At Startle, we like to always be thinking ahead. Especially when it comes to music. 

In our recent That’s a Wrap report, we did a deep dive into music and its moments in 2022. This included the top songs of the year, the top artists, a bit of digging from our music experts on why they were successful, and a spotlight on some of the most memorable moments of the year. 

But as important and interesting as looking back is, we want to also look forward and get excited for 2023. That’s why we came up with some predictions for the coming year - shall we get our crystal ball out? 

Our predictions for 2023

Throwback vibes

Firstly, we predict that more and more artists will create tracks with a throwback feel. In recent years, we’ve seen many artists move away from clean lines and synthetic production styles to sounds heavily influenced by 70s, 80s and 90s genres. Keep an eye out for a funky house revival, and songs in the charts that’ll make you feel like you’re back in the 80s. 

Genre fusions

More on this point, with artists in general being more experimental and pushing the boundaries of genres, we can expect lots of genre blending. It’s 2023 (almost). Artists can pretty much do what they want, and no longer are they confined to a single musical box. This doesn’t just apply to artists who are new on the scene. Take Beyoncé’s latest album ‘Renaissance’, released earlier this year. The album played on the ‘houseification of pop’, bringing us a new sound we hadn’t heard from B before. Surprising, refreshing, and exciting. Long may this continue in 2023.

Multilingual music

What else is trending? Multilingual music. Gone are the days where artists had to perform in English to have mainstream success. The rise of music in other languages - notably Spanish - has been growing for years, and is now commonplace in global music charts. Another positive sign for diversity in the music industry. Sangria, anyone?

Brands going bigger

After an incredibly tough ride for the past few years, retail and hospitality are still facing big challenges. Notably, the ongoing positioning of themselves as destinations worth visiting against the ease of ordering online. This confirms the ever-important need to create the perfect ambience and give consumers a memorable experience. With an increase in behavioural understanding and the availability of track analysis, we see more brands showing an interest in using the influence of music to more scientifically enhance the customer experience. Time to step it up!

Stricter ticket selling

In the wider music industry, we can see regulations on the reselling of live music tickets becoming tighter. With a monopoly on the market, sites like Ticketmaster are susceptible to bots and resellers who put a huge mark up on ticket prices, making it difficult for loyal fans to see their favourite artists in the flesh. There’s been pressure on the government to crack down on this issue for years - let’s hope 2023 is the year this happens.

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So there you have it - our predictions for 2023! We’ll come back in a year and see how many of these were true… now we’re off to buy a lottery ticket. 

Last week we shared the music highlights of the report. Want to read the whole thing? Download here.