The Emergence of Bedroom Pop

September 21, 2020

Music is one of the most commercialized mediums of media in the entertainment industry. Most people, especially college students/young adults, consume music on a daily basis. With the commercial success of music, the majority of listeners will listen to the most popular and mainstream artists that are signed to the big record labels.

Republic Records, for example, have household names such as Post Malone, Drake, and Taylor Swift signed under them. With the domination of these record labels in the music industry, fans of music have grown fatigued of the products coming from these labels.

For me personally, I will rarely listen to the radio because I have gained a level of boredom with the mainstream music landscape. Much to my delight, a new brand of music has grown to break these borders that have been placed by record labels.

During the transition from the late 2010s to the early 2020s, more independent artists have been making a name for themselves. The emergence of the genre referred to as “bedroom pop” has become one of the most consumed styles of music in the past few years. I feel that the success of this genre is mainly accredited to the craving for something different, and a more personalized feel for music.

Bedroom Pop means exactly what the name is; start up artists that attempt to break into the mainstream pop industry by producing their music in their bedrooms. Production software such as Logic Pro X, FL Studios, and Ableton Live encourages young musicians to create their own sound and open up a new world of musical capabilities. Along with streaming services such as YouTube, Spotify, and Soundcloud, there are a variety of mediums for artists to market and distribute their music.

Bedroom Pop is characterized by the somewhat low production quality that gives it a charm that massively produced music from record labels don’t have. It’s an experience that feels personal – like a friend showing you their music they have been working on independently.

Spearheading this new turn in the music industry are artists like Clairo. Claire Cotril, recorded a lo-fidelity track, titled “Pretty Girl”, to YouTube, and it has amassed over 90 million streams. This breakout has inspired many other artists to follow suit and throw out their music with nothing but the intention to share their talents.

Compton raised musician, Steve Lacy, produced his debut EP, “Red,” entirely on his phone through the free phone app, Garageband, before signing for Three Quarter Records. The music industry has also seen the massive success of artists like Rex Orange County and Omar Apollo who have millions of monthly listeners on Spotify.

It is obvious to see the demand for this style of music. The growth it has experienced in such a short amount of time, in and of itself, is a spectacle. My only hope is that it will stay true to what made it successful in the first place; which is giving small, up-and-coming artists a chance to share their music with the world.

Sources

https://medium.com/@brokenstereo/bedroom-pop-and-the-rise-of-the-diy-artist-1946e83bc7e0

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/big-three-record-labels-2460743

https://www.republicrecords.com/artists

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