Hey everyone,

Have you noticed fewer English songs ruling the charts worldwide?

Let's explore why and discover the new music trends taking over.

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🇬🇧 English music is declining

Local language and prevalence of rap

This is already considerable. When talking about rap, there is a scene in each country. In France for instance - this is a random example, not because I listen to French rap everyday - the French rap scene is huge and has been the most successful genre for the last five years.

Last year in France, out of top 50 most sold albums, 41 albums were in French. And among those 41 albums, 25 were French rap albums. If we would compare this to 2012, there were 28 albums in French language out of the top 50 albums, with only 2 French rap albums. It is not just about rap but also about language and culture as American rappers in France are far from having the same success as French rappers.

This trend occurs in other countries. In Germany, the top artist on streaming platforms was a German rapper, Apache 207, followed by another German rapper, Bonez MC, and with Taylor Swift taking the 3rd place.
It’s the same story across many other countries with local rappers dominating the charts in the Netherlands or Sweden. However, rap isn’t the only reason why English-music is less popular than before.

Genres from other continents gaining a wider audience

In recent years, diverse music genres have been gaining significant traction worldwide.

Reggaeton, for instance, has long been a dominant force in Central and South American and has also been popular in Spain for more than a decade. Reggaeton artists have successfully exported their music to various regions. The best example is Bad Bunny’s success, as he was the most streamed artist in the world on Spotify in 2020, 2021 and 2022!

Another genre making waves beyond its origin is Afrobeat, a genre that gets its inspirations from various African styles and led by Nigerian artists like Burna Boy, Wizkid or Rema. Afrobeat has expanded beyond Nigeria, with success around Africa and Europe, particularly in the UK, France and the Netherlands. Collaborations between Nigerian artists and British rappers from the diaspora have helped Afrobeat's presence in the UK. While primarily sung in English, Afrobeat often incorporates local languages, such as Yoruba language in Burna Boy’s Last Last.

The influence of Afrobeat continues to expand to new territories. In the US, streams from this genre surged in 2023. Many big artists in the US such as J. Cole, Future or 21 Savage increasingly collaborate with African artists.

Less English songs… in the US

This phenomenon is not only happening in countries where English isn’t the main language.

Between 1996 and 2012 when looking at the Top 10 Billboard in the US (Billboard compiles the ranking of the most popular songs over the past week) only 2 non-English speaking songs made the top 10, La Macarena in 1996 and Gangnam Style by PSY in 2012.

In 2023 alone, there were 7 non-english songs (all Spanish) that made the top 10 in the US, with songs from Bad Bunny or Shakira.

The interest in world music mostly comes from younger listeners and Gen Z as a survey showed that 65% of American Millennials agree they “listen to new music to experience new cultures and perspectives.”

Is it a trend that has just started?

I believe so.

With streaming platforms and social media, one might have expected that established American artists would only grow larger. However, these platforms have also served to amplify local genres, allowing them to reach global audiences and foster communities around their music.

There is a growing space for local artists within specific genres. Spotify even shared last week that independent artists accounted for half of what the entire industry generated on the platform, a figure that has never been higher.

What are your thoughts on this? Feel free to reply to this email :)

Thank you for joining me in this edition. As always, I’ve curated the updated playlist featuring my favourite tracks released in the past few months.

See you next time!