Music continues to shape trends across social media in 2023, from Miley Cyrus’ Flowers-powered world domination to Mae Stephens exploding on TikTok! As a content creator, you want to make sure you’re staying ahead of the game.
Riding the wave of music trends gives you the opportunity to create something that resonates with your viewers, and could open up new audiences too! The last thing you want is to be late to the party and give your audience the impression that you’re out of touch.
To help you out, we’ve analyzed how over a million creators are using Uppbeat's music and taken a look at the music trends that are shaping social media. Read on to find your new go-to genres and see what creators will be searching for in 2023!
- Tropical house for travel content
- Synthwave to give sci-fi vibes
- Lofi beats for chilled-out creators
- Trap to turn up the attitude
- Comedy music for quirky content
- Cinematic sounds to create epic moments
- Rock & pop to please the crowd
- Stay on top of the latest trends with Uppbeat
Tropical house for travel content
Uppbeat’s users can’t get enough of tropical house! It’s one of the most downloaded genres on the platform and a surefire way of adding a ray of sunshine to your videos.
You only need to check out Lost Leblanc's FOMO-inducing travel videos in South East Asia and you’ll see just how uplifting tropical house can be!
Synthwave for iconic sci-fi vibes
Stranger Things has been everywhere over the last 12 months! Viewers worldwide have streamed a mind-boggling 52 million minutes of the sci-fi hit across 2022, and the show even catapulted the iconic Kate Bush back to the top of the charts.
Creators have been hunting for that trademark 80s synth sound with hashtags like #synthwave and #retrowave racking up hundreds of millions of views on TikTok.
It’s not just for nostalgic content either! Future tech creator Mrwhosetheboss regularly pairs synthwave with his reviews of the latest gadgets and gear reviews.
Lofi for chilled-out creators
Lofi music consistently sits near the top of the most popular searches on Uppbeat, making it the laid-back music of choice for creators. So far in 2023, lofi-loving YouTubers seem to be taking things to a whole new level.
The classic cozy ambience and retro style of lofi music makes for the perfect accompaniment to everything from vlogs to tutorials. For instance, lifestyle and cooking channel Pick Up Limes uses lofi as a calming complement to health tips and nutritious recipes.
Trap to turn up the attitude
Crank up the bass and make your videos extra edgy! Trap accounts for some of the most downloaded tracks on Uppbeat with creators looking for dark hip hop sounds and gritty future bass.
It’s a trend that’s packed full of attitude for videos that want to stand out! Check out UK parkour collective STORROR's high octane videos to see how trap can add energy to extreme sports. It packs a punch for sneaker reviews, right through to action-packed gaming content.
Quirky music to raise a laugh
Some of the biggest YouTubers on the planet cleverly use quirky music to add humor to their videos. Airrack’s intentionally over-epic hype music really helps to ramp up the faux-drama. While DanTDM’s cutesy soundtracks are just as fun as the games he’s playing.
Choosing the right tracks can really help your audience engage with your video, especially when you want to make them laugh!
As creators love using quirky music, we’ve built out a full carousel of different playlists to add a touch of comedy to content, from Ironic Dramatic tracks right through to our Retro Parody jukebox.
Cinematic music to soundtrack epic moments
Take a leaf out of Tarantino’s book and use soaring cinematic soundtracks to get your audience on the edge of their seats. One of the biggest music trends with creators right now is using cinematic music full of Hans Zimmer levels of drama and orchestral strings. It’s a surefire way to give small-screen content a movie trailer-sized dose of epic!
Seeker do a great job of using cinematic music to make their awe-inspiring science marvels even more jaw-dropping. Similarly, Fearless & Far complement their unbelievable travel adventures with suitably dramatic tracks. Cinematic music can add Hollywood levels of drama to any content!
Rock & pop are still on top
Two of the biggest music genres out there continue to reign supreme, both in the charts and on the hit lists of creators. It’s not so much a new trend for 2023, but creators simply can’t get enough of crowd-pleasing rock and pop music.
They can be used in very different ways, but they share an accessibility that viewers can easily relate to. British competitive eater BeardMeatsFood uses rock music to dial up the attitude on his videos, while pop music gives Ilya Borzov's YouTube Shorts a universal appeal.
They’re two styles that don’t look like they’re going out of fashion any time soon with creators and their audiences showing their never-ending love for epic rock anthems and good-time pop hits.
Stay on top of the latest trends with Uppbeat
Music trends never stand still and neither should you! To keep you on top of the genres that are blowing up on social media, we not only make sure that the Uppbeat library continues to grow with the latest trends, but actually helps to shape them too.
There are amazing new artists and a constant stream of incredible tracks added all the time, reflecting the freshest sounds and the latest hot new genres.
Hopefully you can already think of ways to tap into these music trends with awesome video ideas. We’re excited about inspiring you even more with some of the new copyright-free music that’s coming to Uppbeat this year, so keep checking back to find the latest sounds that creators love!
