2009-2010: First year to lean early 2010s but there were late 00s leftovers. Electropop truly becomes a force in the music charts, especially with Lady Gaga and Kesha. New artists such as Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, and Drake came in the pop scene and defined the music of this decade. MySpace no longer used by teens. Blackberries still more popular than iPhones. Skinny clothing more popular than oversized clothing.

2010-2011: A quintessential early 10s year, but it wasn't core 10s yet. TV shows start to lean into the 2010s territory. Biggest year for electropop/electro-house. Emo died but Scene was still alive. Trap starts to infiltrate Hip-Hop (ex: No Hands). Peak year for Facebook. Adele entered the mainstream. Songs from Teenage Dream influenced pop music.

2011-2012: An early 10s year with core 10s influence. Electropop is still king but Indie music started to rise on the charts. First true smartphone year. Meme culture on the rise. Minecraft was rising very fast, especially in 2011. EDM became popular. One Direction revived the boy-band craze. Alternative R&B on the rise thanks to Take Care by Drake, The Weeknd, and Frank Ocean.

2012-2013: Early 10s but not as strong as the last two, just more watered-down. There were changes in the 2013 part but it didn't make 2010- 2012 feel distant. Electropop was still popular. Last hurrah for neon colorful apparel. Last year for popularity of Facebook with teens. Last hurrah for Skeuomorphism. Imagine Dragons entered the mainstream. Get Lucky started the Disco trend. Netflix show House of Cards debut at Feb. 2013

2013-2014: Mid-10s but there were holdovers from the early 10s. Music still has that cheesy upbeat vibe but less electro. This would be the last year where there wasn't political divide. Earthy, hipster fashion took over flashy and colorful fashion. Instagram, Vine, and Snapchat became more popular than Facebook with teens. 8th gen gaming truly started. GTA 4 becoming one of the biggest games this decade.

2014-2015: Solid year of the mid 10s and peak core 10s in general. Instagram and Snapchat peaked. Trap/Mumble rap became mainstream in the charts. Peak of Hipster culture. Social and political climate began to heat up. Undercuts became more popular than the Shag/Swoop among teens. Athleisure becomes popular. Alt-Pop becomes popular thanks to the success of Lorde from the previous year.

2015-2016: Culturally mid 10s but late 10s influence were coming in. First year to lean towards Gen Z. EDM and pop music had Tropical/Dancehall vibes. Dank meme culture was mainstream at this point. EDM started to go through its Chainsmokers phase. 2016 election was flooding the headlines. Political divide became worse and worse.

2016-2017: Leaned toward late 10s but has some mid 10s holdovers. The election of Donald Trump as president. Trap became a standard in Hip Hop. Pop music was still tropical and Chainsmokers-esque EDM was everywhere. Despacito becoming a huge game changer. Khalid enters the mainstream. Peak year for Vaporwave music. Last year with 90s borns in high school. Nintendo Switch released. Slime and Fidget Spinners also got popular. Stranger Things becoming the most popular Netflix show.

2017-2018: Solid late 10s year with core 10s influence. The amount of Trap and Mumble rap was overwhelming this year especially with those colored-hair idiots. Rise of emo-rap thanks to XXXTentacion and XO Tour Life by Lil Uzi Vert. First full Gen Z school year. Latin music and it's inspirations became popular in the charts thanks to Despacito. Smartphones becoming bezel-less. Popularity of Battle-royale thanks to Fortnite and PUGB. Post Malone became a star instead of a one-hit wonder. Cardi B and Marshmello enters the mainstream.

2018-2019: Another late 10s year but with little core 10s influence. Mumble rap on the decline. TikTok became the new thing for teens. Most pop music is Trap or Bedroom-Pop flavored. Billie Eilish enters the mainstream. Bezel-less phones become standard. The Avengers era and Game of Thrones ended.

2019-2020: Hopefully, there will be signs of early 20s trends in this one.

Of course these are just my observations. What do you guys think?

2009-2010: A hybrid between late 00s and early 10s.
2010-2011: Peak year of early 10s.
2011-2012: Another peak year of early 10s.
2012-2013: Early 10s with some mid 10s influence.
2013-2014: A hybrid between early 10s and mid 10s.
2014-2015: Peak year of mid 10s.
2015-2016: Mid 10s with some late 10s influence.
2016-2017: A hybrid between mid 10s and late 10s.
2017-2018: Peak year of late 10s.
2018-2019: Another peak year of late 10s.
2019-2020: A hybrid between late 10s and early 20s?

Of course these are just my observations. What do you guys think?


Transition to the Electropop era: Autumn 2008 to Winter 2009/2010
Peak of Electropop era: Winter 2009/2010 to Spring 2011
Transition from Electropop era to Early 2010s (Electropop era extension with 2010s elements): Summer 2011 to Winter 2011/2012
Peak of the True Early 2010s: Winter 2011/2012 to Summer 2012 (Short, I know, I can explain in another topic)
Transition from Early 2010s to Mid 2010s: Autumn 2012 to Summer 2013
Peak of the True Mid 2010s: Autumn 2013 to Summer 2016
Mid 2010s Part 2 (Basically the same thing but with darker, late 2010s elements coming in): Autumn 2016 to Autumn 2017
Transition from the Mid/Late 2010s to the True late 2010s: Autumn 2017 to Spring 2018
Peak of the True late 2010s: Summer 2018 till now.

The late 2010s are pretty much the mid 2010s but in a much darker and depressing form.

^ I listed it in my personal opinion, combining all 3 elements: Pop culture, politics, and personal life. I did dig in some smaller details from pop culture elements to make it a bit more fair.

Bump

Expanded the descriptions

2009-2010: First year to lean early 2010s but there were late 00s leftovers. Electropop truly becomes a force in the music charts. New artists such as Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, and Drake came in the pop scene and defined the music of this decade. MySpace no longer used by teens. Blackberries still more popular than iPhones. Skinny clothing more popular than oversized clothing. Kesha entered the mainstream.

2010-2011: A quintessential early 10s year, but it wasn't core 10s yet. TV shows start to lean into the 2010s territory. Biggest year for electropop/electro-house.
Emo died but Scene was still alive. Trap starts to infiltrate Hip-Hop (ex: No Hands). Peak year for Facebook. Adele entered the mainstream.

2011-2012: An early 10s year with core 10s influence. Electropop is still king but Indie music started to appear in the charts. First true smartphone year. Meme culture on the rise. Minecraft was rising very fast, especially in 2011. EDM became popular. One Direction revived the boy-band craze.

2012-2013: Early 10s but not as strong as the last two, just more watered-down. There were changes in the 2013 part but it didn't make 2010- 2012 feel distant. Electropop was still popular. Last hurrah for neon colorful apparel. Last year for popularity of Facebook with teens. Last hurrah for Skeuomorphism.

2013-2014: Mid-10s but there were holdovers from the early 10s. Music still has that cheesy upbeat vibe but less electro. This would be the last year where there wasn't political divide. Earthy, hipster fashion took over flashy and colorful fashion. Instagram, Vine, and Snapchat became more popular than Facebook with teens. 8th gen gaming truly started. Any trace of the late 00s were non-existent this point.

2014-2015: Solid year of the mid 10s and peak core 10s in general. Instagram and Snapchat peaked. Trap/Mumble rap became mainstream in the charts. Peak of Hipster culture. Social and political climate began to heat up. Undercuts became more popular than the Shag/Swoop. Athleisure becomes popular.

2015-2016: Culturally mid 10s but late 10s influence were coming in. First year to lean towards Gen Z. EDM and pop music had Tropical/Dancehall vibes. Dank meme culture was mainstream at this point. EDM started to go through its Chainsmokers phase.

2016-2017: Leaned toward late 10s but has some mid 10s holdovers. The election of Donald Trump as president. Trap became a standard in Hip Hop. Pop music was still tropical and Chainsmokers-esque EDM was everywhere. Despacito becoming a huge game changer. Khalid enters the mainstream. Peak year for Vaporwave music. Last year with 90s borns in high school. Nintendo Switch released.

2017-2018: Solid late 10s year with core 10s influence. The amount of Trap and Mumble rap was overwhelming this year especially with those colored-hair idiots and the rise of emo-rap. First full Gen Z school year. Latin music and it's inspirations became popular in the charts thanks to Despacito. Smartphones becoming bezel-less. Popularity of Battle-royale thanks to Fortnite and PUGB. Post Malone became a star instead of a one-hit wonder. Cardi B and Marshmello enters the mainstream.

2018-2019: Another late 10s year but with little core 10s influence. Mumble rap on the decline. TikTok became the new thing for teens. Most pop music is Trap flavored. Billie Eilish enters the mainstream. Bezel-less phones become standard.

2019-2020: Hopefully, there will be signs of early 20s trends in this one.

Of course these are just my observations. What do you guys think?


Love the summary! A few mistakes here and there but not very noticable. Overall, pretty good, I also appreciate the fact how you called the mumble rappers color haired idiots  ;D ;D ;D

2012-13 was also marked by two dance crazes: Gagnam Style and Harlem Shake. Which marked a watershed moment for meme culture and internet challenges for the years to come.
A far more important transition than "Khalid entering the mainstream".

2012-13 was also marked by two dance crazes: Gagnam Style and Harlem Shake. Which marked a watershed moment for meme culture and internet challenges for the years to come.
A far more important transition than "Khalid entering the mainstream".


Wasn't Party Rock Anthem the same thing back in 2011? There was the shufflin dance associated with that song. Khalid is one of the biggest artists of today, it's sort of important. Anyways, what do you think of my observations, were they spot-on or some mistakes?

Wasn't Party Rock Anthem the same thing back in 2011? There was the shufflin dance associated with that song. Khalid is one of the biggest artists of today, it's sort of important. Anyways, what do you think of my observations, were they spot-on or some mistakes?
I don't think "Rocky Party Anthem" had any viral/meme association with it though, it was just a goofy party song like a lot of goofy party songs back then.

Khalid doesn't sounds that noteworthy of an artist compared to others though, you could basically do it for basically any megastar currently popular anyway (Ariana Grande in 2013, Post Malone in 2015, Kendrick Lamar in 2012, Shawn Mendes in 2015, solo Camilla Cabello in 2017, and so on).

I don't think "Rocky Party Anthem" had any viral/meme association with it though, it was just a goofy party song like a lot of goofy party songs back then.

Khalid doesn't sounds that noteworthy of an artist compared to others though, you could basically do it for basically any megastar currently popular anyway (Ariana Grande in 2013, Post Malone in 2015, Kendrick Lamar in 2012, Shawn Mendes in 2015, solo Camilla Cabello in 2017, and so on).


You're right, I guess certain artists entering the mainstream on whatever year is not an important shift. It's how the new artists impact and shape pop music. It's like Lorde in Fall 2013, she impacted popular music in the mid 2010s. Lorde even influenced popular artists Selena Gomez in Good For You and Taylor Swift in Blank Space to capture Lorde's sound. There were also new artists who were called Lorde "Wannabes" like Tove Lo, Alessia Cara, Daya, and Halsey in 2014-16, but now they have their own style. Even though Lana Del Rey did it first in 2011, Lorde popularized the Indie pop girl aesthetic of the mid 2010s.

I don't think "Rocky Party Anthem" had any viral/meme association with it though, it was just a goofy party song like a lot of goofy party songs back then.

Khalid doesn't sounds that noteworthy of an artist compared to others though, you could basically do it for basically any megastar currently popular anyway (Ariana Grande in 2013, Post Malone in 2015, Kendrick Lamar in 2012, Shawn Mendes in 2015, solo Camilla Cabello in 2017, and so on).

do you mean party rock anthem? lmao imma start calling it rocky party anthem now