With over 60% of YouTube’s top songs in a non-English language, is music written in English losing its dominance?
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Fuelled by Hollywood and Madison Avenue, the American pop culture machine has helped cement the English language as the world’s lingua franca. Consequently, the English language has dominated international music for the last century. Although music in the English language is going nowhere, with internet streaming platforms providing more access to intercontinental music, listeners are becoming less segregated and more open to hearing songs in other languages. With all that said, does this mark the early stages of a major market shift in the music industry?

Have we seen this before?

Those who remember the likes of The Sandpipers’ Guantanamera (1966) and La Bamba by Los Lobos (1987) may question if this is as new as we think. However, throughout the 20th century, only a handful of non-English language songs made it to number one. In addition, for every massive hit like Los Del Rio’s The Macarena, several international artists had number one hits in the English language. Notable examples include; Cuban Gloria Esteban, German and French duo Milli Vanilli and Swedish group Abba.

 Los Del Rio — Macarena (Bayside Boys Remix)

The truth is there’s always been space for catchy non-English language songs, but with the rise of artists like J Balvin, Bad Bunny and BTS, what’s different is that we’re witnessing the acceptance of entire genres. The question is, what exactly is driving this new growth in non-English language hits?

YouTube, A Diverse Platform

As detailed in Blokur’s 2020 Songwriters Review (of the streaming platforms assessed), YouTube shows just how well music in non-English languages perform. Engineered by Google to use different language options and country-specific algorithms, YouTube can cater to a global audience. The platform’s diverse audience creates a landscape for songs in foreign languages to flourish.

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Graph showing the most viewed video on YouTube every year end from 2010–2020

 The graph above shows that for eight years between 2010 and 2020, a non-English language song has ended the year as the most viewed video on YouTube. This dominance of non-English language music is most likely linked to the growth of the streaming platform’s international subscribers, contributing to the increased viewership of their country-specific content.

A notable example was the rise of Ai Se Eu Te Pego by Michel Telo. In 2011 and 2012, videos of superstar footballers Neymar and Ronaldo dancing to the catchy Brazilian song Ai Se Eu Te Pego went viral. The video boosted the track by millions turning it into an international hit.

A year later, Korean artist PSY, propelled by excellent marketing and a sound similar to then-popular group LMFAO, broke all previous records with Gangnam Style. The song went viral, and by the end of 2012, it became the most viewed video on YouTube. An achievement that PSY would hold onto for five years.

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PSY’s Gangnam Style

PSY’s record was broken in 2017 when Latin artist Louis Fonsi released Despacito ft. Daddy Yankee. The song became an international hit, arguably boosting the world’s appetite for Latin music, and as of 2020, 10% of the top 100 songwriters are from Colombia or Brazil.

YouTube Music’s expansion into emerging markets has also affected trends. In 2019, YouTube Music launched in South Africa and India, tapping into the growing number of internet users in both regions. Later that year, South African artists Master KG and Nomcebo Zicode’s Jerusalema went viral across the continent, showing the growing appreciation of the South African House genre and the potential of African streamers.

The Indian subcontinent has several million active YouTube users, representing a massive presence on the platform. Almost a quarter (23%) of the top 100 songwriters are Indian, a close 2nd to the USA (26%). And with the success of songs like Jalebi Baby, sung in Punjabi and remixed by Jason Derulo, it could be a sign that shows the potential for music in Indian languages to go mainstream.

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2020’s Top Music Genres on YouTube, Blokur Songwriters’ Review

With more than half of the top ten songwriters hailing from India, its dominance on YouTube is clear. As seen in the graph above, Indian music genres do well on the platform. One particular sub-genre that is racking up views is Indian film music from Bollywood and Telugu cinema. India’s growth on YouTube is unlikely to slow down; already 9.5% of YouTube’s users come from India, second only to the United States, contributing 16% of the user base.

Is this the future?

Despite the Songwriters Review revealing that 60% of YouTube’s most popular songs are in a non-English language, it’s unlikely we’ll see a slowdown in Latin artists like Shakira producing an English and Spanish version of the same song.

In the face of BTS’s rise to international success making Korean songs, the group’s biggest hit and first number one was Dynamite, a song sang entirely in English. Due to the pandemic and difficulties performing live, the group has shifted towards singing in the English language to help them better sell to a global audience.

Realistically, it’s difficult to imagine a music industry without English as the dominant language, as many artists still feel that it’s easier to sell music in the English language. However, as the likes of TikTok continues engineering our tastes through the repetition of video memes, only time will tell if that will change in the future.