2020s Music: Top Songs, Genres And Trends

Lockdown releases, TikTok hits and old songs charting again decades after release.

Below: the albums worth owning from the 2020s, the artists who defined it, how people listened at the time, and the biggest song of every year from 2020 to 2025.

Good for building a party playlist, setting a quiz round or working out what someone grew up listening to.

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Shop prints and posters Look back to 2020 Look back to 2021 Look back to 2022

Song and lyric prints, drawn and printed by us

Music and milestone art prints and funny cards, printed in the UK. Order on a working day and it usually goes out the same day.

99 Problems, Prompting Ain't One A6 Postcard 99 Problems, Prompting Ain't One A6 Postcard £3.00 Cunt Rude A6 Postcard Cunt Rude A6 Postcard £3.00 Dancing On The Ceiling Music Print A6 Postcard Dancing On The Ceiling Music Print A6 Postcard £3.00 Music Sounds Better With You Music Print A6 Postcard Music Sounds Better With You Music Print A6 Postcard £3.00 99 Problems but Excel Ain't One A6 Postcard 99 Problems but Excel Ain't One A6 Postcard £3.00 Kenny Dalglish Liverpool Football Club (LFC) Legend Stats Print Kenny Dalglish Liverpool Football Club (LFC) Legend Stats Print £12.99

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Years covered in the 2020s

  • 2020 - Lockdown, clapping on doorsteps and a year nobody needs reminding of. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2020
  • 2021 - Another lockdown, then a summer of football and reopening. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2021
  • 2022 - The Platinum Jubilee, the death of the Queen and three Prime Ministers. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2022
  • 2023 - The coronation, Barbenheimer and 'Last Christmas' finally getting to number one. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2023
  • 2024 - A July general election, the Olympics in Paris and Gavin & Stacey signing off. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2024
  • 2025 - The Lionesses retained the Euros and the Oasis reunion filled the stadiums. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2025
  • That is every 2020s year we have written up so far: 2020 to 2025.

Albums of the 2020s

  • Adele, 30 (2021).
  • Harry Styles, Harry's House (2022).
  • Taylor Swift, Folklore (2020) and Midnights (2022).
  • Beyonce, Renaissance (2022).
  • Sam Fender, Seventeen Going Under (2021).
  • Fred again.., Actual Life records from 2021.

Artists who defined the 2020s

  • Harry Styles, Dua Lipa and Sam Fender.
  • Taylor Swift, whose Eras tour dominated 2023 and 2024.
  • Central Cee, Dave and the UK rap acts at the top of the chart.
  • Raye, independent and then everywhere from 2023.
  • Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill (1985) back to UK number one in 2022 after Stranger Things.

Genres of the 2020s

  • Drill and UK rap, the dominant homegrown sound.
  • Bedroom pop and hyperpop.
  • Afrobeats and amapiano in the mainstream.
  • Country crossing over into UK pop.
  • Catalogue and nostalgia streaming, with old songs re-entering the chart.

Music trends of the 2020s

  • Live music stops in 2020, then returns to record demand.
  • Short-form video drives the chart directly.
  • Catalogue buying - artists selling song rights for large sums.
  • AI-generated music arrives and raises rights questions.

Biggest songs, year by year

  • 2020 - 'Blinding Lights' by the Weeknd was the year's best-selling single worldwide and a fixture of the UK chart.
  • 2021 - Olivia Rodrigo's 'Drivers License' and 'Good 4 U' were the breakout records of the year.
  • 2022 - 'As It Was' by Harry Styles was the year's best-selling single and spent ten weeks at number one.
  • 2023 - 'Flowers' by Miley Cyrus was the year's best-selling single.
  • 2024 - Taylor Swift's Eras Tour played London, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Cardiff.
  • 2025 - Oasis played their reunion shows in Cardiff, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin over the summer.

How people listened

  • Streaming is the default; the chart counts streams, downloads and physical together.
  • TikTok decides which songs get big, including very old ones.
  • Vinyl and cassette reissues sell to people who mostly stream.

How to use this

  • Party: take the running order from the 2020s playlist and pull extra tracks from the artists above.
  • Quiz round: read the year and the song, and ask for the other one.
  • Reminiscence session: the songs people sang at eighteen get the most talking.
  • Present: a print of a song from 2020-2025 beats another mug.

Shop prints and posters

Found your words? Now find the card

Shop prints and posters Look back to 2020 Look back to 2021 Look back to 2022

How to write it so it lands

  • Download the tracks rather than streaming them if the party is somewhere with bad signal.
  • One song from the year someone turned eighteen does more than a whole decade playlist.
  • Check for clean versions before a family party - some of these are ruder than people remember.

Where to shop next

Frequently asked questions

What are the best albums of the 2020s?

Adele, 30 (2021). The full list above gives real records with their release years, not a ranking - pick by what the person actually listened to.

What music genres were popular in the 2020s?

Drill and UK rap, the dominant homegrown sound. Bedroom pop and hyperpop. Afrobeats and amapiano in the mainstream. The genres section above has the full list.

Who were the biggest artists of the 2020s?

Harry Styles, Dua Lipa and Sam Fender. The rest are listed above, including the British acts that mattered more here than anywhere else.

What was the biggest song of each year in the 2020s?

The year-by-year list above gives the chart facts for each year of the decade, taken from the same checked data as our year pages.

Do you sell records?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK, including song and lyric prints. For the records themselves, charity shops and independent record shops are the honest answer.

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