Hell’s bells: Tough times drive surge in hard rock music
Amid economic strain and global instability, listeners are turning to hard rock, punk, and heavy metal for emotional release. Streaming data shows significant growth in these genres, outpacing pop and hip-hop. Fans and experts alike attribute the trend to the cathartic and therapeutic qualities of aggressive music.
- ▪Between 2020 and 2025, streams of metal music on Spotify more than doubled, while punk and rock grew by 80 percent.
- ▪Playlists featuring metalcore tracks increased by 234 percent during the same period.
- ▪Spotify data shows metal, punk, and rock are growing faster than pop and hip-hop in Australia.
- ▪Joe Khan, Spotify’s senior editor, attributes the rise in heavy music to societal pressures and the need for emotional catharsis.
- ▪Fans like Lily Wilson report using metalcore to process grief, anxiety, and stress, finding therapeutic value in its intensity.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Sydney Morning Herald.