2000
The real slim shady announces himself. I just had to put this in here, I know there are so many more iconic moments from the beginning of the 00’s but there’s TOO many. Eminem has continued to be as timeless and the real slim shady, it will go down in history and is iconic.
2001
After a lot of research into iconic moments of 2001 – I basically came up with nada. The only recurring moment I could find was the Space Odyssey soundtrack. If anybody has any music moments from 2001 please comment below and enlighten me!
2002
Michael Jackson was controversial in life and continues to be controversial in death. By far, one of his most iconic moments came in 2002 when he dangled his baby son, Prince, over a hotel balcony. At the time this happened, I was only 4 years old but I was still made aware of this strange event years later which gives it a definite claim to this iconic moments list.
2003
Admittedly, the initial release of iTunes was in 2001. However, the release of the infamous iTunes Store was actually 2003 after Steve Jobs was granted permission by the major labels at the time to offer their catalogue content on the site. Aside from Napster, Apple’s iTunes Store really was one of the first innovators of easily accessible digital downloads at the time. It’s popularity and market dominance grew tremendously over the years and it was classed as the largest music vendor in the WORLD in 2010. Unfortunately for Apple, digital downloads were swiftly over-taken by streaming and iTunes lost its relevance. But in true Apple style, they took note of the changes and came back with the fresh and relevant – Apple Music.
2004
Ok so it isn’t exactly a ‘music moment’ but it’s iconic and all social media relates to the music industry somehow. In 2004, Facebook was founded. Whether you use Facebook, agree with the concept of Facebook or avoid Facebook at all costs – you can’t deny its right to an ‘iconic’ title.
2005
2005 blessed us with Rihanna’s debut album ‘Music of the Sun’. Disappointingly we haven’t had any new Rihanna tracks for a while now but she is taking the fashion and beauty industries by storm – she’s a busy lady!
2006
Lily Allen released ‘Smile’ in 2006 and it is a song that truly makes me smile whenever it plays on my playlist. Allen’s way of spoken singing (if that makes sense – I don’t know the technical term) brings delightful personality to her music and is a joy to listen to.
2007
Madonna made a shift in the Music Industry in 2007 when she signed a 360 degree deal with global concert promoter, Live Nation. The powerful partnership saw the end of Madonna’s contract with Warner Music and gave Live Nation unprecedented access to all of Madonna’s future music related releases. The deal was reported to be worth an eye-watering $120 million.
2008
The birth of Spotify!
Who knew 14 years ago that streaming platform Spotify would become one of (or is) the biggest streaming platform in the world. It doesn’t look Spotify will be gone any time soon, with their users only increasing; reporting over 299 million users in June 2020.
2009
Kayne West interrupts Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the VMA’s. After the, then 19 year old, Taylor won the VMA for Best Female Video for chart topping ‘You Belong With Me’, Kanye controversially jumped on stage, stole the mic and ranted about how Beyonce should’ve won the award. Poor Taylor was evidently mortified and Beyonce appeared extremely confused, if not slightly blushed but Kanye carried on. In the spirit of being a fair competitor, Beyonce invited Taylor back on stage later in the evening and allowed her to have her moment of acceptance and appreciation for her win without any stormy interruptions.
2010
We’ve all seen many one hit wonders and watched the rapid rise and fall of artists and Lil Wayne experienced this in 2010. Whilst at the height of his career, Lil Wayne was sentenced to 1 year in prison for gun possession in 2010. Even with his year away from the spotlight, Lil Wayne continued to hit the charts and be a prominent figure in the hip-hop genre after his release.
2011
It’s friday, friday …
In 2011, Rebecca Black hit the scene and rapidly became a household name thanks to her viral ‘hit’ ‘Friday. I apostrophise hit because it was a very marmite song – you either loved it or you hated it. Either way, the lovers and haters of this song caused it to be a phenomenon and YouTube sensation.
2012
Tupac returns… in hologram form. If you haven’t heard or seen that hologram is developing the chance to see your favourite artist, years after their death, then you need to catch up! In April 2020, Coachella raised the roof when they introduced Tupac alongside Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre is a memorable, never seen before performance. Holograms are paving the way for artists to be remembered and celebrated and profited upon (controversial, I know) after death and to give fans the chance to make up for lost time. Personally, I think holograms are here to stay but to cover the extortionate costs of creating and running a hologram fans must be prepared to pay a hefty ticket price.
2013
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t know the Frozen hit song ‘Let it go’ word for word. Children and adults around the globe were captivated by the Disney hit film and it rocketed even further with the irritatingly addictive, ‘Let it go’. In an unlikely turn of events, the hit song won an Oscar for Best Song… one the Disney creators will never forget.
2014
Anyone else remember waking up on one fine morning in September 2014 to find U2 dominating your iTunes library? I do.
Everyone loves a free gift but unfortunately for U2, their free gifting of album ‘Songs of Innocence’ didn’t go down as well as they hoped. But, bad publicity is good publicity as I’m sure industry veterans, U2, are well aware.
2015
2015 saw one of the biggest copyright battles between (you guessed it!) Robin Thicke, Pharrell and the Marvin Gaye Estate. Thankfully this is old news but the effects are still present today. Many songwriters and artists can give thanks to the tenacity of those in charge of Marvin Gaye’s estate for publicly showing that copyright infringement simply isn’t ok and you will be liable for A LOT of money when caught. I’m sure Thicke and Pharrell won’t be making that $7.3 million mistake again!
2016
In January 2016 the world mourned the loss of a true artist and music legend, David Bowie. True to form, Bowie surprised his adoring fans with a final album, Blackstar, released just two days before his death. Bowie’s dedication to his art is awe-inspiring, especially when you take into account that his illness would have been at its worst when he wrote, recorded and released Blackstar – whilst also filming music videos that beautifully told the story of Blackstar. Throughout his life, Bowie had profound influence over fashion, culture and music and it goes without saying that his influence and artistry will stand the test of time.
2017
Two Words – FYRE FESTIVAL
One Word – DISASTER
But, highly entertaining.
2018
2018 was a fantastic year for music but one artist in particular took the industry by storm. Ariana Grande was a major 2018 highlight, she captured all audiences from her relationship with Pete Davidson to her female empowered album release, Sweetener.
2019
In August 2019, I did a post dedicated to TikTok and questioned its potential longevity in the ever-expanding social media bubble. Well, let’s just say TikTok is here to stay! TikTok developers really have relished in countries around the globe being locked down with a desperate need to cure their boredom. In the UK alone, the amount of new downloads surged by 34% in the week Boris Johnson announced the national lockdown.
2020
Let’s be honest, 2020 is a right off. It’s been a year that caused everyone to be tremendously resilient and forgiving. Aside from the disappointment that is 2020, the world has been propelled into the #FreeBritney movement. If you haven’t heard of the #FreeBritney movement, take some time to delve into what’s been happening – it’s a complete whirlwind. We all remember the very public mental health crisis pop singer Britney Spears went through in 2008. But what we didn’t know is that since then Britney’s finances and life decisions, even those involving her children, are in the hands of her father. The legal term for this arrangement is ‘conservatorship’ in which an individual is instated as the ‘conservator’ over somebody who the courts believe is unable to make life and financial decisions due to a variety of reasons. Evidently, Britney has taken positive strides with her mental health and wellbeing, yet she cannot live her life how she wishes without the approval of her father. Thanks to social media, the #FreeBritney movement has gone viral and she is currently in the process of having her father removed as her conservator and now she has the support of millions.
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