Change is Key; Social Media's Musical Taste; and Culture Picks the Hits Today
When you thought Spotify had the music industry in a headlock, it was "Headlock" that came back 18 years later to prove us wrong.
One major thing social media apps like TikTok and Instagram did, and music apps like Spotify and Apple Music, was to put music history at their users’ fingertips. Instant access to pretty much all songs throughout modern music history meant that each generation of listeners could go online and find the music they grew up on, with the kids of today enjoying current releases for their generation.
Since the beginning of pop and rock music, a big part of a teenager’s rebellion was expressed through music. Elvis Presley was outrageous for many parents at the time, and certainly The Beatles. Not to mention when rock music became harder and heavier and rock star hair grew longer with fans screaming in the night sky while taking a breather to climb the Stairway to Heaven. Some felt like they were Born to Run while others said it was all about Money, Money Money. Others felt the Minute By Minute Night Fever after a Thriller night, which left them wondering What’s Love Got To Do With It. On the other hand, some asked Where Do Broken Hearts Go while being told That’s the Way It Is.
Someone stepped up and shouted Come As You Are became they wanted them to become a Better Man, but before you knew it, a group of young men showed up pointing at a cocktail in the bar while saying I Want It That Way. Bewildered, a girl in a school uniform and pig tails said to our faces Hit Me Baby One More Time, something we all had a difficult time coming to terms with. My Name Is, said a guy in the back, only to be told that’s just What a Girl Wants before a different group of young men proclaimed you’re Tearin’ Up My Heart. I keep on Fallin’ in love with you, a girl responded while playing a familiar arpeggio pattern on a grand piano.
As the age of the Internet spread digitalization like California wildfire in the early 2000’s and music became something you carried in your pocket, the Speed of Sound became Unpredictable and the music industry started to Lose Control.
I’m not gonna write you a Love Song, said one artist to her record label while a record industry executive responded please Don’t Stop The Music. As Spotify found the answer to combatting piracy, some would admit I Hate That I Love You, a refrain that would be repeated often by many in the coming 20 years about Spotify (and for many it would just be limited to I Hate You). Things would get so bad that many would look in the mirror and express to themselves you’re Somebody that I Used To Know. Those with a more positive outlook on the future, would smile at Apple Music and say Call Me Maybe?
A Woman took to Day Drinking while shouting Bang Bang hanging from the Chandelier. Be Happier and not Sha-Sha-Shallow, said an actor to a singer who also acts. I’m Upset Nonstop, said a Canadian while a Cuban-born singer went to Havana. Another woman felt like she was Levitating while getting her Driver’s License, while her mother was Happier Than Ever. Save Your Tears, said her husband strangely enough. Good Luck, Babe! was heard across the room while No One Noticed. I can Die With A Smile, a guy said to his girlfriend who looked back at him while pausing, eventually responding That’s So True.
Thank you, I’ll be here (almost) every week.
But seriously, just mentioning popular song titles from the past 70 years shows how important music is to all of us, and how that collective experience of hearing songs around the time they come out, sticks with us and shapes our own understanding of the past. The soundtrack of our lives.
Now back to the point. Many thought people would use these music apps to access the music they loved, but the apps have also become a tremendous destination for discovering new music, with “new music” now defined as music that is new TO US! It doesn’t matter how old a song is, if the influencers on platforms like TikTok stumble upon what they deem to be a cool song and the vibe is right, they will spread that song so fast by creating tons of dance videos and other visual entertainment with their newly discovered favorite song as the backdrop.
Social media’s love for dance videos and music-driven user-generated content where trending songs go viral because users want to use the most popular songs at the moment, has lead to a conundrum for Spotify haters: The beauty of rediscovery and introduction of great music to new generations is a real advantage of music apps and social media.
In 2005, the British artist Imogen Heap released her album ‘Speak For Yourself.’ The song “Headlock” is the first track on the album. If you are not familiar with Imogen Heap, I strongly recommend listening to her music. She is one of those artists with a unique sound, starting with her vocals and her use of a keyboard-controlled digital vocal harmonizer on several of her songs, most famously on “Hide and Seek.” Her electronic music production, songwriting, and vocal performance is a perfect example of an artist who truly developed a unique and recognizable artist identity. Someone that’s comparable today in that sense of having worked on and developed a unique and easily identifiable sound, would be Billie Eilish.
Fast forward to 2024, Imogen Heap experienced the happy accident of having her song “Headlock” licensed for a video game. The psychological horror indie game ‘Mouthwashing’ brought her song to a whole new audience, and they jumped on the chance to love a song that still sounds fresh, original and creatively interesting on several platforms. To date, the video game ‘Mouthwashing’ has sold over 300,000 copies, a record number the game’s publisher and developer have expressed exceeded their wildest expectations.
“Headlock” is a bit mysterious-sounding in the beginning, and the lyrics clearly fit the spirit of the video game. The upbeat vibe lends itself greatly to short dance videos on TikTok, and the result: the song going viral.
Today, “Headlock,” a 19-year old song in 2025, is charting at number 50 of the most popular songs on Spotify in the United States, in the company of SZA, Kendrick Lamar, and relative newcomer Gracie Abrams. Largely thanks to ‘Mouthwashing’ and TikTok.
When all the world’s music is practically available at the same time to everyone, an old song becomes a new song to someone who hasn’t heard it before. The release date is less important, and a young listener today tends to be open-minded and excited to hear something different.
What does this all mean? It means that it is no longer enough to have a great new song to get a hit song today. Things also has to click within the cultural moment when the song is released. If it doesn’t, the song won’t be a big hit, and there are plenty of other songs from the past that can fit that purpose, as “Headlock” is an example of.
As we have seen on TikTok and other social media platforms since Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” went viral during the pandemic thanks to a lip syncing skateboarder who drank cran-rasberry juice while holding on to a truck: a song, whether new or old, that meets the cultural moment, will rise to the top.
Your newly written songs have to resonate with the current culture today in a way that was not the case only 5-6 years ago.
Hit songwriter and producer Ryan Tedder, who has written with and for some of the world’s biggest artists, including several Nordic artists such as Kygo from Norway and MØ from Denmark, says in a recent viral Instagram video (and I’m paraphrasing):
“I write ten times more songs now to achieve probably one-third the amount of hits, because I am competing against the volume of songs that are coming out. 100,000 songs are released per day now, right; it’s crazy. Prior to the social media explosion, I had about an 80% chance that a song that everyone thought was going to be a hit, actually turn into a hit over time.
The only thing that matters now, is culture. It is not about how good the song is. You have to have a car crash with culture with your song to go all the way.
It’s made it incredibly hard, and you just have to be smarter.”
Change is the only constant. Being able to adapt to change, is the key. And isn’t it always?
Sources:
Ryan Tedder is a songwriter: https://artists.spotify.com/songwriter/5bb9hy3CdA7TjjHrHawvwl