Music That Has Shaken the World Lately: End of Year Special Edition

(Kaytranada doing a block party in NYC for H&M)

As we are wrapping up 2024 Jade Miranda, music supervisor at Tracks & Fields, would love to share her favourite releases and talk about what musically marked this year, in advertising and beyond.

Genres insights

In 2024, we had the most sonically diverse year, with the rise of the country; the expansion of Latin Music genres globally, the continuous growth and influence of Amapiano and Afrobeats and the rise of Afro House. Furthermore, the emergence of a dynamic scene of alternative/indie artists such as Mk.gee, Montell Fish and Circa Waves; refreshing punk rock artists such as Fat Dog and Amyl and the Sniffers and IDLES that continue to grow; exceptional R&B works from artists such as Dylan Sinclair and RIMON and the 'renaissance of pop' with a new wave of pop stars, specially female artists such as Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX, Chappell Roan as well as ROSÉ, Tyla and most recently Lola Young that had notable success and growth and are all unique with their own sound and style.

Country went mainstream globally, expanding its influence thanks to artists such as Beyoncé and Post Malone and their latest albums, helping the genre not only to achieve global levels, but also introduced to the world collaborators of big talent such as Shaboozey and Tanner Adell and brought a fresh and blended approach to the genre with several influences, contributing to a more diverse audience. 

While Latin Music genres such as reggaeton and Regional Mexican Music saw the fastest growths with artists such as Karol G and Peso Pluma, Brazilian Funk keeps maintaining its influence around the world. Along the decades, Latin Music has continually evolved and captivated audiences worldwide, but the recent significant growth can be attributed to the Latin diaspora, the passionate support of fans and the power of social media, as well as collaborations and the blend of styles, with songs such as BELLAKEO from Peso Pluma featuring Anitta one of the most talked about topics when it came out.  

With meteoric recent growth of House since in 2022 thanks to the help of Beyoncé RENAISSANCE and Drake, acts such as PAWSA also benefited from it. In this dynamic and ever-evolving world of electronic music one of the most interesting and fresh contributions on the rise is the sub-genre Afro house, hitting mainstream in 2024 with songs like Move from Keinemusik’s Adam Port, a group that created a lot of buzz this year and gained fans all over the globe.

This cultural fusion seems to resonate with audiences from every corner of the world and is a reflection of both the importance of African DJs such as Black Coffee, as well as the continually influence of African rhythms, including Afrobeats and Amapiano that also keep on the rise globally - with special highlights to Rema, Omah Lay, Ayra Starr, Tems and Tyla and their latest works. Moreover, the dominance of these sub-genres from local to the global stages show the power of music not only to transcend borders, but also to create communities and spark movements.

In pop music we saw a new batch of artists with different sonic influences, personalities and origins. From Tyla with her unique charisma, Amapiano sound and as a talented performer to Charli XCX being the coolest party girl with the most talked about album of the year to Lola Young with her authentic attitude and vulnerable self reflected lyrics full of sarcasm that resonate with the audience.

Although they could not be any more different, they all have two things in common: authenticity and artistry. They have created a world around them (both sonically and visually) and were able to mobilize their dedicated fandoms that helped them being more than viral moments, but rather see exponential success and stable growth, as well as continually being part of conversations throughout the entire year.

Music is Bigger Than Ever, LITERALLY

Currently, the amount of music being recorded and the copyright revenue has been bigger than ever. Besides the increase in recordings produced and released every day and the growth in recorded music revenue, recent studies also show an exponential increase in the global value of music copyright, a tendency that should expand with the advancement of AI, as explored by T&F in a previous article.

But can we also say music has been more valued than ever? While that is certainly a topic for music historians and musicologists to dig deep and there are several arguments to both confirm and deny it, at least in advertising the evidence seem to prove that point.

This year, the number of syncs seemed more significant and in Germany alone we saw one of the biggest years for licenses of big hits. The explanation for it lies in the fact that brands seem to acknowledge more music's powerful role in campaigns and beyond it: its ability to shape cultural identity and relevance, as well as increase consumer engagement and loyalty. 

From Coca-Cola to Levi, Mercedes-Benz, Verizon and H&M, 2024 marks the year of syncs and more than ever we are seeing campaigns featuring music artists: their existing music being licensed and their bespoke creations for campaigns, as well as themselves as talents in the campaigns. From global stars such Beyoncé, Tyla, Charli XCX, Anderson .Paak, James Blake, Lil Yachty to more up and coming and localized artists.  In advertising, this has been the year for artists around the world.

Besides the campaigns, we also saw a significant growth in the importance of music for brand’s activations events. Companies such as H&M have been music brands for a while, but this year, alongside with their campaigns, they invested in music to take their activation experiences to another level: a block party closing Mercer Street in NYC with Kaytranada and Chanel Trees as DJs, a surprise performance by Charli XCX at Times Square and an event in Berlin with Troye Sivan, Arca and Caroline Polachek, just to name a few. All of these events not only attracted the audience they wanted to reach, but also became viral topics on the internet, increasing brand engagement and relevance.

The revival of Levi’s iconic Laundrette ad, this time with Beyoncé, is one of the greatest examples of a campaign this year that really tapped into where the conversations and trends were happening, benefiting from it and becoming one of the most talked about topics when it dropped and expected to  bring $2 billion in sales at the end of this year, with an 11 per cent increase in the last three months alone.

SKIMS is a brand that has been doing it consistently, mastering their speed to respond to trends and their ability to partner with celebrities in the best timing, engaging fan-bases as a tool to expand the brand presence. Their partnership strategy consists of tapping exactly where the consumer attention is, increasing credibility and consumer engagement.  By teaming up with major pop culture moments in a perfect timing and well executed campaigns they emphasise the power of cultural relevance as a tool to drive further growth.

For instance, their intentional choice of collaborating with Usher in a campaign right before his Superbowl show and Lana Del Rey right after her Coachella headliner set announcement, both were topics with a big buzz as well as acclaimed artist performances, creating ample opportunity for the brand to capitalize on. Above all, embracing the energy of ‘brat summer’ in a collaboration with Charli XCX was another spot-on strategy for the season’s hottest trend.

Finally, all of it proves that by embedding themselves within cultural dialogues companies can transform their marketing efforts into meaningful interactions that go beyond sales, enhancing brand loyalty and relevance and helping them to stand out and be part of pop culture.

You can find all the songs and artists mentioned and much more in the BEST OF 2024 playlist: