Decades Presentation

1960-2010

Music Through The decades

The transatlantic soundtrack

Shea Flathman, Daniel Nicolae, Jeromy Parmar, Aidan Carroll Fall 2024 IDH 4200: US - UK: The Special Relationship, Myth or Reality? Judy Genshaft Honors College

The Intersection of Social Movements and Commercial Music

Woodstock Bridges the Gap

Satisfaction tops the charts

1966

1969

1963

The Beatles make their debut

Beatlemania comes to the States

1960's

The British Invasion refers to the explosion of popularity British Rock bands enjoyed in America during the 1960's. The British Invasion would go on to influence American musical tastes and culture more broadly for many years to come.

The British Invasion

1960

Punk grew in popularity among both American and British audiences throughout the 70's. Bands like The Ramones represented US punk, while group like The Clash were seen as the UK standard. This genre was especially popular amongst disaffected youths. Punk's influence arguably peaked with The Clash's "London Calling."

London Calling

1979

1977

Despite the genre forming in the US in the late 60's and early 70's as a response to Rock, the British band Bee Gees would kick off the Disco Fever that dominated much of the next decade with their soundtrack to the 1977 movie "Saturday Night Fever"

Bee Gees and the Rise of Disco

1970

1982

This new format, offering greater portability and durability than vinyl, allowed albums pressed anywhere in the world to be sold and shared in the US and UK more easily. British band Dire Strait's album Brothers in Arms became the first album to become a true American sales hit in the CD format.

CDs Hit The Market

1981

The cable channel MTV began broadcasting 24 hours of music videos daily to Americans. This format spread to other countries, streaming music videos from artists worldwide into any homes that received the channel.

I Want My MTV

1980

Mid 1990s

Based on American styles of electronic music, UK Garage advanced the genre and contributed to the huge popularity of EDM in the decade. It eventually spawned more modern forms of music such as UK Grime and Dubstep.

UK Garage Sets the Blueprint

1997

Represented by the 1997 UK general election victory for New Labour, a new sense of cultural pride emerged in the UK. This coincided with the export of numerous hit Britpop bands such as Oasis and Blur.

Cool Britannia and Britpop

Early 1990s

Throughout the decade, hip-hop reached its "golden age", featuring iconic releases from American artists. The style adapted British artists and combined with Garage music to form the new genre of Grime.

Hip-hop Hits the Mainstream

1990

Online and Global Phenoms

• Streaming platforms continued to evolve with the release of YouTube.
• Genres like Hip-Hop, Indie Rock, and Grime were gaining track.
• Increase in live performances, and the start of major decline in sales of CDs and records.

2006-2009

• The creation of the iPod allowed users to purchase songs individually rather than full albums.
• With Myspace artists were able to publish music more freely, bypassing labels. Popular UK band Arctic Monkeys started their career on Myspace.

• Home work spaces were being popularized. With electronic music and auto-tune, emerging artists in the U.S. like Kanye West were able to forever change the creation of music.

2001-2005

Digital Revolution Begins

2000

Technology Fuels Globalization

• Artists from the US and UK start to lose their identity as artists from a specific country and start gaining global status (One Direction, Taylor Swift).
• More influence of musical styles between US and UK.
• Apps like TikTok release (2018) which revolutionize the way people interact with music.

2016-2019

2010-2015

• Streaming services become available in both the US and UK, allowing for a more homogenous way of listening (Spotify, Youtube, Pandora, Apple Music).
• Large influence of DIY music production and more affordable at home recording technology
• More common to see genre-blurring music that defied traditional categories.
• Large impact of transatlantic influence such as One Direction (from the UK) and Taylor Swift (from the US) stand out.

Streaming Services

2010

both countries saw developments of many subgenres in earlier decades

Genre evolution

Over the decades, although starting with very different styles of music, both the US and the UK have led to similar popular genres with music commercialization.

music genres

% of respondents who have paid for service

Representative of the popular streaming services in both the United States and the United Kingdom and the popularization of streaming services in current society.

+ Info

Homogenization

Over the decades, music has switched from an individualized taste, where each country's music represents its culture and history with a unique style, to a homogenization, where artists become more of a global figure than a national. Due to this, music has been commercialized, so we see the same songs and artists at the top of the charts worldwide.

Loss of cultural identity in music

streaming

Seen that in both countries the most popular songs are the same just rank in different order instead of having individualized style or taste.

United States

Comparison of Most Streamed Songs

United Kingdom

Most streamed songs in the United Kingdom as of October 2024.

Most streamed songs in the United States as of October 2024.

A Global Journey

Born on the Isle of Man, raised in Australia, and finding their greatest success in America, the Bee Gees were emblematic of the Trans-Atlantic spirit.

Cool Britannia!

New Labour shifted the culture

As Tony Blair's New Labour defeated the incumbent Conservatives in 1997, they represented a new, more hip culture in Britain. This was reflected in the increase in cultural exports and the rise of Britpop, which brought a distinctly British sound up the charts in both the UK and US. Bands such as Oasis and Blur crossed the pond to find success in America through this sound, and the Spice Girls' bright dance-pop represented the youth-oriented Cool Britannia movement.

The Cool Britannia movement emphasized national pride, new music, and youth culture. This Vanity Fair cover displays Oasis member Liam Gallagher and actress Patsy Kensit.

• In the UK The Arctic Monkeys took over by using Myspace. Frontering the idea of how the Internet can democratize music discovery and creation.
• They spearheaded a new wave of U.K. rock bands that emphasized techno guitar, relatable, everyday themes.
• They pushed the idea of "mainstream" music which started the trend towards more homogenized music.

• In the US, we see Kanye West rise to fame as he uses the new themes of the early 2000s.
• He elevated production artistry and challenged current norms by crossing genres between multiple genres setting forth a new wave of alternative music.
• Kayne inspired many to adopt fashion and bold visuals to their music.

In the 2000's we saw a rise in of Auto-Tune in mainstream pop and hip-hop, with artists like Kanye taking the reigns in the U.S. and Arctic Monkeys in the U.K.

Arctic Monkeys in the UK

US and UK Counterparts

Kanye West in the US

US vs UK 2000 Evolution

Music and How it is Consumed

To expand, with the ever growing technology consuming music has become easier and more common. The graph to the right shows music consumption throughout the decade. As mentioned prior, in the 2000's we see a large decline in the purchase of CD's and Vinyls and an increase of Digital Purchases (MP3, File sharing, iTunes).

CDs: A New Opportunity

40 years ago, they were a revelation

While they may seem like obsolete technology today, CDs once took the world by storm. In addition to their compactness and portability, they also allowed listeners to skip to any song they wanted. A new format also gave record companies a new revenue stream, including via re-issuing old albums as CDs. The increase in accessibility and shareability of music through CDs helped contribute to the globalization of music, giving many people their first exposure to the digital age.

Dire Straits' album Brothers in Arms was the first album to sell 1 million CDs. As a British band, play on MTV and CD sales helped fuel their popularity in America. The above link is for the music video of their hit single "Walk of Life".

Video Killed the Radio Star

MTV instantly made an impact

MTV's curated blocks of programming dominated music culture among the youth, delivering a new, engaging way to experience music. Any video that made it on the station, regardless of where the artist was from, instantly became a part of the cultural zeitgeist and topic of discussion amongst viewers. British New Wave bands such as Duran Duran and The Police are among the British artists to gain immense popularity from play on MTV.

The Buggles' Video Killed the Radio Star, the first video played on MTV. The song's lyrics reflect the shift felt by the music industry as radio became an outdated format compared to music videos.

Fitting Out

Though "punk" was originally used as a derogatory term, many people on both sides of the pond, especially misfits with no other clique that they could join. The punk subculture quickly became one of the most distinct and persistent countercultural movements.

The Beatles were a force for great social change. Among other things, public displays of affection (both towards romantic partners and celebrities, see below) became more accepted. This was due in large part to the popularity of Beatles songs like "Please Please Me," and "I Want To Hold Your Hand."

Changing Cultural Attitudes

2010's

EDM, Hip Hop, & Pop Music

1960's

1970's

1980's

1990's

2000's

US Genre Evolution

With the evolution of technology, US music production focused on developing new musical sounds, paving the way for new genres. Captitalizing on social media in recent decades to produce artists of global import.

Rock Music (i.e. British Invasion)

Disco, Punk, & Hip Hop

New Wave & Hip Hop

Alternative Rock & Grunge

EDM, Pop-Punk, & Indie Rock

• A UK boy band that made their start on a British Talent Show, X Factor.
• Put together by judges after their solo auditions, the boy band gained instant national recognition by young fans being able to watch their journey together week by week.
• Utilizing the british understanding of boy band success with the Beetles and also social media the boy band became global phenoms, quickly creating a pop sound that became popular at the time as well as a innocent boy next store image that was easily marketable.

• Starting musical career in the country genre she reinvented her musical sound with each album
• Although having popular songs, she didn't become a major topic of discussion until 2009 VMA drama with Kanye West that spiraled
• Musical career gained national attention with the reinvention of her musical sound beginning in the mid 2010's and releasing music calling out the music industry standards of women as well as media portrayal of women
• Quickly became a global phenom by utilising her understanding of business to make smart career decisions and generating music that dived into deeper subjects that allowed larger audiences to connect to

One Direction

Global Phenoms

Taylor Swift

2010's

EDM, Indie Music, & Pop Music

1960's

1970's

1980's

1990's

2000's

UK Genre Evolution

With the evolution of technology, the UK foremost focused on musical production in terms of consumption and exportation. Using cultural identity to create various subgenres of popular musical categories and using media to gain global recognition for popular artists.

British Blues Rock

Folk Rock & Psychedelic Rock

Acid Jazz, 2nd BI, & Heavy Metal Rock Development

Britpop & Folk Music Revival

Pop Music & Rock Bands

Starting in American inner cities, the hip-hop sound hit the charts in the early 1990s. In the UK, this combined with the burgeoning garage and electronic scenes to form the related Grime grenre. More than just a music genre, the rise of hip-hop drew attention to socio-economic inequalities on both sides of the Atlantic.The chart to the right shows the drastic rise in the popularity of hip-hop (as well as electronic music) during this timeframe.

Hip-hop spread from its urban origins to the world

A distinctly American sound goes global

Streaming take Over

Spotify is one of the leading streaming platforms with over 75 million users by 2015. With the increase in popularity of streaming services, CD sales plummeted. Other sites like YouTube became the frontrunner for musical promotion as it was used to "Tease" the release of music, and further expand upon the song with music videos. Now as Music continues to grow, we start to see less and less of a difference statistically speaking between the US and UK on how they consume music and even produce it.

Shanks and Bigfoot's "Sweet Like Chocolate" was the first UK Garage song to go #1 in the UK.

From the US to the UK to the World

Originally an American genre, UK garage fueled the EDM explosion

Garage was a genre of electronic music originating from American inner cities, but it hit its stride once it reached the shores of the UK. Numerous other genres spawned from this Trans-Atlantic crossing, including more modern EDM styles such as dubstep. Combined with the coinciding rise of hip-hop, these genres merged to form the Grime genre.