This was the year that gen Z had their “Brat summer”, or so we were led to believe.
Inspired by the hit album by pop sensation Charli xcx, the trend was seen to embody all the messiness of modern youth: trashy, chaotic and bright green.
But on the teenager’s social media platform of choice, TikTok, a more sepia music trend has been taking root.
Despite having an endless amount of music to pair with their short, scrollable videos, TikTok users have been raiding the back catalogues of artists from yesteryear including Bronski Beat and Sade to soundtrack their posts.
This year set a new high for use of old tracks on British TikTok posts, with tunes more than five years old accounting for 19 out of its 50 top tracks this year. It is the highest proportion since TikTok started monitoring the trend in 2021, when just 8 out of the 50 tracks were from back catalogues.
The trend is also global, with 20 out of the top 50 tracks worldwide coming from back catalogues, led by 80s hit Forever Young by German synth-pop band Alphaville.
The biggest UK hit is Champagne Coast by British artist Devonté Hynes, recording under the name Blood Orange and released in 2011, which was used on 1.1m TikTok posts this year and peaked at number 16 in the UK charts as a result.
TikTok’s head of music partnerships for the UK and Ireland, Toyin Mustapha, said the platform had created a “level playing field” for music acts.
“Older tracks and new releases are given the same amount of love by the TikTok community and it gives artists the chance to find an audience at any stage of their career,” he said. “It has really democratised music.”
Six of the top ten back catalogues tunes were released in the previous century. They include Come and Get Your Love, a 1974 hit for US rock band Redbone, Bronski Beat’s 1984 anthem Smalltown Boy and Sade’s Kiss of Life.
The popularity of Forever Young and Smalltown Boy was driven by challenges – a content staple on TikTok – with the Bronski Beat song used as a soundtrack to asking parents to dance like they did in the 80s and Alphaville’s hit appearing on a water bottle challenge. Champagne Coast proved popular as an accompaniment to “visually striking” content like photo slide shows as well as relationship stories.
“Each song has its own unique trend,” said Mustapha.
The trend has also benefitted more obscure tracks. One of the most popular classic songs for British TikTok users this year is a b-side from US indie band Pavement, called Harness Your Hopes, which was used on 220,000 posts.
TikTok is also a powerhouse in present day music and plays a pivotal role in an industry transformed by streaming and social media. The platform helped power the success of Brat, the hit album by British singer Charli xcx which at one point this year was even co-opted by US presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
That is reflected in the overall top ten tracks for TikTok posts in the UK, which is dominated by recent releases, albeit with Blood Orange at number two. The biggest track was Nasty by US singer Tinashe, released this year, with Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things and Birds of a Feather by Billie Eilish among the other 2024 tracks in the top ten. Globally, the most popular tune was Gata Only, a reggaeton track by Chilean singers FloyyMenor and Cris MJ.
Its role in the US music industry is under threat, however, with the platform facing a 19 January deadline to be sold by its Chinese parent company or been banned in its biggest market. TikTok is appealing the sale order.
Dr Holly Tessler, a senior lecturer in music industries at the University of Liverpool, said the TikTok generation’s interest in back catalogues echoes the sensibility of 90s indie kids who might pick out lesser known tracks in order to stand out from the crowd. The easy availability of vast amounts of tracks online also allows social media users to trawl an array of tunes that was not so accessible in the past.
“People are looking for music that makes them appear distinct while everyone is listening to Charli xcx,” she said. “There is a little bit of music-mining going on and looking for something undiscovered.”
Tessler said her experiencing teaching a masters degree in the Beatles showed how, for younger music fans, the age of an artist’s discography was irrelevant.
“The course included people who were over 50 and under 30 with very few in the middle,” she said. “For Beatles fans who are younger, they don’t really see a difference between listening to the Beatles and Taylor Swift or Harry Styles. They see the Beatles as contemporary music.”
She also acknowledged that the popularity of back catalogues reflects the sheer quality of output over decades of popular music.
“A good song is a good song,” she said. “You have a feeling that younger people are growing up to albums and CDs in older relatives’ houses and just think it’s good music.”
Here are the top back catalogue tracks on TikTok this year. To qualify, the songs have to be more than five years old.
1. Blood Orange – Champagne Coast [2011]: 1.1m posts
Ilford-born Devonté Hynes was recording as Blood Orange when he released Champagne Coast in 2011. The track has enjoyed a new lease of life on TikTok 13 years later and hit no.16 in the UK’s official chart as a result, as well as hitting no.1 in TikTok’s US chart. It has been used to soundtrack visually striking content and relationship stories.
2. Alphaville – Forever Young [1984]: 458,000 posts
The German band behind Big in Japan achieved a revival hit this year with another song from their back catalogue, Forever Young, which also proved to be a big hit globally.
3. Redbone – Come and Get Your Love [1974]: 386,000 posts
The US band’s best known tune was a top 5 hit in the US half a century ago and it has become popular again on TikTok as a soundtrack to young couples demonstrating “cuteness”.
4. Tom Odell – Another Love [2012]: 238,000 posts
The 2013 song has trended on TikTok multiple times over the years and has had another resurgence this year.
5. Pavement – Harness Your Hopes [1999]: 219,000 posts
A classic example of lesser known tracks being given a new lease of life by the internet, this B-side by the US band is now their most streamed song ever.
6. Natasha Bedingfield – Unwritten [2004]: 207,000 posts
The British singer was nominated for a Grammy award for her vocal performance on Unwritten and it has returned to the UK Top 20 this year, having been boosted by an appearance on the soundtrack for 2023 romantic comedy film Anyone But You.
7. Christina Aguilera – Genie in a Bottle [1999]: 207,000 posts
This track by the US singer was boosted by a number of TikTok trends including one based on snacks.
8. Sade – Kiss of Life [1993]: 194,000 posts
The British singer and her eponymous band have enduring appeal and many of the posts are driven by appreciation of her aesthetic. The hashtag #sadegirl has been a hit on TikTok recently.
9. Sophie Ellis Bextor – Murder on the Dancefloor [2001]: 191,000 posts
The song’s appearance on the soundtrack to the film Saltburn helped make this a viral hit and send it to no.2 in the UK charts.
10. The Fray – Look After You [2005]: 188,000 posts
This track by the US band has inspired a host of covers on TikTok.
