Sound and technology
Remote sessions and generative tools accelerated editing, collaboration and versioning.
ERA · KNOWLEDGE GUIDE
2020s
Explore 2020s through technology, music industries, regional scenes and representative recordings—and hear why this decade differs from those around it.
- Recordings
- 922
- Albums and releases
- 488
- Regions
- 5
THE DECADE IN CONTEXT
What happened in this decade?
Short-form video, remote collaboration, generative tools and fragmented communities allow old catalogs and new releases to be rediscovered at the same time.
People and circulation
Short-form video and small online communities can revive an old recording or launch a new one quickly.
Listen by comparing
Compare the original release with a sped-up, remixed or excerpted version and ask how the new context changes it.
Short video drives song circulationRemote and bedroom production maturedGenre boundaries continued to loosen
The decade's key question
When every era is instantly available, what makes a sound contemporary?
Contemporary character increasingly comes from how older materials are edited, circulated and given new context. Artists can draw on many eras at once; platforms, communities and methods of recombination reveal the present moment.
MAJOR GENRES
Major genres of the decade
AROUND THE WORLD
Sounds from different regions
ARTISTS
Representative artists
LISTENING PATH
Hear the decade through these recordings
REFINE THIS VIEWFilter recordings from the 2020s
Genre and region are combined; only options with recordings from the 2020s are shown.
01Hail Mother Dart Hail Hail2021 · Drone · droneOpen in new tab 02phases (everything, forever)2024 · Drone · droneOpen in new tab 03Theatre of Nature2020 · Minimalism · ambientOpen in new tab 04Dolore di Orsini2020 · Minimalism · droneOpen in new tab 05Persefone2020 · Minimalism · droneOpen in new tab 06MONEY2026 · Urban Contemporary Gospel · breakbeatOpen in new tab
ALBUMS
Representative albums and releases
DECADE GRAPH
View relationship graph2020s relationship map
KEEP EXPLORING