to an end, many of us are left with the question: What can we expect to see from the music industry in the second half of the 2020s? It is undeniable that music has shifted significantly in the past five years.
TikTok has been around for over ten years now, formally known as Musical.ly until 2018. As the platform became even more popular, now with nearly 2 billion active users, a whopping 1.5 billion increase from 2019, it has given people all over the world a chance to break into the music industry without having to travel thousands of miles.
Artists such as Tate McRae, Doja Cat, and Benson Boone all used TikTok in recent years as a way to jumpstart themselves to fame. We are now seeing even more aspiring artists being recognized due to TikTok. For example, Ravyn Lenae, Doechii, and Sombr.
In addition to the social media advancements of the early 2020s, we are also seeing a change in the kind of music released. Throughout the early to mid 2010s, artists typically stayed in one genre, rarely if ever branching out. However, in the late 2010s and early 2020s, we have started seeing a shift.
Within the past ten years, artists such as Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Post Malone, and Kanye West have all explored different genres when it comes to creating music, often experimenting with pop, country, rap, indie, and hip-hop.
Music has also taken a significant tone and production shift. As of the 2010s, party culture in music was popular, with many songs created to dance to; that is not to say there were no emotional songs. Commonly used instruments were electric and acoustic guitars, drums, and pianos. Some hits from the 2010s include “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift (2014), “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars (2014), “Die Young” by Ke$ha (2012), “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo (2017), and “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back” by Shawn Mendes (2017).
Many songs now tend to be produced with keyboards, synths, and basses in addition to drums and guitars. Many songs still align with the idea of party culture, especially rap, but we are seeing an increase in emotionally rich songs with more intense bridges. Some hits from within the past five years are “Good Luck, Babe” by Chappel Roan (2024), “Save Your Tears” by the Weeknd (2020), “Manchild” by Sabrina Carpenter (2025), “Dial Drunk” by Noah Kahan (2023), and “As It Was” by Harry Styles (2022).
That being said, what can we expect to see as we approach the late 2020s? In my personal opinion, I think we will see a significant increase in artists who are discovered through TikTok and social media in general, as it is becoming such a pivotal part of our lives.
I also expect to see music continue to be produced with instruments such as the synth, bass, and keyboard, as I have noticed many artists such as Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, the Weeknd, and others have been doing that recently.
It is plausible that we will find more artists attempting different kinds of genres/writing styles, with indie and country music possibly becoming more mainstream.