Top 5 Sports Music Trends for 2023
By John Adams
2023 is here! It’s a new year with new goals, trends and music. As we prepare for the first quarter of the year, I have noticed some music trends I wanted to point out and help make your job a bit easier. Here are my top 5 music trends I see coming up in 2023:
1- Stadium playlists are trending younger: Many teams are relying on their music to keep a younger audience engaged with the game experience. One team expressed that their core older fans will be there no matter what they play. There will always be a good amount of “stadium tracks” or local flavor tracks to play in-game but look to add some newer music to engage a larger audience.
2- BIG artists with new releases: 2023 is starting off with new albums from:
Iggy Pop 1/6
Måneskin 1/20
Shania Twain 2/3
Paramore 2/10
Gorillaz 2/24
Macklemore 3/3
Metallica 4/12
Smashing Pumpkins 4/21
All these albums should contain great tracks for sports play and production use. Here are some releases that I suggest checking out ASAP!
Iggy Pop Every Loser- The first single “Frenzy” is a high energy rocker.
Måneskin Rush- These guys have been a single-churning powerhouse for the last couple of years and have YET to release their first full album! If you aren’t into them now… odds are your fans are!
Gorillaz Cracker Island-Tracks have been leaked from this one for months. “New Gold” has already grabbed play and sync use from a few teams (with an assist from The Score).
Metallica 72 Seasons- These rockers show no sign of slowing down. Their 1st single “Lux Æterna" is amazing, and the album is powerful with multiple stadium appropriate tracks (we will have several for you prior to release date). Don’t forget their unprecedented tour M72 consisting of 23 weekends from 4/27 to 9/29. Back-to-back shows in the same city, each show with a completely different playlist (check their website for all tour dates and venues).
3- Album anniversaries- Although we started by talking about the importance of new music, older fans are still in attendance and younger music fans love a good retro album or playlist! Keep these monumental albums in mind. They are all celebrating HUGE anniversaries this year. If you are looking for an easy theme night or a reason to celebrate music, here are about 20 of them:
50th Anniversaries:
Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon
Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Led Zeppelin: Houses of the Holy
The Who: Quadrophenia
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd
Paul McCartney/Wings: Band On The Run
40th Anniversaries:
Michael Jackson: Thriller
Huey Lewis & The News: Sports
Metallica: Kill ‘Em All
Motley Crue: Shout At The Devil
Def Leppard: Pyromania
ZZ Top: Eliminator
Madonna: Madonna
30th Anniversaries:
Nirvana: In Utero
The Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream
Snoop Dogg: Doggystyle
Pearl Jam: Vs.
Lenny Kravitz: Are You Gonna Go My Way
U2: Zooropa
20th Anniversaries:
The White Stripes: Elephant
Linkin Park: Meteora
Jay-Z: The Black Album
50 Cent: Get Rick or Die Tryin’
Byonce’: Dangerously In Love
Evanescence: Fallen
4- Music issues are on the rise- Hey, I didn’t say all of them would be positive! This is a trend you DON’T want to follow. I have helped many teams navigate through these issues and the greatest advice I can give is you don’t want to be involved with the penalties surrounding improper music licensing. It’s too easy to find your content in fan posts, videos, and through social media that any bot can find on the interwebs and google machines. If you are not properly licensing music, your team is open to a litany of legal actions. Make sure one of your goals for 2023 is making sure ALL content is properly vetted and licensed.
5- Get the backup plan- Not every song can be licensed within the timeframe or within your budget. There are many difficulties that may arise once the process gets started. Make sure your back up plan includes a robust music catalog to pull from whenever you need a lifeline. Our friends at APM have one of the largest and most diverse collections with a variety of genres for team use. They are easy to work with and a GREAT option when popular music can’t happen.