The state of the music industry is weird, to say the least. Monoculture is a dead concept in 2026 due to the wild, varied nature of the internet. Moreover, with bot farms and fake streams polluting the landscape and inflating an artist’s plays, it can be extremely difficult to parse what’s actually big.
To add to the confusion, there’s been an influx of older songs surfacing and resurfacing on Billboard charts. Songs like Prince’s “Purple Rain“, Miguel’s “Sure Thing“, Mac Miller’s “Cinderella”, and Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” both satiate our desire for nostalgia and make us long for a seemingly better time in our culture. TikTok has been pivotal in introducing young kids to classics older adults grew up with.
On one hand, it’s beautiful that younger generations are embracing older songs, regardless of their reasoning. After all, we have all this information at our fingertips— why aren’t we taking advantage of it more? Why don’t we use the power of the internet to explore more of our rich history in music?
However, what happens when we rely on nostalgia exclusively? What if we lose our curiosity for the new ideas being created every day? In our pursuit to dig back into old pop culture touchstones, we risk getting stuck in our ways and never moving onto something fresh and original. After a while, we stop creating new stars entirely and lean on the old days like a crutch.
Nostalgia: A Blessing and a Curse
We’ve already seen this manifest to a certain degree. The rigidity of pop charts has made for a particularly strange experience. Songs may last for an eternity, but it doesn’t necessarily cement stone-cold superstars. Will Olivia Dean, Stella Lefty, or Ella Langley become the next mainstays on Billboard? Or will they fade into smaller niches or complete obscurity? Are we stuck with stars that don’t feel larger than life like Teddy Swims? Or will we get lucky with someone who recalls the good ol’ days of pop culture?
Additionally, I don’t think it’s just nostalgia that makes songs like “Janice STFU” feel a lot colder than some of Drake’s other monumental hits. When you listen to old Taylor Swift classics, there seems to be a noticeable difference compared to her newer output. Quietly, fans definitely long for the days of 1989 as opposed to Life Of A Showgirl.
Thankfully, it’s not all doom and gloom. Pop culture may be moving at a snail’s pace and feels reliant on nostalgia. But there is promise. Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, and Harry Styles will likely steer the ship when our tried and true stars like Drake and Swift eventually age out. Artists like Zara Larsson and PinkPantheress lend a ton of promise towards the future without feeling like flashes in the pan.
Additionally, the underground feels stronger than ever. Whether it’s indie superstars like Cameron Winter and the rest of Geese or rappers and singers with strong, established cult audiences could eventually usher in our new era completely. It’s just important that we don’t get lost in cultural cynicism and lean on nostalgia to ease the pain.
(Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/FilmMagic)
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