From Vinyl to Viral

What happens to songs when they no longer ride the initial post-release wave of popularity? Naturally, the hope for any artist is that their song remains indefinitely popular. But as the old adage goes, “all good things must come to an end.” So, how is it then, that we still find the hits of yesterday topping the charts of today?

Interestingly, from October 2023 to April 2024, almost 10% of the songs in the Spotify daily listening charts were released over 10 years ago. Of course, occurrences such as holidays, new releases, and artist tours have always played a role in bringing songs to the forefront. But sometimes, there is something else – a spark that reignites a song’s flame – allowing it to hit the mainstream airwaves once again. And in today’s multimedia environment, there are many more opportunities for music to gain or regain popularity. From TV and movie soundtracks to rising TikTok and social media trends, comebacks have become all the more achievable for songs of the past. That is a good thing. After all, who doesn’t love a good comeback?

No one could have predicted that “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” would trend 45 years after its initial release. The infamous Swedish pop band, ABBA, released this catchy song back in October 1979. It returned to the top charts list just this past New Year's 2024. On the surface, the reason for its resurgence in popularity seems to be somewhat arbitrary, as the song is not celebrating its anniversary, nor has it recently been revived in the media in any major fashion. If we look a bit deeper, we can start to find some less obvious influences. For instance, perhaps it could be the song's reference to “midnight” that caused its resurgence on a holiday in which midnight is the main event. Interestingly, the 2024 holiday season was the first time in which it distinctly gained popularity among listeners on Spotify during that time of year. Or maybe it was not the connection to the holiday, but rather because two performances of their 2021-2025 ABBA Voyage tour were held on January 1, 2024. Whatever the reason, this classic by ABBA was not alone in its being revived years later.

Though slightly younger, English singer-songwriters Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor” and Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” have also recently reappeared on the charts long after their debuts. Not only are these the artists’ most popular songs, but the songs are also from each of their debut albums: Shoot from the Hip and Unwritten, respectively. Following the release of “Murder on the Dancefloor” in 2001, the song topped the charts for two years before it was seemingly forgotten. Similarly, “Unwritten” charted for two years after its release in 2004, then faded down the ranks.

Both songs were brought back into the spotlight after being featured in films released in December 2023. Bedingfield's song was featured throughout the romantic comedy Anyone But You while Ellis-Bextor’s was used in the controversial film Saltburn. Warning: the following section contains spoilers.

The rom-com, loosely based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, follows Ben (Glen Powell) and Bea (Sydney Sweeney) as they attempt to fake a relationship at a destination wedding, despite hating one another. Over the course of the film, Ben’s love for the song “Unwritten” is used to foreshadow his falling in love with Bea. The lyrics of the song also roughly outline his character arc, going from someone unsure of themselves to a person ready to embrace life. In stark contrast with the lighthearted romantic comedy, Saltburn follows Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) as he plots to assume the assets of the affluent Catton family, killing off members in the process. Rather than use “Murder on the Dancefloor” as a recurring theme, director Emerald Fennell chose to use the song for the final scene of her film. In the scene, Quick dances nude around the mansion he “inherited” from the family. As was the case with “Unwritten” in Anyone But You, when taken literally, the lyrics of Ellis-Bextor’s song align with Oliver’s actions throughout the film. From his deception and manipulation to the calculated murder of each member of the Catton family, the dark thematic elements of the song reflect his thirst for wealth and power. With the release of these films, the two artists’ songs have once again found themselves atop the charts roughly 20 years after their debuts.

Beyond their usage in film soundtracks, these songs have also found fame across social media platforms, particularly on TikTok. “Unwritten” was used in over 837,000 videos on the platform, while “Murder on the Dancefloor'' amassed over 398,000 views. After failing to come to a licensing agreement with TikTok, the record label Universal Music Group pulled their songs from TikTok in early February 2024. The label has many popular artists signed, including Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor to name a few. However, Natasha Bedingfield is not signed by the record label. After Universal Music Group’s decision, the number of videos using the song “Murder on the Dancefloor” on TikTok dropped to 247,000. This decline in popularity is also reflected in the Spotify listening data: by the beginning of March 2024, the number of countries in which the song trends gradually decreased. Meanwhile, “Unwritten” continued to trend through the month of April 2024. Although many factors contributed to the comeback these songs shared, it can not be denied that TikTok helped boost them further than they would have otherwise.

TikTok has done more than supplement the fame gained from film and television features. After Universal Music Group announced they were pulling their music from TikTok’s catalog, Kevin Macleod, a composer known for creating royalty-free music, began to trend on the app. Prior to February 2024, one of Macleod’s well-known songs, “Fluffing a Duck,” released in 2010, was only used in roughly 40,000 TikTok videos. By February 5, 2024, that number rose to nearly 350,000, eventually peaking at 1.07 million videos in mid-March 2024. On TikTok, the song was used as a meme as well as a form of protest against Universal Music Group’s decision.

As was the case for Macleod’s songs, trends across TikTok and other social media platforms have proved to be a powerful tool for reviving old songs and artists. For instance, the Los Angeles-based indie pop band TV Girl has been active since 2010. Although they certainly had a following, it was not until their songs became massively popular on TikTok in 2023 that their music was introduced to a wider audience.

One of the most prevalent trends using TV Girl’s discography references the cover of their 2016 album Who Really Cares. Users post videos in which the colors blue and pink are situated beside one another with the song “Not Allowed,” which is from the album, playing in the background. “Not Allowed” now has over 670 million streams on Spotify and has been used in more than 164,000 videos on TikTok.

Similarly, the song “I Wanna Be Yours,” an adaptation of the poem by John Cooper Clarke of the same name, gained worldwide recognition thanks to TikTok. The song has been used across the platform in a variety of video styles, from thirst traps to videos about a crush, to TV and movie edits. Released by the English rock band the Arctic Monkeys in 2013, the song only hit charts in the United Kingdom. In 2023, however, it hit worldwide year-end charts, including ranking 56 on the Billboard Global 200. As of April 29, 2024, the song has over 2 billion streams on Spotify. These are not isolated incidents. Though the initial idea of TikTok was for it to become a short-form video-sharing platform, it has managed to wedge itself into the foundation of our popular culture, further influencing our listening habits. It has also become a great way for artists to introduce (or re-introduce) their music to a wider audience.

Another long-practiced medium for artists to revive their music is to go on tour. Typically, artists go on the road to showcase their newly released albums, tapping into their post-release popularity. These tours also present opportunities for artists to take their popular songs and bring them back to the stage, gifting audiences with a sense of nostalgia.

An example is the British rock band Coldplay and their “Music of the Spheres” tour, which they kicked off after the 2021 release of their album of the same name. The band initiated the Asia and Australia leg of the tour in Tokyo, Japan, in 2023. Interestingly, Coldplay did not show up in Japan’s Spotify listening charts. However, it is important to note that according to a survey, Spotify was not the most popular streaming service in Japan in 2023. Rather than use Spotify, a majority of participants preferred to stream music on YouTube.

Following the Japanese leg of the tour, the band made their way to Taiwan, where they finally climbed into the Spotify listening charts once again. Traveling south, Coldplay arrived in Perth, Australia, barely making it to the Spotify charts at number 50 on the day of their tour. Their presence lingered in Taiwan’s charts, but they eventually fell off by the time their tour brought them to Malaysia. After their final show date in Malaysia in November, the band took a break for the holiday season. Despite going on hiatus, Coldplay’s songs continue to trend in Malaysia through the month of December.

After the break, Coldplay returned with a stop in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, in January 2024. At the same time, hoping to catch a show, surrounding countries started to prepare themselves for one of Coldplay’s six in Singapore. After the Singapore shows, Coldplay finished off their Asia and Australia tour in Bangkok, Thailand.

During the break in their tour, besides some of Coldplay’s more popular songs, another song released in 2010 found its way into the charts. The song, “Christmas Lights,” follows a person post-breakup as they lament about the end of their relationship. By the end of the song, the holiday spirit helps guide them to a better place with the lyrics “May all your troubles / Soon be gone / Those Christmas lights / Keep shining on.” The revival of the song came during the holiday season. By December 29, the song had already fallen off the Spotify listening charts, waiting for the eventual annual return of the holiday season.

It is not just Coldplay’s song that follows such a cyclical pattern. Some songs don’t need a push from new media to re-enter the public’s hearts and minds, which is primarily the case for songs frequently associated with the holiday season. Every year, from the end of November to early January, society defrosts Mariah Carey, Wham!, Bing Crosby, and many others, just like clockwork. Though most of the songs characteristic of the winter holidays were released before the turn of the century, they return to popularity in late November each year.