In the age of on-demand streaming, have solo stars killed off bands for good?

DedMityay // Shutterstock Despite decades of band culture, new research suggests that the golden era of rock ‘n’ roll may be over. Nirvana. Guns N’ Roses. The Eagles. Van Halen. Aerosmith. For those of a certain age, these names need no introduction. They are the sounds, faces, and albums that accompanied some of the most monumental moments in history. From the height of the hippie movement in 1960s Haight Ashbury to the shooting of President Reagan and the fall of the Berlin Wall in the 80s, bands have defined American culture for decades. They have provided the soundtrack to some of the most pivotal moments in modern history, have been America’s biggest cultural export, and gave rise to psychedelia, stadium rock, and hip hop. So, where have all the bands gone? It’s All About Solo Acts and Collabs Now Skoove According to new research, the last 30 years have seen band culture replaced by solo stars and one-time collaborations. The hysteria that surrounded the Beatles is now reserved for Taylor Swift. The chart-topping run of Bon Jovi is now replicated by Beyonce. It’s been decades since the heyday of American bands at the top of the charts–but why? When did bands start to lose out to solo artists? And when did collaborations enter the picture?  To answer these pressing questions, Skoove teamed up with the research experts at DataPulse Research. Together, the team analyzed 67 years of U.S. chart history to pinpoint exactly when solo stars began to eclipse band culture–and the reasons behind that shift. Here’s a look at the data that saw Beyonce overshadow Destiny’s Child and Justin Timberlake become a chart topper without *NSYNC. Bands Have Struggled to Generate Star Power for More Than Two Decades Skoove The decline of bands is nothing new–but it is a tale of two halves. Between August 1958 and September 2024, just 34% of the top spots on the charts were claimed by bands. While you might think that there would be strength in numbers, that isn’t true for the likes of Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, and Metallica. Half of the top charting songs were recorded by solo artists and 16% were collaborations. Bands accounted for around a third of the songs charting in the 1950s, while solo artists like Doris Day, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Holly were household names. From the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, bands claimed more air time and more fans, and split the charts with notable solo stars. From here, things started to slide.  Bands went from occupying 41% of chart positions in 1995 to just 4% in 2023. It’s been 24 years since *NSYNC topped the charts as a boy band, but Justin Timberlake has enjoyed stratospheric success as a solo star in the years since. Destiny’s Child disbanded in 2006, but lead singer Beyonce has gone on to be the most awarded artist in Grammy history, one of the most decorated artists of all time at the MTV Video Music Awards, and a Coachella and Glastonbury headliner. Bands Aren’t Just Facing Competition From Solo Stars–New Genre Is Also Snatching Chart Places Before the mid-90s hit, collaborations accounted for less than 10% of chart success, but they’ve enjoyed a rebirth in recent years as established solo artists have teamed up for one-off songs and albums. This format peaked in 2018, claiming 42% of chart spots for the year. Successful collaborations for that period included “If Only” by Andrea Bocelli and Dua Lipa, and the Flatbush Zombies and Portugal. The Man. The question is, why are listeners turning off bands and turning up the likes of Taylor Swift and Beyonce?  There’s no one reason why solo artists are eclipsing bigger bands. Instead, multiple events have created the perfect storm.  Streaming Technology Has Changed How We Discover and Listen to Music In years past, new bands would be discovered on the front covers of magazines, on the radio, and on TV. The launch of streaming platforms like Spotify (2008) and Apple Music (2015) has changed all that. While the exact details of how algorithms choose which artists to spotlight and feature in curated playlists are proprietary, it’s indisputable that Spotify listeners, in particular, heavily favor solo artists and collaborations. In fact, there isn’t a single band featured in either the top 10 most streamed songs or top 10 artists globally for 2024. “It’s no coincidence that the decline of bands has coincided with the growing popularity of Spotify and Apple Music,” comments Dominik Schirmer,director instrumental teaching at Skoove. “Until rock bands can crack the streaming puzzle, it’s very unlikely we’ll see bands topping the charts. That’s a challenge that both bands and their record companies will need to take seriously if we’re to resurrect rock ‘n’ roll from the annals of history.” Band Dynamics Tend to Be Challenging  Band dynamics can be tricky. There are multiple big personalities (and big egos) to manage. Not everyone can have star billing. Not everyone has the same star power. Conflicts and creative differences are inevitable. It’s pretty much inevitable that there’ll be a major falling out. Or one band member wanting to go a different way.  Even the biggest bands in the world fall victim to in-fighting and clashing personalities. The Eagles broke up in 1980 after a spat between lead singer Glenn Frey and guitarist Don Felder. Blink 182 found different priorities weren’t conducive to recording hits. And as The Pussycat Dolls found out, there can only really be one star. It’s much easier for labels to manage solo artists. It’s simpler to coordinate, less drama and a whole lot cheaper. Plus, it’s always clear where the spotlight should shine.  Solo Artists Are Pros at Using Social Media to Build Their Brand Justin Bieber might be the first social media success story in the music biz, but he certainly won’t be the last. Younger generations are masters at influencing, thanks to the growing popularity of platforms like TikTok and Instagram. It’s much easier for individual personalities to stand out and gain mass appeal on an in-stream video or in-feed post, with many emerging stars doing just that.  “The impact of social media can’t be understated. It has been absolutely instrumental in changing how solo artists break through–no longer are they reliant on being discovered by a music executive. They can tap into this enormous global audience and create their own communities of loyal fans to raise awareness and build momentum way before they’re on the radar of labels,” adds Schirmer.  “We’ve seen many solo artists in recent years use extremely sophisticated social media strategies to launch their careers by parlaying that grassroots, online support into mainstream success. Let’s not forget, streaming platforms and social media go hand-in-hand. Once they have that bit of traction and popularity on social media, it’s easy to begin driving downloads with a link.”  Bands Just Aren’t Bringing Home the Bacon … or  #1 Singles Not only has the presence of bands in the charts fallen off, but the ones that do make the list are struggling to hold the top spot. In 2023, only 189 chart spots (out of 5,200) went to bands, and zero bands actually made the top spot. That was reserved for Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Kenya Grace, and other solo stars. Bands also failed to top the charts between 2015 and 2018. Groups appeared just 400-700 times on the yearly lists, yet never at the #1 spot. In six of the last ten years (since 2015), bands went a full year without cracking the top spot. In the context of the U.S. chart history, this is a reversal of the status quo since the ’60s, when bands represented the expression of youth culture. In 1965, they held the position 94% of the time.  Solo artists have held a fairly consistent record of being in the top spot about half the time, if you average out the trends. 2023 was a standout year, however. For 90% of the time, the #1 spot was held by a solo artist. Collaborations have also increased their presence at the top since the mid-90s, in tandem with their larger presence on the charts overall. “It’s perhaps inevitable that collabs have become so popular,” Schirmer says. “They bring double the star-power of solo artists, allowing each star to tap into their own and their collaborator’s audience. It’s a great way to increase exposure, grow streams, and reach new demographics. There’s also the novelty factor to consider. As collaborations tend to only happen every once in a while between specific stars, they’re inherently more valuable and more desirable to listeners.” Bands Fall Off the Charts Faster Than Solo Artists and Collaborators Skoove How often in the run up to the holidays did you listen (willingly or otherwise) to “All I Want for Christmas”? If you saw Mariah in her Santa outfit more often than you saw your co-workers between Halloween and December, you aren’t alone. But how many recent songs from bands can you think of that crop up with such regularity? Likely, none. Looking at all 34,533 unique songs to have made the charts over the last 67 years, less than 5% (1,6923) have extreme stickiness. A song with extreme stickiness is one that has appeared on the charts for 25 or more weeks. All I Want for Christmas, Glass Animals, Heat Waves, and The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights, have been on the charts for at least 90 weeks each. They’re the ear worms that haunt your days and reappear at certain times every year. You hear them in the mall, on the radio, and on TV. Looking at total songs compared with sticky songs, it’s clear that bands underperform. They account for about 32% of songs on the charts, but make up just 25% of songs spending 25 weeks or more on the charts. On the other hand, collaborative songs contribute 17% of the charted songs, but make up 26% of the sticky ones. What Will Happen to Rock Music? Skoove Will we ever see a new Pearl Jam? Or Metallica? Will there be a Guns N’Roses 2.0? The data says it’s not likely. That’s because the decline of bands also means the decline of rock music in general.  Schirmer explains, “There’s an intrinsic link between the success of bands and the proliferation of rock music. So many bands have their roots in rock–so when one struggles, the other also falters. The worry of course is that as bands continue to see their audiences drift away and streaming and air time limited, rock as a genre is also disappearing from the airwaves.”   The graph below shows how many bands make up the rock genre on the top 500 artists on Spotify, with solo artists accounting for 74% of the monthly listeners and bands making up 26%.  As bands are most heavily concentrated in the rock category, it’s fair to say that rock music could become a thing of the past, especially as rock music isn’t as popular as pop, or hip-hop. With little streaming success, there’s little incentive for labels to create new bands or invest resources in marketing existing bands, further fuelling the decline of bands and, by extension, rock music itself. Conclusion Skoove The popularity of bands has been waning for decades, thanks to a perfect storm of factors; from the ease with which solo artists can release new music to the lower cost and less complex logistics. There’s no travel conflicts, differing musical tastes or competing egos for record labels to grapple with when there’s just one star to handle. To halt the decline, bands keen to taste chart success will need to take a leaf out of their solo rivals’ playbook. Becoming better at using platforms like TikTok and Instagram to win over new fans and promote their new music could be a game changer. Likewise, deploying platforms and social tactics that create better levels of engagement–such as hosting Insta Lives, Hangouts, and even using Patreon–could create more awareness of new music. In turn, this would increase band downloads and streaming, putting them back in contention for chart positions.  Methodology This study is largely based on the US’s “Billboard Hot 100” weekly charts from August 1958 to September 2024. Over this 67-year period, charts included 100 song placements every week (with the exception of a few years that had 99 top songs). In total, 334,887 songs were in the database. The analysis ran as follows: All songs were tagged as either bands, collaborations, or solo artists. (Collaborations can be two artists or a band featuring an artist.) From this, the team calculated the percentage of songs by bands, collaborators and solo artists every week, month, and year. Every weekly chart is independent, so songs that appeared over multiple weeks would be counted as many times as they appeared. In addition to analyzing overall chart patterns, the team looked at mega hits. For each of the 52 weeks in every year, the team tallied whether the top-played song was by a band, a collaborator, or a solo artist. From that data, they calculated the share of #1 hits each year that fell into the three categories. Finally, the team looked for “stickiness,” or how many weeks a song appeared on the charts. The team tracked each song’s placement on the charts week by week. In total, there were 34,533 unique songs on the charts over the last 67 years. The team found 1,692 of the songs had “extreme stickiness,” meaning they have appeared on the charts for 25 or more weeks. Note: Some songs, including Christmas songs, appeared on and off over the years while others had long runs on the charts. Among the “sticky” group, the team calculated the percentage that were tagged as bands, collaborations, or solo artists. To incorporate streaming data, the study also analyzed popular songs on Spotify based on a ranking by the number of listeners on Chartmasters. Songs were tagged as either bands or artists. Songs were also tagged by musical genre. The team organized the songs in groups of 100 (the top 100, followed by the top 101-200, and so on.) The team analyzed the share of songs by bands and by artists for the top five genres (pop, rap/hip-hop, rock, Latin, electronic) and “other” genres, up to the 500th most popular song. This story originally appeared on Skoove, was produced in collaboration with DataPulse and distributed by Stacker.